President of the Miami police union posted an alarming tweet in response to the grand jury’s decision not to charge Cleveland police officers in the death of Tamir Rice, if you “act like a thug and you’ll be treated like one.”
According The Miami New Times, Lt. Javier Ortiz was debating with movie director Billy Corben on Twitter over the parameters of the Rice case when the officer made a comment suggesting a 12-year-old kid who plays with a toy gun deserves to be killed.
Ortiz went on to describe Tamir with the racially charged term of “thug,” which some believe has become internet code for the N-word.
@pio_trek_g @Javi8104 @BillyCorben @ryantn615 I guess you were there. Act like a thug and you’ll be treated like one pic.twitter.com/gEWunLQCF1
— Javier Ortiz FOP (@JavierOrtizFOP) December 29, 2015
When he was asked to clarify his comments, Ortiz said, “Mr. Rice wasn’t your neighborhood kid running around with a water gun. He was brandishing and pointing a pellet gun in which the orange tip was removed. As tragic as the situation is, I support those in law enforcement that had to make a split-second decision in protecting themselves and the community.” Twitter users were quick to jump on Ortiz’s comments.
@JavierOrtizFOP @pio_trek_g @Javi8104 @BillyCorben @ryantn615 Only in America would child b called thug 4 toy gun – only a black child 2. — Soso08 (@soso08) December 29, 2015
@JavierOrtizFOP he was a 12 year old with a toy, and according to video did nothing wrong.. how was he acting like a thug?
— BRANDON LABELLE (@BBellCanto) December 29, 2015
@JavierOrtizFOP I played with toy guns (airsoft) in neighborhoods as a child. Same with my friends, most white. Are we thugs? — Matthew (@rebonkulous) December 29, 2015
@JavierOrtizFOP @pio_trek_g @Javi8104 @BillyCorben @ryantn615 are you going after the guy who sold the toy gun, for arms dealing?
— David Clifford (@fishyfridge) December 29, 2015
America 2016: @MiamiPD union president calls 12-year-old #TamirRice “a thug” for playing with a toy gun in the park. https://t.co/YkIK6RTcfY — Billy Corben (@BillyCorben) December 29, 2015
The police union president even went so far as to call #BlackLivesMatter movement a “joke” and that it “incites violence”.
@1clarez @elaineprettyeye @BillyCorben @deray BLM is a joke that incites violence
— Javier Ortiz FOP (@JavierOrtizFOP) December 30, 2015
Ortiz has a history of using social media for not only voicing opinions following instances of police violence, but as a means to attack others.
When a woman filmed a Miami cop kicking a handcuffed suspect last year, Ortiz responded by blasting the witness and spreading photos from her Facebook page, according The New Times. He also perpetuated rumors that a female assistant chief of police was Muslim and that she ignored the National Anthem.
Feature image: Javier Ortiz (Twitter)
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