- Mia Irizarry was setting up for her birthday picnic at an Illinois park when a man began harassing her for wearing a Puerto Rico shirt.
- The man asked Irizarry if she was "educated" and told her she shouldn’t be wearing a "shirt like that" in America, despite the fact that Puerto Rico is an unincorporated US territory.
- Irizarry managed to film the incident, which also showed a park police officer standing by as the man continued to harass her.
Last month, Mia Irizarry was setting up picnic tables at an Illinois park to celebrate her 24th birthday when a man began harassing her for wearing a Puerto Rico shirt.
The confrontation, which took place at the Forest Preserves of Cook County, was caught on video and later posted to Facebook on July 6. The man, who appears intoxicated in the video, repeatedly asked Irizarry if she was a citizen.
"First of all, the United States own Puerto Rico so we’re part of the United States," Irizarry told the man.
As the man came closer to Irizarry, she called out for an officer to remove the man, stating that she had a permit to reserve the picnic area.
"Officer, officer, I feel highly uncomfortable," Irizarry pleaded. "Can you please grab him?"
Despite Irizarry’s cries for help, the officer did not intervene, even after the man came so close to Irizarry that he took up her entire video screen. Eventually, a party guest arrived and told the man to step away from Irizarry, while the officer continued to simply watch.
According to a series of tweets by the Forest Preserves Department of Cook County, the officer in the video has been assigned to desk duty as they investigate the incident.
"The investigation is ongoing and the officer involved has been assigned to desk duty pending the outcome. The intoxicated individual involved in the incident was arrested and charged with assault and disorderly conduct," the department tweeted on Monday.
People began calling for the officer in the video to be fired for his inaction during the incident.
That officer let a woman be harrassed right infront of him. He put her in danger he did not even step closer when the man got in her face. Hey needs to be fired. He is a terrible officer who cannot be trusted to protect anyone.
— Emmalee sellers (@emmalee_sellers) July 9, 2018
Being aware is not good enough. Desk duty is not good enough. The officer must be fired. Anybody doing an equivalent job in any other industry would be fired. It's time for police to stop protecting bad police.
— Chris Mezzolesta (@ChrisMezzolesta) July 10, 2018
Lol. This incident occurred weeks ago & you have DONE NOTHING? How many times do you have to watch the video to see that an intoxicated man was be hostile to a women begging for the officer to assist her to no avail. We want to hear he’s been terminated not reprimanded. Now. #IL
— Mary Henry 🇺🇸 (@DunkelMary) July 10, 2018
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