Cop who declined to help Puerto Rican woman being harassed for ‘un-American’ T-shirt resigns
A Chicago police officer has resigned a month after a video of him standing by while an elderly man harassed a Puerto Rican woman for her “un-American” T-shirt went viral.
Officer Patrick Connor of the Forest Preserves of Cook County Police Department resigned late Wednesday, and the police department say they are continuing to investigate the incident.
In a video filmed last month that recently went viral, Connor can be seen standing by while an irate man harasses Mia Irizarry, who is dressed in a tank top with the Puerto Rican flag on it.
Woman wears a Puerto Rico shirt.A man confronts her for wearing it, repeatedly approaches her within a couple feet, and questions her citizenship.When the woman pleads for a nearby police officer to keep the man back from her, he ignores her. pic.twitter.com/0YwG1rIuSl
— Riley (@TheRileyWilson) July 9, 2018
Seemingly unaware that Puerto Rico is in fact a US territory, the man proceeds to unload on Irizarry, calling her “un-American” and questioning her citizenship.
"I would like to know is she an American citizen? Why is she wearing that shit?” he says, temper rising. “You’re not going to change us. The world is not going to change the United States of America. You should not be wearing that in the United States of America.”
Irizarry called for help from Officer Connor, who declined to intervene, and instead milled around in the background. Eventually, other officers turned up and arrested the man, who they said was intoxicated. The man, identified as 62-year-old Timothy Trybus, was charged with assault.
Timothy Trybus is the man who was arrested after repeatedly harassing a woman in Cook County IL. becuase she was wearing a shirt with the Puerto Rico flag on it. Here’s the police report. pic.twitter.com/Fn274QVGW7
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) July 10, 2018
Connor was placed on desk duty as an investigation began. Meanwhile, the video drew anger on Twitter, and the Governor of Puerto Rico joined the calls for Connor to be fired on Monday. Governor Ricardo Rossello said that he was “shocked and disturbed by the officer’s behavior,” and called Trybus a “bigot.”
Today a video surfaced of an undignified event in which a Puerto Rican woman was brutally harassed by a bigot while an officer did not interfere. I am appalled, shocked & disturbed by the officer’s behavior https://t.co/F9L4ewt1Ac@DavidBegnaud@ACLU
— Ricardo Rossello (@ricardorossello) July 10, 2018
So, "old dude" harassed a woman for wearing a shirt that said, "Puerto Rico." His words were, "You should not be wearing that shirt in the United States of America." 😳It's not racism. It's deep, debilitating ignorance. 😂
— Hart Ramsey (@hartramsey) July 10, 2018
A racist man harasses a woman for wearing a Puerto Rico shirt, telling her that she shouldn’t be wearing that in the U.S.FYI to bigoted trash, Citizens of Puerto Rico are American citizens and Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, thus is part of the U.S.pic.twitter.com/VsTuEjSM5m
— Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) July 10, 2018
Alternative headline: “Police officer refuses to intercede while angry racist menaces woman for wearing a Puerto Rico shirt in America.” https://t.co/W7pEXzjxrq
— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) July 10, 2018
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