Florida prison guards fired after ‘power slap competition’ video leaks

The Florida Department of Corrections has fired officers shown in a video of a guard slapping an inmate.

The video, posted to social media on Friday, shows an inmate standing still and facing officers when one of them strikes him across the face. It is unclear when the video was shot and by whom.

Ian Manuel, the man who posted the video on X, told ABC Action News that he was given the footage by an inmate at Hamilton Correctional Institution in Hamilton County. Manuel, who was previously incarcerated in Florida, referred to the incident as a “Power Slap competition” in his social media post.

The Florida Department of Corrections said the officers in the video are no longer employed with the department, saying they were “dismissed.” A spokesperson declined to release the names or the number of people involved, citing an ongoing investigation. The department did not comment on the status of the inmate hit, citing the open investigation.

After hearing about the slap on Friday, Reps. Susan Valdés, D-Tampa, and Dianne Hart, D-Tampa, made an unannounced visit to the prison. Valdés said the prison’s warden told her they were embarrassed by the incident.

“To me, it’s just egregious that these people are wanting a raise and a raise, and every time we’re putting more money in there for officer raises, yet they are abusing the folks that we incarcerate,” Valdés said in an interview Monday.

Hart told the Herald/Times that some inmates told her that the slapping is a norm.

The term “power slap” refers to a competition where people take turns hitting each other in the face while standing still with their hands behind their backs.

“I do know that all the inmates are not good people, I know that,” Hart said. “I know the inmates will beat an officer, I get that, but I also know that more and more of our officers are beating inmates.”

On Tuesday, during a House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee meeting, Valdés tried to bring up the video during a discussion about a bill to increase criminal penalties for people who commit a felony after having been previously deported. But committee chairperson Rep. Chuck Brannan, R-Macclenny, interrupted to say the discussion wasn’t relevant to the bill.

In 2022, three officers from Hamilton Correctional Institution were given federal prison sentences for their role in beating an inmate and kicking him in the head, spitting on him and using a racial slur.