Officer seen shoving a kneeling woman during protest is suspended, police chief says
A Fort Lauderdale police officer who was caught on camera shoving a protester who was already on the ground Sunday has been suspended and is under investigation for his actions, Police Chief Rick Maglione said.
“When this protest occurred yesterday, obviously there was an incident we’re not very proud of ... that officer has been relieved from duty,” Maglione said at a briefing on Monday. “He has no public contact. He is basically going to remain home until the investigation is complete.”
He is suspended with pay, according to Local 10.
The incident occurred during Sunday’s nationwide demonstrations in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death while in custody of Minneapolis police.
Cellphone video circulating on social media shows the officer — who was identified by the department as Steven Poherence — in a crowd of protesters, and other officers nearby. Poherence is seen in the video shoving the head of a woman, who was already kneeling on the ground, toward the pavement while walking back toward the Broward County Public Library and away from the crowd. Another officer, identified as Krystle Smith, is then seen leading him away as protesters start throwing items at the police.
Sunday’s protest, which included an afternoon march from Huizenga Plaza to the Fort Lauderdale police station, was peaceful until the early evening, after the march had run its course, when a clash erupted by a parking garage.
Maglione has previously said that just before the incident, an officer had called for help and that Poherence was one of the officers rescuing a colleague who had become surrounded and another from a patrol car that people began jumping on, according to Miami Herald news partner CBS4.
“I don’t think [Poherence’s] action created what occurred … we were in the process of an officer rescue that turned into another officer rescue,” the chief said, according to CBS4. But he said Poherence’s actions “could have added to what was going on.”
Poherence has been a member of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department since October 2016. Before that, he spent nearly four years working for the Florida Highway Patrol, according to Local 10.
This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 3:40 PM.
