She returns to where she was struck in eye by police. Her new cause: Fight ‘Jim Crow’ bills
When she stepped onto the sidewalk behind the Broward County Main Library Friday, it had been 271 days since LaToya Ratlieff stood at that unassuming street corner in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The last time she was there, in May, a police officer shot her in the face with a rubber bullet while she peacefully protested the death of George Floyd.
“I really never left this corner,” Ratlief said Friday. “I left, but in reality I’m here all of the time.”
Ratlieff has suffered from debilitating headaches and lasting vision problems since she was shot, and her eye socket broken, on May 31, 2020. A Miami Herald investigation showed the peaceful demonstrations against the killing of Floyd, whose neck was pinned to the pavement by a Minneapolis officer’s knee, devolved into violence only after an officer shoved a kneeling protester in the face without provocation. Ratlieff had done nothing illegal or even aggressive.
On Friday, Ratlieff returned to the corner where she was shot to join local politicians and activists voicing opposition to two Florida bills — HB 1 and SB 484. The bills, titled “Combating Public Disorder,” would limit public demonstrations, sharpen police response, and increase penalties faced by protesters accused of various acts, including blocking traffic and “cyberintimidation.” The Florida ACLU says HB1/SB484 “chills speech, silences dissent and criminalizes peaceful protesters advocating for racial justice.”
The bills are strongly supported by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“HB1 is a direct attack on Black people, Black movement, Black outrage,” said Jasmen Rogers, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Alliance of Broward County and organizer of the May 31 march. “[The bill calls for] more immunity for officers and protecting plants, trees and statues more than the dignity of people.”
Standing on the corner where she was shot, joined by Florida Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones, Ratlieff said the bill was retaliation for the Black Lives Matter movement that swept the nation last year.
“Instead of working to ensure the safety of peaceful, law-abiding demonstrators like myself, Ron DeSantis and his Jim Crow caucus of legislators are working to criminalize the First Amendment Right for Black people,” Ratlieff said. She said the proposed laws would have allowed police to criminally charge organizers of the May 31 protest, and even potentially allow charges to be brought against victims like her.
“My message to the governor is this: You have to take your knees off our necks. We are tired,” Ratlieff said.
The press conference came on the heels of a surprise announcement from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department Thursday that the officer who shot Ratlieff, Detective Eliezer Ramos, was found to have done nothing wrong.
The department’s own training manual says officers should shoot at a person’s head with “foam batons” — known widely as “rubber bullets” — only if deadly force is warranted. Video from the scene showed Ratlieff was stumbling away when Ramos shot her. In his report, Ramos said he was aiming at a different protester who had thrown a tear gas canister. Tear gas had clouded the area, making it difficult to see, but Ramos also confirmed he had a clear and “safe” shot at the other protester when he fired and hit Ratlieff. He was exonerated for allegations of careless or reckless use of a firearm and unnecessary force.
Two other officers who were caught on a body camera laughing and cursing after shooting rubber bullets at protesters were suspended for one day for violating the department’s policy against “vulgar, obscene or offensive language” while on duty. Former police chief Rick Maglione defended their behavior before being removed from the post.
In its internal investigation into Ramos, the department blamed protesters for starting the violence on May 31, despite contrary evidence published by the Herald and others. The report also failed to mention that officer Steven Pohorence had shoved a kneeling woman, an incident that kicked off the clash around the street corner where Ratlieff was shot.
Although Ratlieff said she wishes Ramos would have been held responsible, she was not surprised by the finding. It took over eight months for Ratlieff to receive an apology from the city. In the meantime, city officials suggested she was responsible for being shot and complained she was talking to the media instead of to them. When she went in for a first interview, an investigator with internal affairs told her Ramos was a “good guy.”
“[Fort Lauderdale] chose to be the reason why we choose to march,” Ratlieff said. She called for police to release the underlying materials from the internal affairs investigation into Ramos.
Rogers, the march organizer, said that others who were injured by Fort Lauderdale police at the May 31 protest did not want to come forward.
“They feel what’s the point,” Rogers said. “You’re interrogated. You’re made to be the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong thing and at the end of it all, almost a year later, they’ve said that they’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Until there is a shift in that tide why would anybody come forward?” Rogers asked.
This story was originally published February 26, 2021 at 2:28 PM.
