After a video of an officer striking a woman at a University of Miami game went viral, police have confirmed they are taking a further look into the incident. During Saturday’s game between Miami and Virginia Tech, a woman who appeared to be intoxicated was filmed being carried by several police officers escorting her from Hard Rock Stadium.
The woman took several swings at the officer and missed before eventually connecting and striking him in the face. The video, which can be seen below, shows the officer retaliating and striking the woman with a closed fist, as her body subsequently goes limp.
Warning: The video below is graphic in nature.
Video shows cop punching a drunk Miami fan after she slaps him while carrying her out
pic.twitter.com/F6gJkUKtKr
According to the Associated Press, Miami-Dade Police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta confirmed via email Sunday that the department is “gathering all of the details to gain a clear understanding of what occurred” during the altercation.
The video was originally uploaded and spread via Twitter, and there was no shortage of reactions to what many viewed as an excessive use of force.
This fell in my empathy gap. Imagine slapping a police officer and not fearing your life. https://t.co/pZQsYBomEH
i get the feeling this is the kid of police brutality that will result in punishment for the offending officer. https://t.co/vwOKGAUDje
Her slap... vs his punch that was probably about 300x harder... sure she was acting like an idiot, but this wasn’t the correct reaction.
I feel like this was everyone’s reaction pic.twitter.com/dYvwqESERr
The slap did the cop no physical damage. It's an overreaction on his part. And I imagine that people that are defending it would do and have done similar things when they think women get out of line.
That punch was for every black men that has got screwed over by a white woman
Twitter is often the digital cesspool where closeted racists and misogynists show their true colors with less chance of being publicly outed. And as some of the above tweets show, a black, male police officer striking a white woman who appears to be beyond wasted was the Twitter equivalent of dumping bloody chum in shark-infested waters.
Detective Zabaleta did not provide any further details or release any specific information about the involved parties.
