Officer Who Stood by as Man Harassed Woman in Puerto Rico Shirt Resigns

The Cook County Forest Preserves officer who stood idly by as a belligerent man harassed a woman in a Puerto Rico flag T-shirt resigned late Wednesday. Suggested Reading Three Friends Were Headed To A Beyoncรฉ Concert, But One Dies On the Way. Guess What The Other Two Did Next? Our Fave Moments From A$AP Rocky’s…

The Cook County Forest Preserves officer who stood idly by as a belligerent man harassed a woman in a Puerto Rico flag T-shirt resigned late Wednesday.

Video will return here when scrolled back into view
Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?
Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?

Officer Patrick Connor drew widespread outrage after a viral video surfaced of Mia Irizarry being harassed and intimidated by a white man upset that she was wearing a T-shirt bearing a Puerto Rican flag. As the man aggressively follows Irizarry around a forest preserves site, asking her if sheโ€™s a U.S. citizen, Irizarry turns repeatedly to Connor for help.

โ€œYou should not be wearing that in the United States of America,โ€ the man tells Irizzary, not believing her when she informs him Puerto Rico is, in fact, part of the United States.

On the video, not only does Connor hang back and do nothing, at one point, he turns his back to Irizarry as she asks him to intervene.

โ€œOfficer, I feel highly uncomfortable. Can you please grab him? Please, officer?โ€ She asks as he walks away.

The incident took place in Caldwell Woods on Chicagoโ€™s Far Northwest Side in June, reports the Chicago Tribune, but went viral on social media this past Monday.

Connorโ€™s resignation was announced by forest preserve officials, according to WABC 13 TV. The man caught on video harassing Irizarry has also been identified by authorities as 62-year-old Timothy Trybus. As the Tribune reports, Cook County, Illi. prosecutors are considering charging Trybus with a federal hate crime.

Trybus has already been charged with misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct.

Straight From The Root

Sign up for our free daily newsletter.