Dem rep: ‘Culture of bigotry & hate’ now ‘feels unleashed’

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) said Tuesday that “a culture of bigotry & hate” that has been condoned in the U.S. “feels unleashed,” citing a video showing a man harassing a woman for wearing a Puerto Rican flag shirt.

“There’s a culture of bigotry & hate that’s been condoned in US, which now feels unleashed to express itself in the most ugly & aggressive ways,” Gutiérrez tweeted. “In this case, a US citizen questions the citizenship of another US citizen and American law-enforcement just sits back and watches.”

There’s a culture of bigotry & hate that’s been condoned in US, which now feels unleashed to express itself in the most ugly & aggressive ways. In this case, a US citizen questions the citizenship of another US citizen and American law-enforcement just sits back and watches. https://t.co/SsX1DpEPtM

— Luis V. Gutierrez (@RepGutierrez) July 10, 2018

Gutiérrez added that he’s not sure what upsets him more about the video.

I can’t tell what upsets me more about this clip:

1) Racist drunk who thinks Latinos & Puerto Ricans are threat to USA
2) Officer who does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING; OR
3) The fact that this took place in Cook County. https://t.co/nRg0wMWRFb

— Luis V. Gutierrez (@RepGutierrez) July 10, 2018

 {mosads}

The video shows an intoxicated man approaching and harassing the woman, Mia Irizarry, at the Forest Preserves of Cook County in June. Gutiérrez represents part of the county.

Irizarry said the man told her that “you should not be wearing that in the United States of America.” Puerto Rico is an American territory. 

“Are you a citizen? Are you a United States citizen?” the man also reportedly asked.

A park officer is shown initially avoiding responding to the man, despite Irizarry asking for help.

A second officer then arrived and confronted the intoxicated man. He was arrested and charged with assault and disorderly conduct.

The Forest Preserves of Cook County said Saturday that it “immediately launched an investigation pursuant to our personnel policies into the response of our officer.”

“The investigation is ongoing and the officer involved has been assigned to desk duty pending the outcome,” the park said.

Gutiérrez added in subsequent tweets on Tuesday that he doesn’t care that Irizarry is Puerto Rican or wearing a Puerto Rican flag t-shirt just because he is Puerto Rican.

“We all should care because we are decent human beings & need to stand up to bigotry & bullies,” he said. “Whether they are racists at a park, Cook County employees who do nothing, or Presidents who toss paper towels at people and denigrate Latinos w/ every Tweet, this is not the America we want to become & standing up to hate & bigotry must start at home.”