Instead of Offering Medical Assistance,
Police Officer Demands Victim’s Papers
Univisión reported yesterday that a police officer in Florida demanded to know a victim’s immigration status before offering medical assistance. Caught on body camera, a Florida man who had been run over by a car was not offered emergency medical care until after a series of intrusive questions from the police officer. After receiving care at a local hospital, the victim was asked to return to the scene of the accident and was detained by border patrol. DNC Chair Tom Perez released the following statement on the disturbing incident:
“This horrific incident demonstrates the sick culture the Trump Administration is fostering that undermines the relationship between polices and communities. Trump’s inflammatory words have made a select few feel as though they have license to abdicate their duties to the communities they serve and forgo human decency. The Trump Administration’s crusade against immigrants, and Latinos in particular, is making our communities less safe. It tears at the very fabric of our communities and erodes the American culture of opportunity. Simply put, this is not who we are as a nation.”
[VIDEO] Univisión: “Are you illegal?” A policeman’s question to a Honduran who had just been run over by a car
Everything was recorded on the body cameras of the police who responded to the accident.
Marcos Antonio Huete, a 31-year-old Honduran immigrant, was lying on a sidewalk next to his bicycle after being hit April 27 by a GMC Sierra pickup truck on his way to work in Key West in the Florida Keys.
“You illegal? Are you a legal citizen or no? Speak English? You got ID? Passport, visa, or what? a Monroe County sheriff asked Huete insistently, according to the video.
Still on the ground, Huete answers with monosyllables before using a cell phone to call his sister, who arrived at the scene soon after.
Hours after the accident Huete left hospital on crutches and was sent to the Krome Detention Center near Miami, where he has spent almost a month in detention pending possible deportation.
According to his sister, Olga Huete, after he was discharged from the hospital a police officer told them to return to the scene of the accident. “He did not tell us why, but we went back because my brother had not done anything. We had no reason to flee.”
