COCONUT GROVE, FLA. (WSVN) - A City of Miami Police officer with a history of harassment accusations is once again raising eyebrows, this time by claiming he is a black man.
Miami Police Capt. Javier Ortiz made the controversial claim during a Miami Commission meeting, Friday.
“As far as Captain [Dana] Carr, she loves to call me a Latin male. I’m a black male. Yes, I am, and I am not Hispanic. I was born in this country,” he told commissioners.
Video of Ortiz’s remarks at Miami City Hall in Coconut Grove have since gone viral.
Tuesday night, Miami Police Sgt. Stanley Jean-Poix, who is also president of the Miami Community Police Benevolent Association, weighed in on Ortiz’s comments.
“The performance he gave at the commission surprised me, but I know he’ll go to great lengths to do crazy things,” he said.
During their presentation, Ortiz’s professionalism was questioned.
“Let me just show you his history here. He is constantly putting the city in liability,” Jean-Poix said as he showed a slide with newspaper headlines concerning Ortiz.
The Miami-Dade NAACP posted a clip of the meeting on Instagram, writing in part, “His comments are disturbing. And in the manner how he used them, downright disturbing to say the least.”
The association said they conducted their own investigation and found that at some point, during his time with the department, Ortiz changed his race from white Hispanic male to black non-Hispanic while applying for higher ranking positions.
Ortiz, who used to be the head of the City of Miami Fraternal Order of Police, has been the center of controversy before. He was relieved from his union duties after he was accused of harassing women.
Claudia Castillo is one of these women.
Several social media messages posted by Ortiz years ago called out Castillo after recording video of a Miami-Dade Police officer speeding.
“Leaders of the community should lead by example, so it just irks me,” she said during cellphone video that she recorded during the encounter.
The association believes it is time for action.
“You don’t know the makeup of my race or ethnicity. You don’t know anything about me,” he said, “and just for the record, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it’s all voluntary. I don’t need to give you any information or tell you who I am.”
Tuesday night, Ortiz replied to 7News’ calls for comment with a text that reads, “No comment, thank you.”
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