MIAMI (WSVN) - A City of Miami Police officer has caused a stir after he was seen wearing a pro-Trump mask while in uniform.
A photo of the officer in full uniform, later identified as Officer Daniel Ubeda, was shared on Twitter, Tuesday morning.
According to Steve Simeonidis, the chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party and the person who posted the photo, the officer was inside the early voting polling location on the first floor of the Stephen P. Clark Center in downtown Miami.
“I was just so shocked and taken aback at the egregious nature of his attempted voter intimidation,” he said. “I was appalled and shocked that a uniformed officer with his badge and his gun would be visually intimidating voters in the manner that he did. This is absolutely completely unacceptable.”
The City of Miami Police Department issued a statement in response to the photo, which reads, “We are aware of the photograph being circulated of a Miami Police officer wearing a political mask in uniform. This behavior is unacceptable, a violation of departmental policy, and is being addressed immediately.”
“I just wanted to make sure that I had captured it because I knew how egregious of a violation it was,” Simeonidis said. “I have no doubt that he knew exactly what he was doing when he wore that mask into that polling station.”
According to City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, Ubeda was voting at the site when he was photographed wearing the mask.
“He is allowed to vote with his uniform on, so the fact that he’s wearing a uniform while voting is not a, per se, violation of state law,” Suarez said. “The issue was wearing political signage, political mask that he was not authorized to use. Police officers are supposed to be impartial, so irrespective of who the person was, whatever sign it would have been, it would have been problematic and something that we cannot condone and would not accept.”
Suarez said that because Ubeda violated department policy, he will be disciplined, but it remains unclear what the discipline will be.
The mayor said the City of Miami and the Miami Police department do not support or endorse any candidate for political party or elected office.
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