FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A woman hurt by a rubber bullet from police is speaking out to Congress.
Latoya Ratflieff was shot in the head by the rubber bullet on May 31 while at a protest in Fort Lauderdale.
Ratlieff said, “I will forever be scarred by the Fort Lauderdale Police shooting me in the head on May 31st.”
She told members of the House Oversight Committee what happened to her shouldn’t happen to anyone.
Ratlieff said, “While merely exercising my First Amendment right to speak out against police brutality, I became the type of victim that I was there to support.”
The protest was in response to the killing of George Floyd.
Protestors marched in the streets of downtown Fort Lauderdale.
Latoya said it was peaceful but turned chaotic when an officer shoved a kneeling woman.
Ratlieff said, “It was never anything from the individuals. It was never them saying we want to bring violence to this demonstration. It was the officers that created the violence.”
The officer seen shoving the woman is on administrative leave.
There’s been no action taken for what happened to Ratlieff.
Just this weekend, the Chief of Police released a statement.
The statement read, “Ms. Ratlieff has given numerous media interviews and made many public statements, but has yet to meet with us. Our officers reached out to her numerous times after the incident and later extended the invitation through Ms. Ratlieff’s attorneys. Latoya told us she welcomes a conversation, and hopes what happened to her brings change locally and nationally.”
Ratlieff said, “If you want to work together to make the needed reforms, I’m ready to sit down and talk, but if you think you’re going to silence me with rubber bullets or intimidate me through statements to the press you’ve thought wrong.”
Fort Lauderdale Police said it is now a legal matter and cannot comment further on the situation.
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