MIAMI (WSVN) - A woman is speaking out after she was left with scrapes and was apparently spit on by a police officer, who is now under investigation.
Alex Curcie is one of the thousands of demonstrators who marched on Saturday to demand racial equality.
“I protested against the racial injustice in our legal system,” Curcie said. “Everything was fine and peaceful. We were chanting. There was nothing being thrown, nothing being burned, nothing being looted.”
However, as she headed to her car ahead of curfew, she said the calmness of the earlier protest faded.
“The police came from behind us, and they started shouting to ‘Get on the ground! Get on the ground!’ The next thing I know, I was shoved to the ground by an officer,” Curcie said. “He was pinning me down by my arm and my throat, and while he was doing that, an officer came and started hitting me in the face.”
Curcie said she does not know what prompted the sudden change in atmosphere, but a person recorded video of a police officer standing over her who appears to spit on her.
“Disgusting, especially during coronavirus. Hello?” Curcie said.
She was not arrested and said the officers let her up and told her to go home. She was left with scrapes on her shoulder and chest.
“If I wasn’t white, I’m afraid I would either be in jail or worse right now, not even be able to tell the story,” Curcie said.
The following day, Curcie called City of Miami Police to report the incident. Two officers came to her home, and she shared with them the video of the officer appearing to spit on her.
7News showed City of Miami Police Commander Freddie Cruz the video of the incident.
“Any time a citizen files an official complaint, you can rest assured here in the City of Miami that our investigators do take them very serious, and we’re very thorough in our investigations because we won’t tolerate any wrongdoing,” Cruz said. “I can’t really comment much on it. It’s an open internal affairs investigation. If we do find any wrongdoing, we’ll deal with the officer or officers accordingly.”
Before Curcie went home, she let the officers know how angry she was at them.
“He pushed me on the ground for walking on the sidewalk,” Curcie said in a cellphone video. “For walking on the sidewalk! This is why we’re here, you stupid pieces of [expletive]!”
The officers then biked away.
Although police have opened up an internal affairs investigation, the police officer who appears to spit on Curcie has not been suspended as the investigation proceeds.
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