A woman shown on a video being confronted by a man because she was wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the Puerto Rican flag has said that the only action a park officer took to defuse the situation was to tell her cousin who'd stepped in to protect her to calm down.
Speaking at a news conference surrounded by leaders of Chicago's Puerto Rican community yesterday, Mia Irizarry recounted the June 14 incident that received national attention after release of the video.
Hate crime charges have been filed against 62-year-old Timothy Trybus, and Chicago forest preserve officer Patrick Connor has resigned.
"It was extremely surreal to think that someone whose job is to protect and serve could just completely walk away..." she said at a park in a Chicago neighborhood with a large Puerto Rican population, in her first public comments about the incident.
"If I hadn't recorded it I am pretty sure (the incident) would not have ended with my safety."
State Senator Omar Aquino urged Irizarry to sue the officer, reminding her that he pushed through legislation that allows her to "sue someone for a hate crime."