A video that shows an older white man verbally harassing a woman who is wearing a shirt with the flag of Puerto Rico is drawing criticism on social media because a police officer in the video does not intervene, NPR reported.
In the video posted on Facebook, a man repeatedly harasses Mia Irizarry, 24, at a picnic area in Chicago.
"Why is she wearing that ****?" the man says. "If you're an American citizen, you should not be wearing that shirt in America."
A law enforcement officer whose uniform has the last name "Connor" stands on the other side of the picnic area.
"Officer, can you — I'm renting this area and he's harassing me about the shirt that I'm wearing," Irizarry says in the video. She tells the officer she is "highly uncomfortable," however, the officer appears to turn away and walk in the other direction.
The Forest Preserves of Cook County, which manages the area, sent a tweet on Monday:
"All people are welcome in the Forest Preserves of Cook County, and no one should feel unsafe while visiting our preserves," a follow-up tweet said.
Reports identify the man as Timothy Trybus, 62, and 10 minutes into the video, more police officers arrive. A female officer tells Trybus, "You don't come here harassing people… when you're drunk you don't belong here."
According to a Morning Consult poll, almost half of Americans do not know that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens.
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