A Miami-Dade police officer is suspended after shocking video shows three officers violently arresting a Black woman who called for help after someone threatened her with a gun.
The video, circulated on social media late Wednesday, shows officers force Dyma Loving to the ground before wrenching her arms backward to handcuff her, then arrest her. The chaos unfolded early last week in South Miami-Dade, according to the Miami Herald.
“Do not touch me! Do not touch me!” Loving, 26, says as officers try to take her down.
A woman filming the incident implores officers to “please stop!” as they proceed to grab Loving by the wrists, one of them placing her in a head lock before wrestling her onto the grass.
“Why are you doing that?!” the friend screams. “She didn’t do nothing!”
Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez publicly addressed the incident Wednesday, saying on Twitter that the department is currently investigating the incident.
“Upon becoming aware of the video posted on social media, an immediate inquiry was initiated which resulted in the involved officer being relieved of duty and of his role as a field training officer,” Perez said in a statement posted to Twitter, later adding: “I find the actions depicted on the video very troubling and in no way reflective of our core values of integrity, respect and fairness.”
According to authorities, the woman’s violent arrest unfolded as police were questioning a man who’d allegedly pointed a gun at her. Loving told The Miami New Times that she and her friend Adrianna Green were on their way to run errands when Green’s 50-year-old neighbor, Frank Tumm, called the women “whores.” The parties exchanged words, and that’s when Loving says Tumm, who’s white, pulled out a shotgun and threatened to “shoot my burnt black-ass face off my neck.”
Fearing for their lives, the women fled to safety and dialed 911.
Authorities responded to the call just after 10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 5, and questioned Tumm, who denied having a gun. A witness initially backed up his claim, a police report states. The same witness recanted just a few minutes later and said Tumm had indeed pointed a gun at Loving.
Meanwhile, Loving and Green were being questioned by another officer, Alejandro Giraldo.
“He started interrogating us like we were the suspects,” Loving said in an interview with the New Times. “I asked if he could escort us back to my friend’s house so I could put my phone on a charger and call my children. I had just had my life threatened and was terrified.”
“He was so rude and aggressive from the get-go,” Loving continues. “He kept telling me I needed to calm down, but I was so scared at that moment.”
The 2-minute video, shot by Green, begins with officers speaking with the two women and urging Loving to calm down.
“You know what, she needs to be Baker Acted [taken to a mental hospital], if anything” one of the officers says.
“Why do I have to be corrected when my life and my daughter’s life was just threatened?” Loving shouts back.
That’s when several officers push the woman toward chain-link fence, wrestle her to the ground and place her in handcuffs as shouts that she “just wanted to call my kids.” Green watches in terror as officers proceed to manhandle her friend: “You do not have to handle her like that!”
Green also asks for the officers’ names several times, and if she can speak to someone in charges. That’s when one of the MDPD officers responds, “We’re busy right now.” At least five cops are seen in the video.
In their report, officers wrote that Loving suddenly became belligerent and rate, and refused to obey their demands. She started screaming and caused a scene, they said.
“Yes, I was yelling, but my adrenaline was pumping — I almost just lost my life,” Loving told the New Times. “I never threatened anyone. I was just pleading to speak with my kids.”
The 26-year-old was ultimately arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting a police officer. After spending four hours in the back of a police car, Loving said she was jailed at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where she remained until she posted $150 bond at 3. a.m. the next day.
As for Giraldo, a spokesperson for the Miami-Dade Police Department confirmed that he has since been relieved of duty and that an investigation is ongoing.
Tumm was arrested a week after the incident and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Watch more in the video below.
Dyma Loving was arrested by @MiamiDadePD for failing to ‘calm down’ after being held at gunpoint and calling them for help. A white man, Frank Tumm, pulled out a shotgun and threatened he would “shoot your burnt black-ass face off your neck." 1/2https://t.co/sPt6uVwe3H pic.twitter.com/lSDQQ5vrln
— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) March 14, 2019
