Fire officer Samuel Watters who attacked Yoel Rodriguez & used excessive force.
Fire officer Samuel Watters who attacked Yoel Rodriguez & used excessive force.
The Issue
Yoel Rodriguez, 43, and his wife were shopping at Walmart with their children. They had a shopping cart with items, when a Walmart employee made an announcement that the store will be closing. During this time, his wife was already in line, but she forgot an item, so he went to get it. However, Mr. Rodriguez and his wife do not speak English. A Walmart employee tried to inform Mr.Rodriguez that the store will be closing, but he did not understand. So, the Walmart employee asked an off duty officer to assist. Mr. Rodriguez was not aware, the family did not understand what was happening and there were other shoppers still in the store as well. Mr. Rodriguez's wife pleaded to the officer, "Spanish, Spanish," to no prevail, her plead fell on deaf ears. Officer Watters is seen speaking to Mr. Rodriguez asking him to leave. Although, Mr. Rodriguez did not understand him, the officer then decides to grab his arm and Mr. Rodriguez is heard saying let me go, let me go pay (in Spanish). Officer Watters decided to punch him in the face, he kept beating Mr. Rodriguez, while his son stands there watching and his wife is heard screaming for help.
Officer Samuel Watters should be fired from the police department, he mishandled this situation and beat this man continuously. He used excessive force while the man had no weapons and was not a threat to anyone in the store. All that Yoel Rodriguez did was go shopping with his wife late at night, while the store was closing and he wanted to pay for his groceries. He was punched repeatability in front of his wife and children, defenseless. Officer Watters never asked for an interpreter, instead he punched him.
Yoel Rodriguez, is a family man who has no prior record. Now he is facing charges for something he did not do, he did nothing wrong. Yoel, did not understand a word and was confused as to why he was getting beat down.
Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwOjOwt4QsU
Sadly, prior to the physical altercation, the officer aggressively pushed the cart and it hit Mr. Rodriguez's child. The little scared boy just stands there helplessly watching.. Yoel never defended himself, he just took all the punches and left a pool of blood behind.
About Watters: Officer Samuel Watters was most recently given a written reprimand in 2018 for "improper action." Watters was an off duty officer Sunday when he beat down Yoel and arrested him in Jacksonville inside a Northside Walmart.This is clearly a use of excessive force by the authority. He did not attempt to de-escalate the situation, find a translator and explain the situation to Yoel. Yoel's wife repeatedly told the officer "Spanish, Spanish'" in hopes that he would understand that they didn't have grasp English. However, the officer refused to acknowledge her and her statements. A language barrier is never an excuse or justification for violence against civilians. Florida has a growing population of Spanish speaking individuals, the officer is required by his police department to seek an interpreter when working with the public if they do not speak English, they even provide them with a phone line for this service or they must request a Spanish speaking officer. Instead, he resorted to physical violence to arrest an extremely lost and confused Yoel.
This case needs an external investigation:
Feel free to call Steve Zona to fire Samuel Watters: 904-398-7010
Here is the website to send an email:
https://www.fop530.com/index.cfm?zone=/unionactive/contact.cfm
Other references:
https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20200617/jacksonville-man-injured-during-arrest-at-walmart
El Latinoamericano Yoel Rodríguez, de 44 años, su esposa y sus dos hijos estaban de compras en el Walmart de Jacksonville, Florida domingo por la noche, cuando un oficial de policía fuera de servicio de repente lo agredió y lo lastimó.
Según informes de los testigos, Yoel y su familia caminaban hacia la caja para pagar por sus compras, cuando de repente la esposa recordó que les hacía falta algo. Yoel decidió devolverse para buscar dicho producto. Es importante tener en cuenta que esto fue a las 8:30 pm, hora de cierre de Walmart. Sin embargo, no eran los únicos clientes que quedaban en la tienda. Cuando Yoel y su familia llegaron a la cola, ahí fue cuando los empleados de Walmart recurrieron a la ayuda de un oficial fuera de servicio que estaba en la tienda para ayudar a evacuar a Yoel.
También es importante tener en cuenta que ni Yoel ni su esposa tienen una comprensión completa del Inglés. Por lo tanto, Yoel no podía entender por qué de repente le pedía el policía que evacuara las instalaciones. Yoel le repetía que "iban a pagar", pero el oficial insistió en evacuarlo a él y a su familia de la tienda. Fue entonces cuando el Oficial empujó el carrito de compras hacia el niño de Yoel, efectivamente agrediendo al pequeño. La situación, ya tensa, se tensionó aún más. El oficial intentó agarrar físicamente el brazo de Yoel para evacuarlo. Yoel todavía no podía entender lo que estaba sucediendo y repetidamente decía 'No me toques, no me toques'. Siguió evadiendo a el Oficial, hasta que se puede ver que en el video, el Oficial decide golpearlo en la cara.
Esto es claramente uso de fuerza excesiva por parte de la autoridad. No intentó reducir la situación, buscar un traductor y explicarle la situación a Yoel. La esposa de Yoel a varias repeticiones le dijo a el oficial 'Español, español' para hacerle entender que no comprendían inglés. El oficial decide ignorarla. La barrera de idioma nunca es excusa o justificación para la violencia contra la población civil. Florida tiene una población creciente de hispanoparlantes, el Oficial pudo fácilmente haber decidido buscar un empleado hispanoparlante, o incluso un cliente, para ayudar a traducir y a calmar la situación. En cambio, recurrió a la violencia física para arrestar a Yoel, quien estaba extremadamente perdido y confundido
Es importante tener en cuenta que Yoel fue arrestado por cargos de asalto con agravantes o asalto violento, pero él es el único que terminó con la nariz quebrada, ensangrentada y dos ojos morados. El oficial terminó, aparentemente, ileso.
Exigimos justicia para Yoel Rodríguez, exigimos que sea absuelto de sus cargos. Este no es un comportamiento aceptable de la policía.
He aquí un video de lo sucedido pocos momentos después de la llegada del oficial (puede herir la sensibilidad del espectador) :
734
The Issue
Yoel Rodriguez, 43, and his wife were shopping at Walmart with their children. They had a shopping cart with items, when a Walmart employee made an announcement that the store will be closing. During this time, his wife was already in line, but she forgot an item, so he went to get it. However, Mr. Rodriguez and his wife do not speak English. A Walmart employee tried to inform Mr.Rodriguez that the store will be closing, but he did not understand. So, the Walmart employee asked an off duty officer to assist. Mr. Rodriguez was not aware, the family did not understand what was happening and there were other shoppers still in the store as well. Mr. Rodriguez's wife pleaded to the officer, "Spanish, Spanish," to no prevail, her plead fell on deaf ears. Officer Watters is seen speaking to Mr. Rodriguez asking him to leave. Although, Mr. Rodriguez did not understand him, the officer then decides to grab his arm and Mr. Rodriguez is heard saying let me go, let me go pay (in Spanish). Officer Watters decided to punch him in the face, he kept beating Mr. Rodriguez, while his son stands there watching and his wife is heard screaming for help.
Officer Samuel Watters should be fired from the police department, he mishandled this situation and beat this man continuously. He used excessive force while the man had no weapons and was not a threat to anyone in the store. All that Yoel Rodriguez did was go shopping with his wife late at night, while the store was closing and he wanted to pay for his groceries. He was punched repeatability in front of his wife and children, defenseless. Officer Watters never asked for an interpreter, instead he punched him.
Yoel Rodriguez, is a family man who has no prior record. Now he is facing charges for something he did not do, he did nothing wrong. Yoel, did not understand a word and was confused as to why he was getting beat down.
Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwOjOwt4QsU
Sadly, prior to the physical altercation, the officer aggressively pushed the cart and it hit Mr. Rodriguez's child. The little scared boy just stands there helplessly watching.. Yoel never defended himself, he just took all the punches and left a pool of blood behind.
About Watters: Officer Samuel Watters was most recently given a written reprimand in 2018 for "improper action." Watters was an off duty officer Sunday when he beat down Yoel and arrested him in Jacksonville inside a Northside Walmart.This is clearly a use of excessive force by the authority. He did not attempt to de-escalate the situation, find a translator and explain the situation to Yoel. Yoel's wife repeatedly told the officer "Spanish, Spanish'" in hopes that he would understand that they didn't have grasp English. However, the officer refused to acknowledge her and her statements. A language barrier is never an excuse or justification for violence against civilians. Florida has a growing population of Spanish speaking individuals, the officer is required by his police department to seek an interpreter when working with the public if they do not speak English, they even provide them with a phone line for this service or they must request a Spanish speaking officer. Instead, he resorted to physical violence to arrest an extremely lost and confused Yoel.
This case needs an external investigation:
Feel free to call Steve Zona to fire Samuel Watters: 904-398-7010
Here is the website to send an email:
https://www.fop530.com/index.cfm?zone=/unionactive/contact.cfm
Other references:
https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20200617/jacksonville-man-injured-during-arrest-at-walmart
El Latinoamericano Yoel Rodríguez, de 44 años, su esposa y sus dos hijos estaban de compras en el Walmart de Jacksonville, Florida domingo por la noche, cuando un oficial de policía fuera de servicio de repente lo agredió y lo lastimó.
Según informes de los testigos, Yoel y su familia caminaban hacia la caja para pagar por sus compras, cuando de repente la esposa recordó que les hacía falta algo. Yoel decidió devolverse para buscar dicho producto. Es importante tener en cuenta que esto fue a las 8:30 pm, hora de cierre de Walmart. Sin embargo, no eran los únicos clientes que quedaban en la tienda. Cuando Yoel y su familia llegaron a la cola, ahí fue cuando los empleados de Walmart recurrieron a la ayuda de un oficial fuera de servicio que estaba en la tienda para ayudar a evacuar a Yoel.
También es importante tener en cuenta que ni Yoel ni su esposa tienen una comprensión completa del Inglés. Por lo tanto, Yoel no podía entender por qué de repente le pedía el policía que evacuara las instalaciones. Yoel le repetía que "iban a pagar", pero el oficial insistió en evacuarlo a él y a su familia de la tienda. Fue entonces cuando el Oficial empujó el carrito de compras hacia el niño de Yoel, efectivamente agrediendo al pequeño. La situación, ya tensa, se tensionó aún más. El oficial intentó agarrar físicamente el brazo de Yoel para evacuarlo. Yoel todavía no podía entender lo que estaba sucediendo y repetidamente decía 'No me toques, no me toques'. Siguió evadiendo a el Oficial, hasta que se puede ver que en el video, el Oficial decide golpearlo en la cara.
Esto es claramente uso de fuerza excesiva por parte de la autoridad. No intentó reducir la situación, buscar un traductor y explicarle la situación a Yoel. La esposa de Yoel a varias repeticiones le dijo a el oficial 'Español, español' para hacerle entender que no comprendían inglés. El oficial decide ignorarla. La barrera de idioma nunca es excusa o justificación para la violencia contra la población civil. Florida tiene una población creciente de hispanoparlantes, el Oficial pudo fácilmente haber decidido buscar un empleado hispanoparlante, o incluso un cliente, para ayudar a traducir y a calmar la situación. En cambio, recurrió a la violencia física para arrestar a Yoel, quien estaba extremadamente perdido y confundido
Es importante tener en cuenta que Yoel fue arrestado por cargos de asalto con agravantes o asalto violento, pero él es el único que terminó con la nariz quebrada, ensangrentada y dos ojos morados. El oficial terminó, aparentemente, ileso.
Exigimos justicia para Yoel Rodríguez, exigimos que sea absuelto de sus cargos. Este no es un comportamiento aceptable de la policía.
He aquí un video de lo sucedido pocos momentos después de la llegada del oficial (puede herir la sensibilidad del espectador) :
734
The Decision Makers
Petition created on June 23, 2020