Puerto Rico rant victim calls cop who stood by a ‘coward’

SHARE Puerto Rico rant victim calls cop who stood by a ‘coward’
puerto_rico_shirt_police_77503092_e1531510565924.jpg

Mia Irizarry speaks at a news conference in Chicago, Friday, July 13, 2018, about an incident where a man confronted her about a T-shirt she wore emblazoned with the Puerto Rican flag at a Chicago forest preserve. | AP Photo

They are both “equally offensive.”

That’s how Mia Irizarry sees the two men in the viral video in which she is harassed for wearing a Puerto Rico shirt as a Cook County Forest Preserve police officer stands idly by.

“It was extremely surreal to think that someone whose job is basically to protect and serve … [would] completely walk away. It’s still pretty surreal,” Irizarry said, speaking Friday at her first press conference since the June 14 incident.

Irizarry was preparing to celebrate her 24th birthday at a rented pavilion at Caldwell Woods, when Timothy G. Trybus noticed her Puerto Rico flag shirt. He started yelling at her, asking among other things, if she is a U.S. citizen. As Trybus badgered her, Irizarry began taking a video on her phone, while calling out to the Forest Preserve officer for help.

Screen image of Timothy G. Trybus yelling at a woman in the Forest Preserve for wearing a Puerto Rican T-Shirt.

Screen image of Timothy G. Trybus yelling at a woman in the Forest Preserve for wearing a Puerto Rican T-Shirt.

RELATED: Prosecutors call Puerto Rico rant a hate crime, Gutierrez calls out Trump

“Mr. Trybus asked me twice if the shirt I was wearing is a Texas state flag,” Irizarry said, speaking to reporters in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.

Trybus has since been charged with two counts of felony hate crime. A judge released him on his own recognizance with electronic monitoring during a Friday court appearance in Skokie.

Ex-Cook County Forest Preserve Police officer Patrick Connor believes he acted appropriately and feels he wasn’t treated fairly after a video went viral showing him doing nothing as a man berated a woman over wearing a shirt with the Puerto Rican flag on

Ex-Cook County Forest Preserve Police officer Patrick Connor believes he acted appropriately and feels he wasn’t treated fairly after a video went viral showing him doing nothing as a man berated a woman over wearing a shirt with the Puerto Rican flag on it last month. | Screen image

Patrick Connor, the police officer, has since resigned.

Irizarry, a veterinarian technician, said she wants the officer to be “held accountable — whatever that looks like.”

When asked who she found most offensive, Connor or Trybus, she replied: “They are equally offensive.”

She also wants Connor to apologize. Irizarry said the officer was a “coward” for resigning.

“I will never get to hear from this man, this protector, his reasoning for why my safety –– no, my life –– had such little value to him, why an American citizen could not reap the benefits of the police force when it was most needed,” she said.

Before the June 14 incident, Irizarry had little experience with racism, she said.

“I have never personally had an encounter with racism to this degree,” she said. “It was definitely an eye opener.”

The Latest
Over the course of just six fast-paced episodes, Esposito creates a memorable character in this crime drama based on the BBC One series “The Driver.”
Ald. Jeanette Taylor, chair of the City Council’s Education Committee chair, said she’s disappointed that Johnson and his allies in the Chicago Teachers Union backed away from the fully-elected, 21-member board he once supported. “This is not going to be as easy a transition as people think,” she said. “We’re used to a top-down system.”
Alex Caruso has been looking for a defensive showing like the one he and his teammates put on display in the win over the Pacers, but Caruso also knows it needs staying power. Could Javonte Green help that process moving forward?
Christian I. Soto, 22, was charged with murder, attempted murder and home invasion, officials announced Thursday. Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd said earlier investigators haven’t determined a motive for the attacks.
Can a message generated by an algorithm ever match hearing from a human?