A day in the park? Recently, it was recently anything but.

Mia Irizarry planned on enjoying the space she paid to reserve in the Cook County Forest Preserve. But she encountered harassment from a passerby. She asked the officer on the scene to respond. When he didn't, she started recording footage with her phone. That footage went viral, creating an international incident, and leading to the officer’s forced resignation.

The passerby, identified by police as Timothy Trybus, was visibly intoxicated. The source of his ire was Irizarry’s T-shirt, emblazoned with the flag of Puerto Rico. Trybus claimed that she “shouldn’t be wearing that in America,” despite the fact that Puerto Rico is legally a US territory and its residents are legally American citizens. Irizarry repeatedly asked the officer for help, but he declined to respond, even though he’s clearly within earshot. Eventually several other officers responded, and Trybus was arrested for assault and disorderly conduct.

The racialized incident created a subsequent outcry on social media, which included a series of stern tweets from Ricardo Rossello, the governor of Puerto Rico. Pressure mounted on the department to discipline the deputy, later identified as ten-year-veteran Patrick Connor, until Connor himself stepped down.

Cook County commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia praised the decision, calling it “a common sense decision.” Meanwhile, Illinois prosecutors have charged Trybus with a felony hate-crime.

Potential Preaching Angles:

We all have the opportunity to cultivate peace in our everyday interactions, and sometimes that means speaking up about the mistreatment of others.