Generally, when I write stories about people calling the cops, I make a point to include the race of the person who did so. As you know, it’s usually a White woman or White man. Perhaps the word White is a trigger for some people because, inevitably, there will be someone who asks why it was necessary to include the race of the 911-caller.

I know for most of you, I’ll be preaching to the choir with the following explanation. But just bear with me. I intentionally include the race because I want to point out the pattern. I want to show the ways in which White people are weaponizing 911 against Black people who are often just minding their business. And I want to highlight the discrepancies between the way the police respond when a White person calls 911 versus when a Black person does it.

And the following story serves as a good way to illustrate that discrepancy.

According to WPLG Local 10 News, on March 5, Dyma Loving, a Black woman living in Miami-Dade County, called the police over a dispute with her neighbor Frank Tumm.

Loving told Local 10 that she and another woman, Adrianna Green, were walking past Tumm’s home when he called Green a “whore.” Green grabbed a plant from Tumm’s yard and threw it at him. In retaliation, Tumm grabbed a shotgun, pointed it at Green and Loving and threatened to shoot.

Allegedly, Loving, 26, called the police to report Tumm’s behavior. And instead of offering her assistance or protection, the officers arrested Loving instead.

She told Local 10, “I expected them to come, get our statement, you know, go get his statement, get his gun, arrest him, you know, for threatening us, you know, and, I don’t know, it completely went the opposite way.”

https://twitter.com/tyrone345345/status/1105946141340852224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1105946141340852224&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.local10.com%2Fnews%2Fflorida%2Fmiami-dade%2Fmiami-dade-police-officer-relieved-of-duty-after-arrest-video-surfaces

In the video that eventually went viral, you can hear the police saying that Loving needs to be corrected.

She asks, “Why do I have to be corrected when my life was just threatened?…”

In the process of Loving telling officers not to touch her, she is pulled to the ground by several officers.

As she’s laying on the cement, restrained, Loving says, “I wanted to call my kids. My phone is dead.”

The woman recording the video, who Loving calls Adrianna, asked the officers, “Why are you doing that?”

When she asks the officers for their names, they tell her, ‘Ma’am, I’m sorry. We’re busy right now.”

Later, after Loving is walked to a police car, Adrianna continues the conversation with a female officer.

Adrianna: Why does he have to handle her like that.? She didn’t do anything wrong. Officer: But when he’s giving her orders and saying that she’s being disorderly, she needs to calm down… Adrianna: She wasn’t being disorderly though. She wasn’t being disorderly. I have the video. It’s just him thinking he can use his authority to do what he wants to do and that’s not cool. This sh*t is finna get dealt with. Y’all not finna keep abusing y’all authority like that. There’s ways to do it and ways to say. She just got a gun pulled out on her.”

Thankfully, her words didn’t come back void. Officer A.I Giraldo, who was identified as the man who wrestled Loving to the ground, was investigated and eventually fired from his role as a field-training officer.

Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez issued this statement, via Twitter, where the video was initially posted.

“…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…An investigation into this entire incident is currently ongoing and upon its conclusion, I will hold those that violated any of our policies and/or procedures accountable for their actions or lack thereof.”

Loving told Local 10 News, “He just thought that because he was in this uniform he was king of the world.”

Thankfully, Giraldo won’t be able to abuse this type of power in the future.