Trump-loving Miami cop suspended after being accused of using 'white power' hand gesture
A Trump-loving Miami police officer has been relieved from duty after allegedly flashing a "white power" hand gesture during a photo opportunity last week.
Officer Daniel Ubeda previously was reprimanded for wearing a Donald Trump campaign mask while in uniform and on duty at a polling place in November, the Miami Herald reports.
"Not long after his unit took part in a large weapons bust, Ubeda was photographed standing in uniform at the end of a line with six other officers, openly displaying the last three fingers on each hand with his thumb and index finger touching and forming a circle," according to the newspaper. "The picture was posted on the Twitter account of Ubeda's commander and was taken down within 48 hours. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the centuries-old sign for 'okay' was co-opted several years ago by racist groups as a sign representing white power."
The president of Ubeda's union, the Fraternal Order of Police, slammed Chief Art Acevedo's decision to suspend Ubeda pending an internal affairs investigation.
FOP president Tommy Reyes claimed Ubeda's hand gesture was "a joke" meant for his Black supervisor, with his six raised fingers representing the six officers on his shift.
"To me it's clearly not the same signal," Reyes said. "It's just another knee-jerk reaction from Art Acevedo."
According to Local10.com, both the commander who posted the photo and Ubeda's immediate supervisor are Black, and they've never had issues with the officer.
"This was meant to be private between him and his six guys," Reyes told the station, holding up his fingers. "It was not supposed to be posted on Twitter."
Local10.com noted: "The same gesture has been spotted being flashed at a Florida rally for Donald Trump, at a Miami Marlins game by a fan that has since been banned, and at the confirmation hearings for Justice Brett Kavanaugh by his former aide, who is Jewish and Mexican, and called the backlash about her resting hand 'repulsive.'"
Ubeda received a reprimand for the November incident, which made national news, for violating department policy by wearing a mask saying "Donald Trump 2020" and "no more bull" at the polling site.
Read the Herald's full story here, and watch Local10's report below.
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