Posted 2 years ago
It took eight months, but at a meeting with Ratlieff Wednesday, Commissioner Ben Sorensen gave Ratlieff “a really heartfelt apology,” according to her spokesman Evan Ross. “It had a level of humanity to it that was very genuine.”
“I appreciate that his apology was not simply for what happened to me, but for the ongoing impact it has on my life,” Ratlieff said of Sorensen in a statement.
“LaToya was hurt in my city commission district,” Sorensen said to the Herald. So, “I said to myself, ‘it’s up to me to reach out and engage with her.’ ”
Sorensen apologized on no one’s behalf but his own, he said.
Sorensen is a Presbyterian minister and is the former volunteer chaplain for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, according to his bio on the city website. He now volunteers in that capacity for the Hollywood Police Department and said he has been working with Fort Lauderdale City Manager Chris Lagerbloom and Attorney Alain Boileau on implementing police reforms.
Sorensen looks forward to partnering with Ratlieff on future reform initiatives, he said.
Since Ratlieff was shot with the projectile by Officer Eliezer Ramos during a May 31 protest, the police department has opened an investigation to determine whether Ramos improperly used potentially lethal force. Videos and photos reviewed by the Herald showed that Ratlieff was walking away from officers and doing nothing threatening or aggressive at the time she was shot.
When Ratlieff first met with the department last year, the lead investigator told her Ramos was a “good guy” who wouldn’t have shot her on purpose, she said.
That investigator was then removed from the case, but current investigators have taken an “accusatory and ridiculous” approach when questioning Ratlieff, her spokesman has said.
Rick Maglione, the chief of police at the time Ratlieff was shot, was reassigned amid the controversy over his handling of the case and replaced by interim chief Karen Dietrich last July.
Topic: US News
Tags: Racism LaToya Ratlieff BLM