A Delray Beach woman, who was shot in the face with a foam rubber bullet by Fort Lauderdale police during a recent protest, said she is considering a civil rights lawsuit. Shot in face LaToya Ratlieff was taking part in protests over the death of George Floyd last Sunday when she suffered injuries to her skull and right eye.
NEW: We obtained more photos of LaToya Ratlieff. The first — taken just before police shot her in the face with a foam rubber bullet — shows another woman leading her away from tear gas by the hand. The second shows her bleeding as others rush to her aid https://t.co/uoHSrcfiSE pic.twitter.com/UHCRfAmgCM
— Nicholas Nehamas 🏝 (@NickNehamas) June 3, 2020
Ratlieff said she is now nearly blind in her right eye as her swollen socket continues to heal after her encounter with members of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. Meanwhile, calls to defund police departments are growing here in South Florida including in Broward County. Protesters in Fort Lauderdale yesterday rallied at Holiday Park and marched into Wilton Manors. An organizer says police violence has not stopped despite more de-escalation training, so she’s hoping city officials will cut ten million dollars from the police budget. She says she wants that money redirected into social programs that fight discrimination.