Remember Claudia Castillo? She’s the woman who videotaped a Miami police officer speeding down the highway, pulled him over to confront him about the traffic violation, and uploaded it all to YouTube. The officer apologized, and the Miami-Dade police department later told the local news that they would be investigating the matter. For the head of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police, however, Castillo’s viral stunt was a shameful act deserving of ridicule. So, he published her personal information online and asked everyone to call her and voice their complaints.
According to PINAC News, Miami Police Lieutenant Javier Ortiz posted a screen shot of what appears to be Castillo’s business card. He then told his followers — around 4,000 cops on Facebook — to call Castillo and “let her know drinking and driving on a boat isn’t safe.” He also included several overly long hashtags suggesting that Castillo (nor anyone else who isn’t a police officer, presumably) wasn’t above the law.
Miami filmmaker Billy Corben noticed Ortiz’s Facebook post, took a screen shot and reported it for violating the social media platform’s terms of service. The post was subsequently taken down by Facebook, but according to PINAC, Ortiz re-posted the information shortly thereafter. The second post was also taken down.
In an interview with the website, Castillo claimed her “phone has not stopped ringing” since Ortiz’s first post was published.
“Some have been courageous to leave a message, leaving threats. None have been courageous to say anything to my face… They say, ‘be careful what you do. You better watch your back. Be careful how you proceed. You better drive very carefully.’”
In his defense, Ortiz maintained that he was simply exercising his First Amendment rights by posting Castillo’s contact information online.
(Via PINAC News)