Airport police officer who hit woman in face won’t be charged

Officer claimed he was headbutted, despite contradictory video evidence

A police officer who struck a woman at Miami International Airport last year will not be charged, in a ruling by the city’s Attorney’s Office.

The incident happened in July 2020 at Miami Dade Airport in Florida and was captured on a fellow officer’s body camera.

The woman, who is unmasked, was reportedly drunk and is seen becoming aggressive, shouting at Antonio Rodriguez and another officer in the airport terminal.

“You acting like you white when you really black? What you going to do?” the woman is heard saying on the footage, squaring up to Rodriguez.

The video then shows the office pulling his arm back and hitting her, hard - though it is somewhat unclear whether it is a punch or a slap.

The video was tweeted by Miami-based film director Billy Corben, who has over 100,000 followers on the social media platform.

The passenger was initially charged with felony battery of a law-enforcement officer, but charges were dropped after the video evidence was examined.

Prosecutor Sandra Miller-Batiste ruled that Rodriguez had “no duty to retreat,” and that it was not unreasonable for him to believe that he was in danger.

The police department initially sought to fire Rodriguez, but after discussions he was allowed to retire instead, as well as being able to claim back-pay.

Incidents of unruly passengers in airports and on flights have soared during 2020 and 2021, partly in tandem with the US mask mandate.

In November, aviation body Iata reported that the rate of unruly passenger incidents had doubled in 2020 compared to previous years, and confirmed that the trend has continued into 2021.

Meanwhile the US’s Federal Airline Administration (FAA) reported 4,600 incidents between January and early October 2021 - 72 per cent of which related to non-compliance with the country’s federal mandate to wear a mask on all planes and in airports.