Maybe throwing around the same insulting labels used by Cuba’s communist Castro dictatorship to describe Miami’s Cuban American community is not the best idea for a police chief in Miami. Chief Art Acevedo said it was meant as a joke, and that may certainly be the case. But that doesn’t change the fact that as a Cuban American himself, Acevedo should have known better than to crack a joke of that nature.
Miami Police Chief Responds to Backlash Over Controversial Comments
Miami’s Police Chief is taking some heat for his choice of words: “Cuban Mafia.”
“He is constantly putting his foot in his mouth,” said Fraternal Order of Police President Tommy Reyes.
Reyes posted a statement on Twitter talking about how at an officer roll call meeting last month, Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo said, “Miami is run by the Cuban mafia.”
The post went on to read in part, ”What does he mean by this? The mafia is not a good thing, the mafia is a criminal enterprise.”
In an interview on Wednesday, Reyes said maybe the chief was making a joke.
“I don’t think it was appropriate, I think it was offensive,” said Reyes. “If he talked about the Black mafia or the Haitian mafia or the Jewish mafia, I’m sure it would have been a little more offensive to more people.”
The Chief’s position is that his comment was harmless humor.
“I think that the point that was being made had nothing to do with talking about the city being run by some mafia — that’s a bunch of hogwash being used for their political objectives, which is to attack a police chief that’s holding them accountable,” Acevedo said, adding there was a lot of laughter in the room.
In a statement Thursday, Acevedo apologized for the comment.
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What a disgusting self-hating POS. As if the Cuban American community isn’t victimized enough by the “left wing power establishment,” he has to add to the BS by insulting us too. And of course, when he is caught red handed, he claims to have just been joking. What a coward.
Joke or not, it shows decidedly poor judgment, which should not happen in anyone in his position. Of course, if he’d insulted any other minority, he’d be in serious trouble, but he’ll skate on this. Sounds like growing up in the LA area was not exactly good for him–I sense a certain, uh, contamination.
Correction: instead of saying: As if the Cuban American community isn’t victimized enough by the “left wing power establishment,”
I meant to say villainized, not victimized.
I expect you meant to say vilified. Maybe this guy really does shoot off at the mouth without thinking, or maybe he’s one of those Cubans who makes light of serious things as if everything were a joke or a game, but he sounds awfully aware of PC speech to be so “clueless.” Trying to have it both ways is always dubious, and even an LA Cuban should have known better.