By Charles Rabin
Miami Herald
MIAMI — The head of Miami’s police union so bullied a woman on social media for her brush-up with a cop that Facebook removed one of his posts and she’s concerned her job is on the line.
Javier Ortiz — who hasn’t been shy about posting contentious and controversial items — listed the business card and phone number of Claudia Castillo on his Facebook page and urged people to call and berate her for reckless boating.
“It’s important that law enforcement is aware of this woman,” Ortiz wrote.
The union president even set off a brief Twitter tussle with South Florida filmmaker and his more than 40,000 followers. Corben, enraged by Ortiz’s social-media behavior, pressed his Twitter followers to complain to Facebook.
Posted by Javi Ortiz Fop on Tuesday, February 2, 2016
It worked. Facebook removed the post with Castillo’s business card and warned Ortiz he was out of line for violating “community standards.” Ortiz then re-posted it. By Thursday it was removed again.
“It’s cyber bullying,” said Corben. “All he does is attack.”
Ortiz did not return several texts and phone calls seeking comment.
Castillo, a 43-year-old construction manager for Kendall’s Stonehenge Construction, is the driver who last week followed and video-recorded Miami-Dade police officer Daniel Fonticiella as — according to her — he sped north on the Palmetto Expressway, then east on the Don Shula Expressway and south on I-95.
When Fonticiella finally pulled over, Castillo still had the cellphone video going and told the officer she had been tailing him for several miles because he was driving at speeds up to 80 miles per hour. The officer politely apologized, said he didn’t believe he was speeding, then offered his name and badge number without it being requested. Castillo reported him to internal affairs, which is investigating.
Ortiz — who has nothing to do with the Miami-Dade Police Benevolent Assocation to which Fonticiella belongs — then began posting accusatory and unflattering pictures with captions about Castillo. One was a photo of her in a boat holding a beer that read: “Nobody is above the law except me, when I’m drinking.”
.@JavierOrtizFOP reposted his cyber-bullying after Facebook removed it. Please report it: https://t.co/KNc0FXMjsW pic.twitter.com/T7XkiEGtXy
— Billy Corben (@BillyCorben) February 3, 2016
Above another photo, Ortiz calls Castillo a “wannabe cop” who likes to drink while driving recreational vehicles. Another post made fun of her for raising middle fingers. And still another was of Castillo’s business card, listing her cellphone and work numbers and urging the public to call.
Castillo, who describes herself as a single mother with a deadbeat ex-husband who put herself through college, says she’s “not the jerk they’re painting.” She said she was sent home from work earlier this week because her bosses were upset about the media attention.
“How far do you have to reach to divert the real problem we have,” which she explains is police not following the law. “I think he’s trying to divert attention from the real problem.”
Ortiz also made reference to Castillo’s driving record in Facebook posts. That record, which dates back to 1998, is less than exemplary.
Miami-Dade County records show she has been cited 16 times in the past 18 years. Among them: three for careless driving, five for speeding and others that include failing to stop at a light and an intersection and not carrying insurance or a proper registration. Two weeks ago, she was cited for careless driving by the Florida Highway Patrol. She said someone hit her from behind, though she was charged with “brake checking.”
“I’ve had my ups and downs,” Castillo said.
Ortiz’s bizarre postings in support of a police officer who belongs to a different union even caught the attention of John Rivera, who oversees the Police Benevolent Association in Miami-Dade that Fonticiella belongs to.
Rivera said he has issues with Castillo’s chase and was satisfied with the way Fonticiella handled himself. Still, the union president said he disagreed with how Ortiz dealt with Castillo by publicizing her personal information. It’s something, he said, the PBA would never consider doing.
Ortiz has spent years posting controversial items and attacking those he believes are painting police in a poor light. He used Facebook to bash a high-ranking female Muslim Miami officer for not covering her heart during the Pledge of Allegiance. Another time, he attacked a woman who posted a video of an arrest in Liberty City. He has stood in support of police when Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, Missouri.
He referred to Tamir Rice, the child shot and killed while holding a toy gun by a Cleveland police officer, as a thug. He often mocks the movement.
Still, Miami police have stayed at arm’s length in disciplining or dealing with the police sergeant. This week, after his attacks on Castillo, the city’s response was no different. In an official statement, the department said Ortiz can do as he wishes in his capacity as president of the Fraternal Order of Police, because union contracts block any type of punishment.
“When acting in his capacity as their president, he does not represent the city of Miami nor the city of Miami police department,” wrote Miami Police Maj. Delrish Moss. “With that said, this is an issue to be taken up with the members who have elected him to serve and not with the city of Miami police department.”
Copyright 2016 Miami Herald