MIAMI _ Attorneys for Latoya Ratlieff, the woman whose eye socket was fractured when a Fort Lauderdale police officer shot her in the face with a foam rubber bullet, say their client is considering legal action, including filing a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and police.
"LaToya has a broad spectrum of legal options that we are considering. Filing a federal civil rights lawsuit is certainly among those options," her attorneys Michael Davis and Ben Kuehne told the Miami Herald in an email. "We have not yet made any decision as to what legal options she will pursue. Her decision will in part depend upon the City of Fort Lauderdale."
The attorneys said that Ratlieff is primarily seeking reforms from the city and police department. Davis and Kuehne sent a letter to Fort Lauderdale's city attorney Friday informing the city that Ratlieff has retained counsel.
"We intend to assist LaToya in working for immediate and meaningful reform of the rules of police conduct to assure that no citizen is ever again put in harm's way by the improper and unconstitutional conduct of law enforcement," the attorneys told the Herald.
Ratlieff, a 34-year-old grant writer for nonprofits, was protesting police brutality and the killing of George Floyd with a group of about 2,000 other people at Huizenga Plaza in downtown Fort Lauderdale on May 31. Protesters, who had been peaceful all day, grew upset after an officer pushed a woman kneeling on the ground. Ratlieff had been trying to calm protesters down when police used tear gas against them. As she was choking and being led away from the scene, an officer raised a rifle-barreled launcher and shot a 2.5-inch hard foam projectile at her head from about 30 feet away.
That shot could have been deadly, according to the Fort Lauderdale Police Department's policy on "less-lethal munitions." Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Rick Maglione told the Herald the incident "stuck out" and that shooting Ratlieff with a rubber bullet "could potentially be a violation of policy."
Casey Liening, a spokeswoman for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, said police have "made every effort to speak with Ms. Ratlieff."
"Other than being notified she has retained counsel, we have not heard from Ms. Ratlieff's attorneys. It would appear Ms. Ratlieff and her counsel are speaking to the media on a regular basis, instead of us," Liening said in a statement. "All of the information about Ms. Ratlieff's incident has been provided to the media, rather than to our City or to our investigators. We look forward to speaking with Ms. Ratlieff so that we may follow our formal investigative process of finding the truth about what happened."
Police have opened an internal affairs investigation into the officer who fired the shot. The officer's name has not been released publicly, and the department has so far denied the Herald's public record requests for use-of-force reports and other documents, citing the ongoing investigation.
Ratlieff intends to comply with the internal investigation, according to her attorneys, although she has not yet filed a formal complaint.
"LaToya was peaceful and was still shot by a rubber bullet. The conduct was so egregious that it triggered an internal affairs investigation without any formal complaint from the victim," Davis and Kuehne told the Herald. "We are evaluating whether an additional formal complaint is necessary."
Maglione told the Herald there could likely be no criminal investigation into the officer unless Ratlieff filed an official complaint with the department. Maglione has not personally spoken with Ratlieff, according to her attorneys, but she "would welcome a meeting with him." The chief also said the violence was sparked when an officer was "attacked" in her police vehicle.
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis initially suggested Ratlieff shouldn't have been at the scene when reporters who witnessed the shooting asked him about the incident.
"There would be no reason why I would stay there if I saw tear gas and rocks being thrown," Trantalis told reporters Tuesday. On Thursday, Trantalis walked back the comment in a public statement:
"This is reprehensible," he said. "Fort Lauderdale is a peaceful community. And when people wish to assemble in peace, they should not fear our police or anyone else. I am no stranger to activist movements, and demonstrations are a significant part of the American experience of freedom of expression and assembly."
Trantalis said he reached out to Ratlieff to apologize on behalf of the city and offer "assistance" with her medical care.
"The city needs to get to the bottom of what occurred and take whatever disciplinary action is necessary," he said.
The mayor did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday morning.
Ratlieff's story has gotten national media attention, including mentions in the New York Times and Washington Post. She was interviewed by CNN's Don Lemon on Friday night.
"I was able to go home," Ratlieff said on CNN. "There are too many instances where people who look like me don't get the opportunity to go home."
