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When Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Joshua Gallardo was being honored with a Deputy of the Month award for arresting an international murder suspect at a Tamarac City Commission meeting, he probably expected things to go smoothly.
Well, they didn’t.
The officer was met with an unexpected confrontation from an official in attendance, calling into question his integrity - and whether he actually deserved the honor he was receiving. By the end of the ordeal, people would be scrambling to try to make amends and understand an event from years prior that was at the root of the conflict that arose - an event that was caught on tape.
Four years ago, during the summer of 2015, Officer Gallardo arrested a Black man, Mike Gelin, for obstruction without violence. Gelin was using his cell phone to film the scene of a battery. However, his video shows that Gallardo aggressively confronted Gelin and arrested him. The police report that Gallardo submitted - wherein he claimed to say to Gelin that “he could continue to record but that he would have to move back behind bushes” - contradicted the video’s audio. He never uttered those words; he only demanded Gelin to stop filming. Essentially no charges were filed, and the incident was deemed a false arrest by many.
But Gallardo would see Mike Gelin again at the City Hall meeting where he was being awarded… because Mike Gelin is a city commissioner.
City Commissioner Mike Gelin shocked and angered many people during the meeting when he confronted Officer Gallardo, questioning his ethics. When Gelin asked the officer to step forward in front of the audience, CBS4 Miami reports Gelin said: “You probably don’t remember me but you’re the police officer who falsely arrested me four years ago. You lied on a police report. I believe you’re a rogue police officer, you’re a bad police officer and you don’t deserve to be here.”
Some people are describing Gelin’s call-out as disgusting, saying he berated Gallardo inappropriately. Others feel quite differently, saying he was standing up for himself and for justice. Still, others are seeking more tangible action; for Gelin to be punished for calling out Gallardo’s past. But as it currently stands, he won’t be penalized for sharing his feelings about the officer.
Police advocates have hurriedly portrayed Gelin as someone attacking law enforcement, but the video of his arrest suggests there’s much more at hand. And Gelin says he “knows he did nothing wrong on the day of his arrest.”