Florida Judge Makes Man Write Apology Letter After Racially Profiling Black Teen

[Demovictory9]

A Florida circuit judge wants to make sure a man has truly learned his lesson after racially profiling a teenager.

Luis Santos-Santiago was sentenced to 12 months’ probation on Tuesday after earlier pleading guilty to assault with prejudice. But Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Lyann Goudie didn’t stop there. She told Santos-Santiago to write an apology letter to the teen he profiled, gave him 25 hours of community service, and suggested he watch Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th to educate himself more about the criminal justice system and being Black in America. He was also instructed to take an implicit bias class and an anger management class.


“Except for my gender, I don’t wear my minority on my skin,” Goudie said. “I can’t even imagine what it’s like to be a Black person living in our country, being profiled, being stopped, being assumed that they’re up to no good, committing a crime, don’t belong.”

In June 2020, Santos-Santiago accused a Black teen who was on his way to basketball practice of breaking into cars. The 56-year-old went so far as to film himself stopping the teenager at 5 a.m. in Seffner, Florida, a suburb of Tampa. The footage showed Santos-Santiago badgering the teen and asking him where he lives.

Santos-Santiago called 911, claiming that he was an off-duty officer. He told the dispatcher, “I have somebody breaking into cars. I got him with his hands up.”

Santos-Santiago is a former security officer, and his license expired a week after the incident. Needless to say, his background in security did not give him the authority to stop and hold the teen. He was charged with illegally detaining the teenager.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/judge-makes-man-write-apology-letter-after-racially-profiling-black-teen/ar-AANtrhP?ocid=msedgntp

[SarcasticSatyr]

1. Sentence seems way too light to me ...

way too light considering how it could have ended up ...

[LenaBaby61]

2. That judge is a clown ...

And as you said, considering that African-Americans can and have been arrested and worse by racist police for much less, because a Ken or a Karen has called the police on them. I bet if it was the other way around, that dumb ass judge would have thrown the book at the African-American man for racially profiling that guy who happened to be Hispanic.

Probation and a damn letter, really

[tanyev]

3. I hope the judge will see that letter before it goes to the teen.