Viral Video of New Jersey Cop Threatening Latino Couple Leads to Online Petition

Sep 23, 2015
2:31 PM

WARNING: the following video contains very explicit language.

On September 10, Jazmin Vidal published the following video on her YouTube channel:

It shows a conversation between a Passaic, New Jersey, police officer and individuals. One of the individuals Vidal is Vidal. The other individual is not seen, but he has a male voice. The officer is clearly questioning the man’s immigration status as well as his family’s. NBC New York ran a story last night where it provided more context to the story, reporting that local residents protested at City Hall:

The report also said the following:

City resident Jasmine Vidal [sic] and her boyfriend said they were sitting on their porch with a friend in February when the officer drove up in a patrol car. Vidal said they told the officer to get out of the car when he started speaking to them, and that’s when he got angry, using foul language and making threats about calling immigration.

They recorded the encounter, in which the officer is heard asking Vidal’s boyfriend, “You go to school? What are you, [expletive] special ed? You [expletive] an idiot. You might be an idiot because you mouthed off. That’s why you’re going to get this ticket.”

The officer continues: “Don’t worry, I’m going to knock on your [expletive] door, and I’m going to check your mom’s ID, and all your [expletive] cousins and relatives, and when they give me a fake [expletive] name, I’m going to have immigration pick everybody up so they can go back to the [expletive] border or wherever the [expletive] they came from. And all the hard work they came to America, you [expletive] it up.

“I don’t see you smiling. Where’s that smile now?” the officer says, before taunting him: “Let’s go, bro. You were talking all this [expletive], bro.”

An online petition is now callikng for the removal of Sgt Roy Bordamonte from Passaic Police Department:

I’m starting this petition because an officer in my town of Passaic nj harasses citizens daily. He’s a bully in our city. This is what we face everyday in Passaic nj. With this particular officer. To the residents of Passaic this isn’t nothing new but this has to stop enough is enough the voice you hear on the video is officer ROY himself demonstrating how he and his task force serve and protect or should I say harass and disrespect ..we need justice for our citizens!!!

The online petition also includes another 2015 video showing the officer in question: