On Thursday afternoon, Shenitria Blocker filmed a Miami police officer beating a handcuffed man in the back of a squad car, and Blocker’s friend Marilyn Smith posted the video to Facebook. Now, according to the Miami New Times, the Miami Order of the Fraternal Police has begun to disparage Smith.

Late on Thursday, Miami Police Major Delrish Moss said in a statement that the department had seen the video, and that the officer involved had had his gun and badge taken away, pending an investigation, the Associated Press reported.

The police union has already closed ranks. “As everyone is aware, social media has placed a very negative tone on law enforcement nationwide,” union president Javier Ortiz wrote in a press release.

“On August 13th, there was a video that was posted in social media that shows an encounter with Miami Police Officers. While the video may seem concerning to some, the FOP is confident that when everything is analyzed with the totality of the circumstance, it will be concluded that the police officer was doing what he is supposed to be doing: Protecting our Community.”

In the press release, Ortiz included screenshots of Smith’s Facebook page, which has since been deactivated.

“What is extremely concerning is that the poster of this video (aka Facebook Marilyn Smith) has photographs of her with young men armed with handguns,” he wrote.

“It seems that no one cares to address this. Social media has focused so much on #blacklifematters [sic] /alllifematters campaigns, yet nobody targets the root of the problem our community faces today.”

“If the police officer has done something not within policy, it must be corrected. With that said, there is a much more serious message by this video poster. Our community has accepted behavior that motivates violence in our younger generation. It’s time for the community to take a stand against this reckless behavior and stop the violence. As the saying goes: It takes a village to raise a child. Guns don’t belong in the hands of children. It is the responsibility of our stakeholders that live in our community to stop that from occurring in the first place.”

According to the New Times, Ortiz was sued in 2013 by an Ultra Music Festival attendee for allegedly beating him over a glowstick.

Screenshot via Miami New Times. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.