A police officer in Florida is being investigated after he was videotaped pushing and slapping a homeless man at a bus terminal on Sunday.

The said video shows homeless man Bruce Laclair, 58, sleeping on a bench at a terminal when Fort Lauderdale Florida cop Victor Ramirez shoved him to the ground, handcuffs him and slaps him afterwards. The incident comes just after Fort Lauderdale banned feeding homeless people and public areas, stirring controversy.

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Ramirez reportedly said, "I tell you what to do, you're going to do it - it's just that simple. What do you think is going to happen? What do you think is going to happen? I didn't want to take you to jail."

Witnesses said that Ramirez told Laclaire he was not supposed to be in the area. The homeless man looked disoriented and told Ramirez he was going to relieve himself and started walking away from the officer.

Ramirez then went back to his car and put on blue gloves then started to shove and slap Laclaire while repeating that he was not supposed to be there.

Officer Ramirez was ordering the homeless man to get up as shown in the video and when the man touched him and refused to take his orders, that's when he slapped Laclair, who was then taken to jail.

Ramirez was immediately put on an indefinite paid leave as soon as the video surfaced. Chief Frank Adderley explained that they have to investigate the video first before taking on any action.

Ramirez has been with the police force for nine years now.

During the slapping incident, Ramirez was already off-duty but was asked to be at the bus station by county transit officials due to safety concerns. Ramirez never had disciplinary actions on his record in the past.

Meanwhile, Laclair was charged with the misdemeanor trespassing but was released on Tuesday on bail. In an interview upon release, he said he did not think the police targeted the homeless people but simply said Ramirez had a problem.

Tagshomeless, slapping, anti-police sentiment, Florida cop, Bruce Laclair, Victor Ramirez