Thin Skinned? Miami Cop Cited for Choking Man Who Called Him Nasty Name (VIDEO)

"You are on my property bitch!"

A local resident uttered those fateful words to a Miami Police Department sergeant about a second before the officer grabbed him by the neck, pinned him against a metal fence, and had him arrested.

The incident took place during a December 2021 domestic violence investigation on NW 5th Court near Miami Edison Senior High. Before Sgt. Gary Sampson pounced, the resident, who was not a suspect in the investigation, was demanding badge numbers and questioning police about why his uncle had been detained.

An internal affairs investigation last year cited Sampson for excessive force, improper procedure, and several other department policy violations in connection with the encounter. The case is now on the agenda for an upcoming meeting of the Civilian Investigative Panel (CIP), which recently backed the excessive force finding and determined that Sampson skipped mention of the choking move in his official account of the incident.

"Sergeant Sampson failed to document the fact that he grabbed the male in the neck/throat area in his Response to Resistance report," the CIP says.

Officers who witnessed the encounter told internal affairs that the resident, Georges Auguste, had interfered with the domestic violence investigation, acted aggressively, and showered police with insults, telling Sampson, "Suck my dick," among other unsavory phrases.

But the internal affairs investigation found the sergeant neglected to de-escalate the situation.

Police body-cam footage captured Auguste standing on the sidewalk when Sampson walked up inches from his face while pointing his finger and demanding that Auguste back up.

"Get your hands out of my face!" Auguste protests. As Sampson continues to yell, "You need to back up," Auguste responds, "I am on my property. You are on my property bitch!"

That's when the sergeant goes for Auguste's neck.

Amid the bedlam, police take Auguste to the ground and tell him to stop resisting as he is placed in handcuffs.

"I'm not resisting. I was never resisting," Auguste screams. "I am hurting... I need a doctor."

Auguste's tense interactions with the Miami Police Department that night didn't end with Sampson.

Later in the evening in a wing of Jackson Memorial Hospital, a shackled Auguste was dragged on his head by police after he refused to walk, saying his ankle cuffs were too tight. Auguste had been transported to the medical center following his complaints of chest pain while in custody.

Body-cam footage shows Auguste lying on the ground in the hospital while arguing with officers who are trying to escort him back to jail.

"My ankle, my ankle! This shit's too tight... I can't walk. This shit's scratching me," he says. "I ain't walking."

"Do your job bitch! Go ahead drag me."

One officer proceeds to grab Auguste's right arm and pull him through a hospital doorway for about five feet, with Auguste's head dragging on the floor. Another officer meanwhile is urging her peer to remove Auguste's shackles. "Let's just take this off. He's just being petty," she says.

Internal affairs cited the two officers involved in the hospital incident for failing to report it to a supervisor in light of Auguste's complaints of injury. The officer who dragged Auguste was also cited for excessive force. (He told internal affairs that he believed Auguste was faking injury because he didn't want to go back to jail.)

Auguste was booked for alleged disorderly conduct and resisting arrest with violence. The charges were downgraded and ultimately tagged as nolle prosequi in the county docket, meaning prosecutors declined to pursue the case against him.

According to the CIP report, Sampson has worked for the Miami Police Department since 1997. He has received nine citizen complaints, three administrative complaints, and has had 19 use-of-force incidents.

The Miami Police Department has not responded to a request for comment on what, if any, disciplinary action it took against police who dealt with Auguste. The internal affairs probe states that Sampson was temporarily relieved of duty pending the investigation, which stretched into the summer of 2022.

Internal affairs attempted to reach out to Auguste and his public defender but did not hear back, according to the IA report. As the probe was pending, he was incarcerated on unrelated charges.

Miami officers' encounter with Auguste mirrors testy interactions that local cops have on a daily basis with citizens, often involving agitated people who may not pose a violent threat but are spouting nasty language.

While there has not been an absolute rule on the issue, appeals courts that shape the law for Miami-Dade have consistently held that saying offensive phrases to a police officer is generally protected by the First Amendment.

Aaron Terr, public advocacy director at Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, tells New Times that broadly worded statutes like Florida's disorderly conduct law — which prohibits actions that "outrage the sense of public decency” or “affect the peace and quiet of persons" — are in part to blame for officers' sense of carte blanche to detain and manhandle bystanders who speak to them in a disagreeable way.

"Officers do have to be able to withstand a hefty dose of criticism and scorn while still respecting citizens' First Amendment rights. That's part of the job for better or for worse," Terr says.