“I haven’t done anything wrong, why tie me up like this?”, Matteo Falcinelli still repeats today with a broken heart to those close to him. “They did it coldly, I had only asked to get back what was mine.” The release of the video of his arrest, after the one (next in chronological order) in which he was tied with his hands and feet behind his back with straps and left on the ground for 13 minutes in a security room at the North Miami Beach police station , reinforces his disbelief. And while the Farnesina takes action to protect the 25-year-old, the Miami police itself launches an internal investigation into what happened on the night between February 24th and 25th.
The phones disappeared
It all begins when the Florida International University student enters Dean’s Gold in Biscayne, a strip club. He stops to drink until he discovers he no longer has his two phones. He starts looking for them in the club and argues with the managers. The police are called and this is where there is the first testimony video from the bodycam of one of the officers. Falcinelli speaks to him, he is not completely lucid but he is not aggressive and indeed he seems to want to make the policeman think: “They have my phones, I want them back”, he repeats several times. The officer remains at a distance but does not give weight to his words, inviting him to leave. He warns him that if he touches him, he will be arrested. “I have my rights,” Falcinelli claims, and with a finger he touches the badge on his chest, saying he wants to read the name above him. The reaction is immediately violent. Matteo is grabbed and put on the ground but he doesn’t struggle, on the contrary, he explains: «I’m not resisting, there’s no need (to arrest me, ed.). C’mon, come on, look at me… listen to me…”. As if to say: you are exaggerating, also because there are at least six agents around him. While the immobilization maneuver is practiced with a knee on the back of his head pressed to the ground (the one that caused the death of George Floyd, rekindling the Black Lives Matter movement), a bouncer arrives to hand over the phones. Perhaps this would be enough to close the misunderstanding but the officer puts them in the car together with other objects belonging to the boy, who is taken away. In the meantime, the audio from the bodycam is turned off, the officers seem to agree on a version to write in the report and the arrest is motivated by resistance, contempt and trespass (the attempt to re-enter the premises).
Brutalized
The second video is the one in the cell. Hours have passed, Falcinelli is barefoot, he is surrounded by four officers who tie him with the Hotgie restraint technique, hands and feet, until he almost suffocates: “We warned you”, they tell him, but once again the physical disproportion , the context, the attitude of the 25 year old in no way justify (assuming it is possible) this use of force against him. He is breathing hard, he begs them to stop, he screams in pain. «Please, please, please» is his invocation.
Charges dropped
Falcinelli leaves prison thanks to the $4,000 bail paid by his university classmates, which dates back to his arrest after long worried searches, and ends up in hospital due to his injuries and his devastated psychological condition. In the psychiatry ward – because he is at risk of suicide – he is joined by his mother and brother who are still with him today. In mid-April, before the judge, the charges are dropped with the equivalent of a “testing” of our system and the officers don’t even show up to testify. The lawyer found on site is now also joined by the lawyer Francesco Maresca (known for having defended Meredith Kercher) who perhaps already today will bring the case to the attention of the Rome Prosecutor’s Office, responsible for Italians abroad. Matteo is de facto free and the most immediate objective is to have him returned to Italy without any judicial pending. The embassy has already sent a report to the Florida Department of State to ensure that everything is done in compliance with procedures but without raising the temperature further. «By surviving the torture I won the most important match. Maybe my experience as a footballer helped me psychologically, otherwise I don’t know if I would have made it”, reasons Matteo, who before going to Florida played in the Umbrian minor leagues.