The Broward NAACP and the Public Defender’s Office urged Friday that a Fort Lauderdale police officer be fired after a police investigation found he used racial slurs and incited a fight with a group of black men outside a club after a night of drinking.
Last month, Fort Lauderdale Police Chief William Schultz and a civilian review board recommended the termination of Officer John Giga after a months-long internal affairs investigation.
The decision rests with acting City Manager Susan Grant, who will review the findings and monitor the disciplinary appeals process for Giga, her office said. Giga has been a Fort Lauderdale police officer since 2008.
“The NAACP is not anti-police,” Broward NAACP President Marsha Ellison said at a news conference at the Public Defender’s Office in the Broward County Courthouse. “We are an anti-racist police force. We are against the police who do anything other than treat people correctly and fairly. We honestly don’t understand how this guy is still in uniform. It’s clear he doesn’t deserve it.’
“He should not be an officer in this community,” Broward District Attorney Gordon Weekes added. “There are some really talented, dedicated officers doing good work in this community, and they are being affected by… the racial and aggressive nature in which [Giga] “oversees our community.”
In a 385-page file, investigators from the Internal Affairs and Criminal Investigations Division found that Giga had violated several department policies, including unbecoming conduct and dereliction of duty.
Giga’s attorney, Eugene Gibbons, did not respond to a phone call from the Miami Herald on Friday. Representatives of the Fort Lauderdale police union also did not respond to the Herald’s inquiry.
READ MORE: Ft. Lauderdale top recommends firing of officer who used racial slurs: sources
According to the Internal Affairs investigation report, seen by the Herald, the saga began in the early morning hours of Nov. 24, the Friday after Thanksgiving. Giga, who was free, was seen on video drinking at least five alcoholic drinks and then driving around Fort Lauderdale in his police car. At the same time, he was peppering a “friend” with text messages.
He later showed up at her work, Capone’s Nightclub, 310 SW Second St. in Fort Lauderdale, and forced her to hide from him while he searched for her, the documents show.
Unable to find her, he walked into the club’s parking lot and almost immediately started arguing with a nearby group of black men, witnesses told detectives.
He was overheard using the N-word at least three times before the group got into their car and drove away, documents read. Giga followed a car and punched the driver’s side window, although he did not break the glass.
The driver got out, prompting Giga to approach him and assume a “fighting stance,” the documents say. The driver punched him in the face. A passenger in that car and a driver in another car following them intervened and pelted Giga for about 20 seconds.
“The racist part of it is extremely disturbing,” said Ellison, who called for his immediate resignation. “They have some very good officers in the city of Fort Lauderdale. Unfortunately, Officer Giga is not one of those people.”
Inconsistent stories and incorrect research?
During the investigation, Giga claimed he was breaking up a fight outside the club and was attacked by an unknown person. Detectives said witness statements and surveillance video did not corroborate that version of events.
The documents also show that he gave several conflicting statements about what he did while on duty that day, the condition of his patrol car and that he had not consumed alcohol when he finished work.
Other Fort Lauderdale police officers may have violated department policy, the report said.
Two police officers turned off their body-worn cameras when they should have been documenting the investigation; a sergeant attempted to order an officer to turn off her body-worn camera, even though she was told to keep it on; and a major ordered a lieutenant to officially report that Giga was breaking up a fight and was on duty, even though he spoke to neither Giga nor any witnesses.
Weekes, who reviewed the report, said it appeared police gave Giga space that others would not get if accused of assault.
“When a police officer is being investigated for possible misconduct … they show a lot of respect, a lot of patience and they make sure they protect that officer every opportunity they get,” he said.
Dozens of cases could be reopened
Since Giga joined the force in 2008, he has been involved as a witness or arresting officer in possibly hundreds of cases.
Former judge Ilona Holmes, now general counsel for the Broward NAACP, said his alleged actions would cast doubt on any case he was involved in. She has been a prosecutor and judge for more than 40 years and said there is ample justification to review any case Giga touched.
“Every defense attorney in Broward County will be asking for information … at least that he is a witness,” Holmes said at the news conference. “Bad police work can be one bad apple, and it can ruin the whole thing.”
Weekes said the Public Prosecution Service has six open cases involving Giga and several cases have been closed and will be reviewed.
“We will be conducting a thorough and comprehensive investigation into his conduct in those cases and how this newly discovered information and newly discovered evidence will impact the way those cases were resolved,” he said.
History of disciplinary actions
Since his appointment, Giga has received five reprimands and four suspensions for policy violations of varying degrees. Here are a few:
▪ In June 2022, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department’s Instagram account was flooded with complaints. Users submitted a video of a uniformed officer touching a woman’s butt outside SWAY Nightclub – that officer was Giga. He received a letter of reprimand and his patrol car privileges were revoked.
▪ In December 2019, he was suspended for three days for “oversleeping” and missing mandatory police training.
▪ In 2019, he received a letter of reprimand for twice using law enforcement databases to search for his ex-girlfriends’ personal information.
▪ Giga was suspended twice for speeding in his police car, in June 2019 and February 2018.
▪ In March 2012, Giga received a letter of reprimand for failing to properly investigate a claim about marijuana in an apartment where children were present. The same day, he reportedly used “excessive force” against a city garbage collection worker, leading to a lawsuit that was settled.
