A woman left a comment on Facebook criticizing the Mayor of Miami Beach. The Mayor of Miami Beach then sent the cops

[AStern]

A woman left a comment on Facebook criticizing the Mayor of Miami Beach.

The Mayor of Miami Beach then sent the cops to her home.

A woman left a comment on Facebook criticizing the Mayor of Miami Beach,.

The Mayor of Miami Beach then sent the cops to her home.

— Outspoken™️ (@out5p0ken.bsky.social) 2026-01-19T15:52:17.892Z

Her comment:

Her comment —

FREEDOM of SPEECH

— Outspoken™️ (@out5p0ken.bsky.social) 2026-01-19T15:52:17.893Z

[CrispyQ]

1. Omg, that's barely a criticism!

We have too many thinned-skinned jerks in positions of authority.

[Ilsa]

2. The story doesn't end with the visit. She got a lawyer.

Last edited Mon Jan 19, 2026, 05:59 PM - Edit history (1)

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article314351172.html

A prominent free speech organization sent a letter to the Miami Beach Police Department on Friday, slamming its decision to send officers to the home of a resident who criticized Mayor Steven Meiner on Facebook. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a nonprofit more widely known as FIRE, called the move “an egregious abuse of power” that “chills the exercise of First Amendment rights and undermines public confidence in the department’s commitment to respecting civil liberties and the United States Constitution.”

On Monday, two Miami Beach police detectives paid Raquel Pacheco a visit to ask about a critical comment that had been left under one of Meiner’s Facebook posts. Video taken by Pacheco showed officers warning her that her comment — in which she said that Meiner “consistently calls for the death of all Palestinians” — could potentially “incite somebody to do something radical.”

snip

[T]he purpose of their visit was not to investigate a crime. It had no purpose other than to pressure Pacheco to cease engaging in protected political expression over concern about how others might react to it,” Terr wrote. “This blatant overreach is offensive to the First Amendment.” The letter was addressed to Police Chief Wayne Jones, who defended the officers’ actions in a statement Friday in which he said his department “is committed to safeguarding residents and visitors while also respecting constitutional rights.”

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article314351172.html#storylink=cpy

[yellow dahlia]

3. Yikes!

[progressoid]

11. Good.

I hope these assholes pay.

[yellow dahlia]

4. This is not the first story like this I have heard this week.

Chilling!

[dickthegrouch]

5. All 911 calls are recorded

Perhaps we can reign in some of this kind of egregious behavior by calling 911 and having them record the interaction. It won't be video, but it is an official (presumably immutable) recording.
A list of possible offences that the caller could cite against the cop, ICE agent, thug, or whomever at the door might include telling the dispatcher something along the lines of:

There's a (group of) armed person(s) at my door demanding entry, and to be allowed to look at my phone, social media, identity papers...
He has been asked for a search warrant, or a probable cause for their demands, and have failed to articulate or produce any such thing.
Several of them have their hands on, and are brandishing, their weapons.
They are attempting to force their way into my house (apartment, office, shop) without my consent.
I demand that they be arrested for initimidation, brandishing a weapon, trespass, harassment, attempted abduction under the color of authority, and violating my first and fourth amenedment rights a US citizen.
I demand a police response and investigation of the identites and authorization agency for these invaders. This call will be made a part of any civil or criminal case whether I become a defendant or a plaintiff, and may not be deleted, tampered with, or otherwise compromised.

(I am not an attorney. But it seems to me that "documentation" and attempting to create accountability for fascists is a defendable tactic. They are known to hightail it out of the situation when challenged appropriately.)

Of course some PDs may not respond, but that failure will be on them, eventually, too.

[BaronChocula]

6. Shame

We live in a country where many white people have instinctively felt the freedom to call the police when they've seen a black person NAPPING (asleep) in their car. This looks like that same bad habit on a slippery slope.

[PatrickforB]

7. Remind me to NEVER, never, ever, ever, ever buy anything that comes from, or is made, in Florida. Until

these people clean up their snowflake MAGA act, I'm done.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

8. He left attorney position " amidst sexual misconduct allegations".

Steven Meiner (born 1970 or 1971) is an American politician and mayor of Miami Beach. He previously served as a Commissioner of Miami Beach and an attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission, which he left amidst sexual misconduct allegations.

[cer7711]

9. Congrats! That mayor just made you rich.

Lawyer up and sue him into bankruptcy.

[LilElf70]

10. I was seriously thinking about

going to Florida this winter. Yeah, I don't think so. That's several thousand I would have spent down there. Even though it's not much, it's that much less the government collects.

[maxrandb]

12. Email address for the Miami Beach mayor

Be a damn shame if this got out and he got even more negative reviews...

[e-mail]

[artemisia1]

14. It is not about "not realizing" it. It is about not giving a fig. Welcome to DU, by the way!

[KS Toronado]

15. Will your Limo service (sallimoservice) pick me up in Atlanta Ga

and take me to the Miami airport?

[Qutzupalotl]

16. Oh, you "wouldn't write something like that"?

Then don't.

See how easy that is?