‘Offensive to the First Amendment’: Free speech group blasts Miami Beach PD
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.”
Police said the interaction did not trigger a formal investigation. Nonetheless, it has made national news and prompted swift backlash, including from Pacheco, who retained a civil rights attorney.
In the letter, FIRE’s director of public advocacy, Aaron Terr, urged Miami Beach police to “publicly affirm that the First Amendment protects Pacheco’s post and commit that, going forward, officers will never initiate contact with individuals for the purpose of discouraging lawful expression.”
“[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.”
Terr also requested copies of the department’s policies and training materials governing “officer responses to protected expression.”
He stressed that Pacheco’s comment didn’t meet a First Amendment exception for “true threats.”
Spokespeople for the police department, the mayor’s office and the city did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the letter from FIRE.
A police spokesperson confirmed to the Miami Herald on Tuesday that Meiner’s office had flagged Pacheco’s comment to the department but did not provide additional details. The Herald has requested email correspondence and other records that could show how the situation played out.
In his statement Friday, Jones stressed that it was his decision to send detectives to Pacheco’s home. “At no time did the Mayor or any other official direct me to take action,” the chief said.
FIRE has grown in prominence in recent years. The Philadelphia-based group was founded in 1999 to protect free speech on college campuses, often defending conservatives. Since broadening its focus in 2022, the group has taken up causes across the political spectrum, including a lawsuit filed last year to oppose the Trump administration’s attempts to deport foreign-born students who criticize Israel’s government.
Pacheco previously ran as a Democrat for Florida Senate and has been an outspoken critic of Meiner, who is a staunch supporter of Israel. Meiner is registered as non-party affiliated and serves in a nonpartisan mayor’s seat.
Meiner has faced heat from free-speech advocates and political activists for seeking to enact limits on pro-Palestinian protests in Miami Beach — prompting a lawsuit that is ongoing — and attempting to terminate the lease of independent theater O Cinema because it screened a documentary about conditions in the West Bank.
