‘Dangerous Escalation’: Emails show Miami Beach mayor sent Facebook post to police
Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner emailed a screenshot of a resident’s negative Facebook comment about him to the city’s police chief one day before officers showed up at the woman’s home to question her about it — an incident that went viral and led to a wave of backlash.
“As we discussed, please see the post below,” Meiner wrote in a Jan. 11 email to Police Chief Wayne Jones, according to email records obtained Friday by the Miami Herald.
The subject line of Meiner’s email was “Dangerous Escalation.”
Attached to the email was a screenshot of a Facebook comment by Raquel Pacheco, a former candidate for local and state offices. In the comment, Pacheco criticized a Facebook post that Meiner had written calling Miami Beach “a safe haven for everyone,” writing, in part, that Meiner “consistently calls for the death of all Palestinians.”
Meiner emailed Jones shortly before 8 p.m., records show. Jones responded just before 2 a.m., writing that, while Pacheco “didn’t issue a direct threat, her allegations are undeniably provocative and have the potential to incite others to escalate to that level.”
“This is precisely why I have strongly encouraged you to utilize your [police] protection detail as much as reasonably possible,” Jones wrote.
“You have taken a strong and public stance in support of Israel,” the chief continued. “Some people clearly, as in this case, take issue with your unwavering position and I am concern [sic] that their words escalate to physical action. It’s important we remain vigilant and take proactive steps to ensure your safety.”
Jones added that he was copying a sergeant on the email and expected him to “immediately expand” Meiner’s security detail coverage.
Around 1 p.m. on Jan. 12, the sergeant — whose name was redacted from records provided to the Herald but was included in records released to other media — emailed two detectives.
“Good afternoon Gentlemen, Please see the below thread,” the sergeant wrote. “Please follow-up accordingly and provide me with an update once you have reached out to Ms. Pacheco. Thank you in advance.”
About an hour later, the two detectives from the Miami Beach police intelligence unit showed up at Pacheco’s home in South Beach. Pacheco recorded their interaction, in which officers showed her an image of the Facebook comment and Pacheco declined to confirm whether she had written it.
The officers told Pacheco that they were trying to prevent “someone else getting agitated or agreeing with the statement” and advised her to “refrain from posting things like that because that can get something incited.”
Meiner has not explicitly called for the death of Palestinians. Pacheco previously told the Herald she was alluding to statements Meiner has made expressing his support for Israel and its war in Gaza.
Meiner, Jones and representatives for the mayor’s office and police department did not immediately respond to questions Friday.
In a Jan. 16 statement, Jones said he had directed the detectives to speak with Pacheco because he “had serious concerns that her remarks could trigger physical action by others.”
He added that “at no time did the Mayor or any other official direct me to take action.”
READ MORE: Miami Beach resident posted online about the mayor. Police showed up at her door
The emails released Friday show Jones directing an expansion of Meiner’s security detail but not explicitly calling for officers to visit Pacheco’s home.
A police spokesperson said the department chose not to initiate a criminal investigation.
Meiner issued a statement several days after the incident, calling it “a police matter.”
“I am a strong supporter of the State of Israel and its right to defend its citizens,” Meiner said. “Others might have a different view and that is their right. In this situation, our police department believed that inflammatory language that is false and without any factual basis was justification for follow-up to assess the level of threat and to protect the safety of all involved.”
On Jan. 16, Miami Beach police spokesperson Christopher Bess responded to questions from the Herald and confirmed that the mayor or his office had flagged Pacheco’s comment to police.
The emails released Friday between Meiner and Jones fulfilled a Jan. 13 public records request, one of several that the Herald has filed related to the incident.
An attorney for Pacheco, Miriam Haskell, said in a statement that the newly released communication “confirms what we already suspected — Mayor Meiner is continuing to push an agenda that stifles political perspective that he finds offensive, even when his actions run afoul of the First Amendment.”
“The next steps are clear: Call for a full investigation of both this incident and the Miami Beach Police Department’s involvement in stifling First Amendment rights, and — at minimum — order necessary training for police in order to avoid similar injustices,” Haskell said. “I hope members of the [city] commission who still believe in the Constitution will take this on.”
Pacheco’s video drew national attention and concern from free speech groups. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a nonprofit more widely known as FIRE, sent a letter to Miami Beach police calling the incident “an egregious abuse of power” that “chills the exercise of First Amendment rights.”
Two Republican candidates for Florida governor, former Speaker of the Florida House Paul Renner and investor James Fishback, also weighed in.
“This video of Miami Beach police interrogating a poor woman over a harmless social media post is outrageous,” Renner said in a video posted to X. “I served for 20 years in the military and in two wars so this would never happen in our country.”
Fishback said in a statement posted to X that “all forms of religious hatred should be condemned, but criticism of the Israeli government, just as criticism of our government, is fully protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”
Fishback has been denounced by some members of his own party, in part for defending followers of online streamer Nick Fuentes, an avowed white nationalist and Holocaust denier who was recently part of a group of influencers at a Miami Beach nightclub who requested that a DJ play the song “Heil Hitler” by Kanye West.
Meiner, who is Jewish, said the group “should never have been welcomed into this club or allowed to play a song with ‘Heil Hitler’ lyrics that has been universally condemned.”
Meiner, who was elected in November to a second term as mayor, is a vocal supporter of Israel and has taken several measures aimed at limiting speech by pro-Palestinian activists, including cutting off the microphones of speakers at city meetings and pushing for restrictions on protests that prompted an ongoing lawsuit.
Last March, Meiner sought to cancel the lease of independent movie theater O Cinema because it screened a documentary about the West Bank, a proposal he later dropped in the face of criticism.
This story was originally published January 30, 2026 at 12:56 PM.
