Florida commissioners mocked a journalist. Now, one official says they’re getting threats.
The Brevard County Commission has drawn national ire since drafting a resolution mocking an editorial page journalist that passed unanimously last week — an action a commissioner now claims has prompted threats from political fanatics to their commission offices.
The document in question targeted Isadora Rangel, a former engagement editor and sole opinion writer at the Gannett-owned Florida Today newspaper, who has recently joined the Miami Herald’s Editorial Board.
What has further outraged critics, however, are the amendments from one commissioner, Bryan Lober, who sarcastically said he wanted to recognize Rangel for “selflessly remaining in this country” despite having a better economy and crime rate than her native country, Brazil.
“Whereas … Ms. Rangel deserves recognition for selflessly remaining in this country, not withstanding our nearly tenfold higher per capita GDP and approximately one-sixth the murder rate of the country from which she hails,” Lober’s amendment read.
The government action was the latest in a long-standing rivalry with Florida Today and Rangel, whose past opinion pieces have been critical of the all-Republican commission, Lober’s uncivil behavior online, and the lack of transparency with citizens through the coronavirus pandemic.
“Whereas, because of her eloquent prose, the circulation of FLORIDA TODAY dropped only 16 percent during her tenure,” the resolution read in part, quoting a report from the Florida Bulldog.
Commissioner John Tobia, who presented the resolution before the commission on Feb. 9, said they were “recognizing” Rangel’s time living and working on the Space Coast. When reached for comment about the intentions of the resolution, Tobia sent an email back saying, “I wish Isadora much success in her future endeavors at the Miami Herald.”
“We are rough on the newspaper, aren’t we?” said Commissioner Rita Pritchett, the commission’s chair, during last week’s meeting.
Tobia said he was getting the resolution framed.
“This one will be coming out of my own pocketbook; I am more than willing to pay the $26 for this frame,” he said.
The resolution has been widely covered by The Washington Post, The Hill and Newsweek. But Lober argues the facts have been misrepresented.
In an emailed statement to the Herald, Lober said that what prompted the resolution was years of “highly partisan treatment” from Florida Today, including claims that the attacks against him from the newspaper were malicious.
“As a result of the inaccurate and misleading reporting, shooting threats were called into multiple commission offices yesterday forcing their evacuation and costing taxpayers in law enforcement response,” Lober said in an email Tuesday, adding that he had proof to confirm his allegations.
When asked for evidence that showed a link between the threats and media attention from the resolution, Lober did not respond. Florida Today reported that the office of Commissioner Curt Smith was temporarily closed on Tuesday after receiving threats from a caller on Monday afternoon, who said there is “gonna be a civil war against your office” and that an unidentified group of people was “arming the minorities with AK-47s.”
The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the threats.
Meanwhile, Rangel said she has been surprised by the attention the resolution has received. She first heard about it when a source in Brevard County sent her a text message with a video of the commission meeting.
“The venue through which it was done was unexpected because obviously I was not expecting a government meeting to be used to attack a private citizen,” Rangel said.
She also said she felt the comments about her native country of Brazil were inappropriate and motivated by anti-immigrant sentiment.
“It should be horrifying not because it was directed to me... It should be horrifying that in a country built by immigrants, we’re still using this rhetoric,” said Rangel, who is a U.S. permanent resident and has been in the U.S. since 2006. She has lived in Florida since 2008 and she graduated from Florida International University in 2010.
“My job was to write my opinion. I was doing my job as a columnist and a journalist,” Rangel said, adding that she brings the same drive to the Herald’s editorial board. “I was paid to do a job and I’m doing it.”
Nancy Ancrum, the Herald’s Editorial Board editor, said she felt the commissioners’ actions were “petty” and distracted from much larger issues in their county.
“It’s an unfortunately small and petty move by government officials who I’m sure have better things to do to serve their constituents,” Ancrum said. “We consider the Brevard County Commission’s dubious resolution high praise, which only affirms the strength that [Rangel] brings as a journalist and as an opinion writer to the Miami Herald.”
Lober denies that his amendments were motivated by anti-immigrant beliefs, but rather that the statistics he cited are “all factually accurate and were offered simply to illustrate how well we have it here, not how undesirable the situation may be in Rangel’s home country.”
“Apparently patriotism is now conflated with xenophobia,” he said. “It was entirely facetious yet wholly innocuous. At worst, it amounted to a roast.”
This story was originally published February 17, 2021 at 5:20 PM.
