{"id":119075,"date":"2026-01-15T11:38:34","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T11:38:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/119075\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T11:38:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T11:38:34","slug":"miami-beach-police-question-resident-at-her-home-over-online-post-about-mayor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/119075\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Beach police question resident at her home over online post about Mayor"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Miami Beach resident, veteran and repeat political candidate says city police questioned her at home over a critical Facebook post she wrote about the Mayor \u2014 and she has posted a video<\/a> online to prove it.<\/p>\n

One of the officers appears to have provided security to Meiner and two City Commission candidates at a campaign event in October.<\/p>\n

More on that later.<\/p>\n

In the video, which Raquel Pacheco posted to Instagram, two Miami Beach Police officers arrived unannounced at her Flamingo Park home. They questioned her about a comment she made on a Facebook post in which Mayor Steven Meiner described the city as a welcoming place.<\/p>\n

Pacheco asked, through her front door, whether she is facing criminal charges.<\/p>\n

\u201cAm I being charged with a crime? OK, you are here to investigate a statement that I allegedly made on Facebook,\u201d Pacheco said, before opening the door once the officers confirmed they weren\u2019t there to arrest her.<\/p>\n

The officers say they wanted \u201cto have a conversation\u201d about the comment, which Pacheco neither confirmed nor denied she wrote. They said they were there \u201cto prevent someone from getting agitated or agreeing with the statement\u201d and acting violently.<\/p>\n

The comment at issue described Meiner as someone \u201cwho consistently calls for the death of all Palestinians\u201d \u2014 a reference to the Mayor\u2019s since-aborted effort<\/a> to evict a theater for screening a documentary about the West Bank critical of Israel \u2014 and \u201cREFUSES to stand up for the LGBTQ community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not saying it\u2019s true or not,\u201d the shorter of the two officers said before re-reading the post\u2019s reference to Palestinians. \u201cThat could probably incite somebody to do something radical. That\u2019s all we\u2019re here to talk about, and we wanted to get your side of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then advised Pacheco to \u201crefrain from posting things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pacheco said she will \u201cmaintain my First Amendment rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is America, right?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She then posted the video online, writing in part, \u201cIf you need further evidence that Miami Beach has descended into a (fascist) nightmare, you\u2019re not paying attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Raquel Pacheco, a Miami Beach resident, veteran and repeat candidate who has been openly critical of Mayor Steven Meiner and Israel, said a police visit to her home over a Facebook comment was meant to intimidate her. The city Police Department denies that was the purpose. Image via Raquel Pacheco.<\/p>\n

She later told reporters the experience felt like intimidation.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy overwhelming feeling was that freedom of speech as I know it died at my front step yesterday,\u201d Pacheco said in an interview with CBS News<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s an incredibly, incredibly sad thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement to Axios Miami<\/a>, the Miami Beach Police Department said the visit was conducted \u201cout of an abundance of caution,\u201d citing heightened national concerns about antisemitism and the fact that the post referenced an elected official. The Department characterized the encounter as a \u201cbrief, consensual\u201d check to ensure there was no immediate threat, emphasizing its commitment to constitutional protections.<\/p>\n

A Department spokesperson confirmed that Meiner\u2019s Office flagged the post, prompting Intelligence Unit detectives to review it. Meiner defended the police follow-up in a statement to Axios, calling the Facebook claim false but framing the response as a safety assessment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a police matter,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cOthers might have a different view and that is their right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photos<\/a> of an October campaign event that Miami Beach business owner Margueritte Ramos posted on Facebook show the shorter of the two officers leaning against a wall in a home, where Meiner addresses a small audience.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>On the left, Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner addresses attendees at a campaign event in October. On the right, the same officer who questioned Raquel Pacheco at her door this week can be seen on the far right, leaning against the wall and wearing what appears to be the same clothes he wore at Pacheco\u2019s doorstep. Images via Facebook.<\/p>\n

A group photo taken outside the event features Meiner and 2025 Commission candidates Fred Karlton and Minique Pardo Pope, both of whom lost their respective races. Many of the attendees wear hats that read, \u201cMiami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A group photo of the campaign event featuring several people wearing hats that read, \u201cMiami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner.\u201d Meiner is eighth from the left. Lawyer and unsuccessful City Commission candidate Monique Pardo Pope is on the bottom right. Commission candidate Fred Karlton, who also lost his bid, can be seen in another photo<\/a>. Image via Facebook.<\/p>\n

Pacheco, a U.S. Army National Guard veteran and former Chair of the Miami Beach Personnel Board, ran unsuccessfully for the Miami Beach Commission<\/a> in 2021 and Senate District 36<\/a> in 2022. While she declined in the video to confirm whether the comment was hers, it came from her Facebook account<\/a>, and she previously shared posts online accusing Israel of genocide using Nazi-era language like \u201cfinal solution<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meiner, who is Jewish, has not publicly called for the death of Palestinians. Meiner has drawn criticism for opposing LGBTQ-friendly measures in the city, including one to rename a street after San Francisco politician Harvey Milk and another condemning the Miami-Dade School Board for rejecting recognition of LGBTQ History Month.<\/p>\n

Former Commissioner\u00a0David Richardson\u00a0accused Meiner of \u201cbuilding a record of voting against the LGBTQ community.\u201d Meiner said he took offense to the claim, pointing to his vote for a measure designating October as LGBTQ History Month in Miami Beach.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the Miami Herald<\/a>, Pacheco described the police visit as an \u201cintimidation tactic\u201d meant to stifle her right to free speech. She has since enlisted the services of lawyer Miriam Haskell of the nonprofit Community Justice Project, who told the Herald the police \u201cwere sent to intimidate her and chill dissent, plain and simple.\u201d<\/p>\n