{"id":388467,"date":"2026-09-02T17:40:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/388467\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T17:40:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:40:11","slug":"lauderhill-vice-mayors-domestic-battery-arrest-appears-to-be-political-persecution-his-attorney-says-wsvn-7news-miami-news-weather-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/388467\/","title":{"rendered":"Lauderhill vice mayor\u2019s domestic battery arrest appears to be \u2018political persecution,\u2019 his attorney says – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) – Lauderhill Vice Mayor Richard Campbell went before a judge a day after he was arrested on charges that include domestic battery<\/a>, something his attorney described as \u201canything but a typical investigation or arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campbell stood before Broward County Circuit Court Judge Corey B. Friedman, Tuesday morning. The defendant\u2019s attorney, Eric Schwartzreich, and his attorney spoke on his behalf.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt appears this is political persecution, and Richard Campbell looks forward to having his day,\u201d said Schwartzreich.<\/p>\n

Hours later, Campbell walked out of jail and did not take any questions from the press.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to ask him not to say anything and look forward to fighting this in court,\u201d said Schwartzreich. \u201cHe\u2019s not guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monday afternoon, Campbell used his suit jacket to hide from cameras as he was escorted into the Broward County Jail in Fort Lauderdale, but the 70-year-old won\u2019t be able to hide from the charges.<\/p>\n

Campbell was booked on two charges: simple domestic battery and tampering with or harassing a witness or victim.<\/p>\n

According to an arrest warrant, Campbell \u201cintentionally touched the victim against her will,\u201d and then weeks following the alleged incident, \u201c[He] knowingly used intimidation to withhold testimony.\u201d <\/p>\n

Monday night, the Lauderhill City Commission held a meeting where Campbell, who is currently campaigning to keep his seat, was noticeably absent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have everyone here with the exception of our vice mayor, who usually takes communications, and so we are going to ask the previous vice mayor if he can please go forward with the communications from the public,\u201d said Lauderhill Mayor Denise Grant.<\/p>\n

Grant told 7News \u201cno comment\u201d but did say a prayer for the vice mayor.<\/p>\n

\u201cAllow him, Lord, to use this as something that won\u2019t immobilize him but as stepping stones so that he can go through his situation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Lauderhill Police Department said they were not commenting because it\u2019s an open and ongoing investigation \u2014 one that, Schwartzreich said, he and his client are prepared to fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe deny these allegations, we refute them, and I bring it up because I just want to make it clear that it\u2019s our intention to fight each and every one of these allegations,\u201d said Schwartzreich.<\/p>\n

The attorney later issued the following statement:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis arrest stems from a misdemeanor investigation, but it is anything but a typical investigation or arrest. The underlying allegation is an unreported, or significantly delayed, claim of misdemeanor battery that allegedly occurred inside Richard Campbell\u2019s home back on August 3. That allegation somehow evolved into an extraordinary nine-page arrest affidavit, when a routine probable-cause affidavit in this type of case is generally no more than two pages.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campbell received a $7,500 bond, which he has since posted. He is expected to be released sometime on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n

\tJoin our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) – Lauderhill Vice Mayor Richard Campbell went before a judge a day after he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388468,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250],"class_list":["post-388467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}