It seems like freedom of speech in America is taking one hit after another. Recently, many people haven’t been able to exercise their 1st amendment rights without being met with resistance. A new example of this occurred in Florida, leaving people outraged. A woman was surprised when Miami Beach police paid her a visit after she criticized Mayor Steven Meiner on Facebook. A video taken by the woman showed two police officers standing in front of her. One of them showed her a comment left by a Facebook user and asked whether it was her account. “I refuse to answer questions without my lawyer present,” she rightfully responded.
The Florida woman’s comment criticizing Meiner caught the eye of somebody in power; however, a police officer went to her door and questioned her in what many saw as an attempt to intimidate her. “The guy who consistently calls for the death of all Palestinians, tried to shut down a theater for showing a movie that hurt his feelings, and REFUSES to stand up for the LGBTQ community in any way (even leaves the room when they vote on related matters) wants you to know that you’re all welcome here. 🤡🤡🤡,” the comment read.
After being asked about the comment, the Florida resident added, “This is freedom of speech. This is America.” The other officer then explained that they just wanted to know if they were talking to the right person. Following this, the officer with the phone started reading the comment to her. He even made sure to read the emojis. “I’m not gonna answer whether this is me or not,” she said. The officer then explained that the concerning part was whether someone else got agitated or agreed with the comment. The officers, and probably the mayor, didn’t like the part saying “The guy who consistently calls for the death of all Palestinians.” To them, this could incite somebody to do something radical. He then told her to refrain from posting such things. This is basically them telling her she can’t exercise her 1st amendment rights.
People Reacting to the Police Visiting the Florida Woman
People were outraged that Miami Beach police visited the Florida woman just because of a comment she wrote. Since this was wrong on every level, one person wrote, “I would have filed a civil suit that afternoon.” This made another person agree and say, “Agreed. Send a message to that [expletive] mayor for turning the police force into his personal gestapo, which is ironic given the mayor’s background.” Someone else added, “Absolutely. The poster made no threats or calls for violence. Sue the [expletive] out of them. Call the state AG and put in an official misconduct report.” One Redditor also called the situation as it is, as they said one simple word: “Intimidation.”
More people expressed their outrage at what took place in Florida as one person said, “Holy [expletive]. Freedom of Speech is being infringed.” Another person pointed out the hypocrisy here and wrote, “They’re saying that calling for the deaths of Palestinians by a public figure isn’t inciting violence but her random fb post is.” Since the Miami Beach mayor was called a Republican, someone else made sure to comment, “The right has always hated freedom of speech.” One comment also applauded the woman for how she handled the situation. “Good on this lady for not taking the bait and making any statements to the police. This is the way to do it as much you want to call them out on blatant civil rights violations,” they said. This visit shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
