A Miami Beach woman has filed a federal lawsuit against the city, its mayor and police chief, claiming her First Amendment rights were violated after police visited her home following a social media post.
Raquel Pacheco alleges city leaders and law enforcement retaliated against her and discriminated against her viewpoint after she posted a critical comment on Facebook about Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner. She says the post led to officers showing up at her door.
“I think this is a tremendous opportunity for us to set a precedent that puts an end to abuse of power and attack on civil liberties of residents by both the mayor and law enforcement,” Pacheco said.
In her lawsuit, Pacheco claims the mayor, police chief and other city leaders targeted her for a negative Facebook comment in which she claimed the mayor called for the death of Palestinians.
She believes her post was singled out and prompted the police response. Mayor Steven Meiner previously stated he sent the comment to the Chief, which he commonly does with what he deems hate speech at the request of the Chief.
Pacheco documented the encounter and shared it on Facebook, including video of officers asking whether the account belonged to her.
Responding to the lawsuit, Meiner said the filing contains inaccuracies and suggested the statements at issue could be defamatory.
“We will defend the right for every person of every background to live freely here in Miami Beach and certainly for our Jewish community,” Meiner said.
Pacheco said her lawsuit is aimed at preventing similar incidents from happening to others.
“I want to make sure that this doesn’t continue, this isn’t a pattern, and that other people, other residents don’t fall victim to this,” she said.
Miami Beach Police Chief Wayne Jones addressed the incident during a February city meeting, saying he stood by the department’s actions and would not handle the situation differently.
“We have an obligation to react to that,” Jones said at the Feb. 5 meeting. “The goal and intent of the investigators in responding to Miss Pacheco’s house was not to take away her free speech, but to quite frankly have a frank conversation with her.”
CBS News Miami reached out to Jones for comment on the lawsuit but had not received a response as of publication.
