Miami Beach Police Charges Draw Outrage

Miami FL

12 August, 2021

6:22 AM

Description

By Johania Charles, the Miami Times Aug 10, 2021 Eight years after François Alexandre had his eye socket broken because of a rough encounter with nine City of Miami police officers, he found himself at a press conference demanding justice for Khalid Vaughn, another Black man who fell victim to police violence. "This is a personal story for me, I relive the incident every time I hear or see Black men across the nation getting beat up by police officers, let alone here in Miami Beach," said Alexandre, a five-year member of the Circle of Brotherhood (COB) and a candidate for District 5 City Commission. Alexandre was among several community activists who spoke out against an incident involving five Miami Beach police officers who used excessive force during the arrests of two Black men inside the Royal Palm South Beach hotel lobby last month. Lyle Muhammad, executive director of the Circle of Brotherhood, speaks at a press conference at the Miami Beach police station last Wednesday. (Johania Charles for The Miami Times) "Black men have a right and responsibility to be concerned when any brother, whether we know him personally or not, is attacked and brutalized in such a way," said Lyle Muhammad, executive director of COB, at a press conference he held last week. The community is outraged that footage of the incident only resulted in misdemeanor charges against the officers. Leaders are calling on both the state attorney's office and the Miami Beach Police Department to set a precedent, starting with treating the officers like criminals. "If [any] of us would have done such an atrocity, you would have already seen our mugshot and seen us being walked away in handcuffs. We would be charged with more than a misdemeanor," said Muhammad. "People need to see the police officers in handcuffs if they're being charged with such a crime. Those days of working behind the scenes with the union to already get their positions and their jobs back are over." Joined by other nonprofit founders like anti-violence advocate Tangela Sears, William "DC" Clark and Susan Kennedy, COB requested a sit-down with MBPD Chief Richard Clements and Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle to redefine policing practices and call out the union for protecting officers who abuse their power. "You cannot be a judge, jury and executioner all at one time. You're supposed to be held to a higher standard. The word 'de-escalate' should be at the forefront of your being," said Clark, while standing in front of MBPD headquarters. "So the question is, 'Are you serving people of color or have you taken a back seat to serving us simply because people want to defund you?' I believe this department should serve a strong warning and either suspend, fire or demote every officer who played a part in this." MBPD did not respond to interview requests from The Miami Times. "I want justice to be served under the law in which it is written for everybody and not just certain people," said Alexandre. "We need policies that protect us and we haven't seen any, not from the local, state or federal level, so it's important that we get behind the George Floyd Policing Act – and if we pass that, at the state level we can understand qualified immunity and the use of excessive force." "We seem to continually miss the boat on this issue and what I mean [by that] is that we keep on calling these 'isolated' incidents but they keep on occurring amongst a culture of abuse and racism," noted Muhammad. Over the weekend, the Miami-Dade branch of the NAACP and the Miami-Dade County Black Affairs Advisory Board released a joint statement responding to MBPD's alleged culture of racism toward Black tourists. "We are angered that the beating of a man in custody and the beating of an innocent bystander are only low-level offenses. We wonder what the value of Black lives are in Miami-Dade County as a result," read the statement. "For the last two years, we have seen multiple incidents of improper treatment of Black tourists, and this most recent example reinforces the [same] terrible message, that Black people are not welcome on Miami Beach." Daniella Pierre, president of the local NAACP chapter, said she wasn't surprised by the incident. Daniella Pierre, Miami-Dade Branch NAACP president (Courtesy of Daniella Pierre) "These allegations are not new. We hear complaints and concerns every time there is some type of high-impact event on Miami Beach," she said. "Had actions been taken before, maybe we wouldn't have had this incident, but we recognize the actions taken by the chief as a result. Our approach will be multilayered and it's all purposeful to help us get to the facts, solutions and recommendations to help the department look into de-escalation training, duty to intervene and implicit bias training." MBPD has taken heat in the past for unnecessary force and unwelcoming behavior towards Black tourists, circumstances some people blamed on a culture of racism. The actions of MBPD during that time led the immediate past president of Miami's NAACP, Ruban Roberts, to demand that Clements step down. Clements, however, remained in his position and was praised for taking swift action regarding the most recent incident. Glendon Hall, Miami-Beach Black Affairs Advisory Committee chair (Courtesy of Glendon Hall) "As soon as he saw this video, he took action, suspended some of the officers and immediately reported it to the state attorney's office," said Glendon Hall, a resident of the city and chairman of the Miami Beach Black Affairs Advisory Committee. "[MBPD] is working on things right now to address that. I have been proactively embedded with the police and go out with them on patrol and participate in programs that de-escalate issues between, not only tourists, but also residents. If it wasn't for that, we would see more of this (type of) incident. A whole lot more." The Goodwill Ambassador program trains volunteer county employees in de-escalation training who then engage with tourists on Miami Beach during high-impact events. The God Squad, a faith-based team of volunteers that works as a buffer between law enforcement and the community, does a similar job. Its goal is to engage troublesome crowds before police are called to the scene. "They interact with tourists and residents so the police don't have to do the interaction. We've seen that this is a program that works and is part of the solution," explained Hall. "I'm not denying that we still have a problem. This was eerily similar to the [Arthur] McDuffie case where officers were so pumped up with adrenaline trying to catch the person that it resulted in excessive force," he added. "What's even more ironic is that this occurred at the Royal Palm, which was built as a result of the county's racist response to [a visit from Nelson] Mandela. All of this triggers an emotional response from the community." The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.