Woman addresses Miami Beach city commission meeting about being questioned for Facebook post criticizing mayor
A Miami Beach woman addressed the city commission for the first time since police officers came to her house after she posted a critical Facebook post about Mayor Steven Meiner.
"No Miami Beach resident should ever have to experience what I did, because if the government can silence one voice, you can silence all voices," Raquel Pacheco said in a meeting held by the commission.
Emails show that the mayor emailed the chief of police about Pacheco's post
Emails obtained by CBS News Miami show that after her comments were posted, the mayor wrote to the police chief, "As we discussed, please see the post below," and included a screenshot of Pacheco's Facebook comment.
Chief Wayne Jones responded, in part, that he was concerned the "words escalated physical action," adding that the department needed to "remain vigilant and take proactive steps to ensure your safety."
Four days later, on Jan. 16, Jones said in a public statement that "at no time did the mayor or any other official direct me to take action."
"When something is brought to our attention, something we believe may be inciteful to others to act to violence, we have an obligation to react to that. The goal of going to Ms. Pacheco's house was not to take away her free speech, but to have a frank conversation with her," Chief Jones addressed in the city commission meeting Thursday morning.
City commissioners questioned Jones about the response to the post during Thursday morning's public comment meeting.
"If you could do it all over again, would you do anything differently," asked city commissioner David Suarez.
"In terms of how we handled the response to the posted statement," Jones responded.
"The answer is no."
Mayor Meiner said in the meeting that he stood by what police did.
Pacheco believes the only reason police came to her home is because the mayor emailed the chief about it.
"Absolutely, they wouldn't have come to my house. I've said way more egregious things about the mayor," Pacheco said.
As for what's next, Pacheco says she wants to sue and get city officials questioned about the response to her post.