(LifeSiteNews) — After posting a Facebook comment sharply critical of a Zionist mayor for his support of Israel during its ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people, a Florida resident was visited by two police officers to investigate her comment.
Raquel Pacheco, a local resident of Miami Beach, a veteran and a repeat local political candidate, mocked her mayor, Steven Meiner, in a post in which he described the city as a welcoming place.
She referred to him as “the guy who consistently calls for the death of all Palestinians,” later defending the comment to Axios that his public support for Israel during its ongoing violence in Gaza and the West Bank amounts to endorsing a genocide.
READ: ‘Faith in a Time of Genocide’: Holy Land Christians call for solidarity, repudiation of Zionism
In the video of the incident she provided, the officers sought to verify the Facebook account was hers to which Pacheco refused to answer questions due to her not having an attorney present.
The Miami Beach mayor’s office is now flagging citizen’s Facebook posts and sending police to their doors to intimidate them for criticism of the mayor.
This video is absolutely outrageous. pic.twitter.com/L8mEr6hPe2
— Mel (@Villgecrazylady) January 19, 2026
However, she did stipulate that the post amounts to “freedom of speech,” asking, “This is America, right?”
One of the officers called her post “concerning” and they were “just trying to prevent somebody else getting agitated or agreeing with the statement,” and that it “can probably incite somebody to do something radical.” Thus, he advised, that the author should “refrain from posting things like that.”
In an interview with Miami Herald, Pacheco, 51, stated she believed the police visit was an “intimidation tactic” and a “direct attack on my First Amendment rights.”
“This is mind-blowing to me that this is happening,” she said, sharing that her “heart was racing” when police arrived, including their being in an unmarked vehicle and not in full uniform.
Posting the video of the incident on Instagram later the same day, Pacheco commented, “If you need further evidence that Miami Beach has descended into a FSCST nightmare, you’re not paying attention.”
A spokesperson for the Miami Beach Police Department did confirm that Mayor Meiner’s Office had flagged the post, prompting Intelligence Unit detectives to review it and proceed to interview Pacheco.
Meiner, who is also chair of the “Jewish Mayors Association, of the Combat Antisemitism Movement,” has been recently honored as “a strong and unwavering voice in support” of Israel “during this critical time.”
He defended the police visit to Pacheco in a follow-up statement, saying the officers wanted to “assess the level of threat and to protect the safety of all involved.”
“This is a police matter. I am a strong supporter of the State of Israel,” he said. “Others might have a different view and that is their right.”
READ: On Holocaust Memorial Day, Jewish group protests Israel’s ‘sadistic’ genocide in Gaza
Megyn Kelly: First Amendment protects even hate speech. ‘It’s glorious!’
During an extensive interview with Megyn Kelly earlier this month, Tucker Carlson raised alarm regarding the loss of free speech in the West, including highlighting Florida for its new “hate speech” law criminalizing criticism of Israel.
As part of his demonstration, he presented a clip of Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins stating in late December after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
You have a right to free speech, but you don’t have the right to harm other people with your words. And you don’t have the right to say things that have really negative, really horrible meanings. When you want people to destroy Israel, that matters.
Kelly, who is also an attorney, responded directly to Collins’ statement “you don’t have the right to harm other people with your words,” countering with laughter, “I absolutely do! And it’s actually what makes us fundamentally American. It’s awesome!”
“I have every right to insult you, to speak hatefully about you. And it’s glorious! It’s what makes it wonderful to live here,” she celebrated with a smile.
“The First Amendment, of course, is there to protect hate speech. Hate speech is not only constitutional. It’s written right in there that you can say the most hateful things possible,” she confirmed. “Sorry, but I can. And if you don’t like it, you’re the one who needs to move … out of the United States of America. That’s my fundamental (legal) right to say things that offend.”
For his part, Carlson lampooned, “Oh, you don’t have the right to say things that people in charge don’t like. You don’t? That’s the whole point (of free speech)! If you don’t have that right, you are a slave and Jay Collins is your master.”
“Notice, by the way, he didn’t say you can’t attack America. That’s totally fine,” he continued. Instead, the former military officer asserts that “you can’t attack Israel. You can’t call for the destruction of Israel.”
“Of course, you can call for the destruction of any (other) foreign country you want. It’s a staple on Fox News. Lindsey Graham does it every single day. You just can’t call for the destruction of Israel. That’s a crime,” Carlson mocked.
Police intimidation, ‘antisemitism’ laws, engender the very hatred they seek to remedy
“The more you start cracking down on people’s thought crimes against Israel, or even their antisemitism — truly, like this is America, you’re allowed to be a racist, you’re allowed to be a misogynist, (and) you’re allowed to be an antisemite,” Kelly explained. “You’re not allowed to make hiring and firing decisions based on that, but that’s not what we’re arguing over here. We’re talking about what’s in your head and your heart.”
“The more you try to criminalize that or ruin someone’s life over those thoughts, the more you engender the very hatred you say you’re objecting to,” Kelly concluded.
In commenting on the police visit to Pacheco for her Facebook statement, popular Catholic podcaster Candace Owens observed on X/Twitter, “Nothing will catalyze antisemitism in America faster than this right here.”
Pacheco, a U.S. Army National Guard veteran and former Chair of the Miami Beach Personnel Board, ran for local office twice unsuccessfully, first in 2021 for the Miami Beach Commission and secondly in 2022 for Senate District 36.
The Flamingo Beach resident has retained the services of attorney Miriam Haskell, who said the police confronted her client over “non-threatening, protected speech,” and “were sent to intimidate her and chill dissent, plain and simple.”
Pacheco said she will pursue legal action if such intimidation “escalates.”
RELATED:
Tucker Carlson denounces Florida’s ‘hate speech’ law criminalizing criticism of Israel
Orthodox rabbi: Zionism a ‘cardinal sin’ for Jews, creation of Israel is ‘satanic’
How the ‘antisemitism industry’ became the biggest threat to freedom in the West
Tucker Carlson: Americans ‘marinate in lies’ from Israel’s ‘incredibly sophisticated propaganda’
Holy Land nun tells Tucker: American Catholics must ‘change the support for Israel’ in the US
Jewish pundit says supporters of ‘what Israel’s doing in Gaza’ can never ‘claim to be pro-life’
