Miami Police Prevent Free Speech

"Trampling on the Constitution, Police on Miami Beach today stopped the peaceful assembly and blocked the free speech of people whom they do not like and whom they do not want to be here.

A week ago I received a press release stating that two registered sex offenders, Terry Brown from Kansas (the Chairman and Founder of Hope4Tomorrow Foundation, www.hope4tomorrow.us) and Tom Madison from Oregon (the Executive Director of SO-Clear Media Corporation, Inc., www.SOclear.org), were coming to Miami to hold a press conference at the Holocaust Memorial. They said that they were going to talk about the counterproductive residency restrictions imposed on sex offenders and about the human rights violations and the injustice of forcing sex offenders to live outside, under a bridge in Miami. As a doctor who treats both victims of sexual abuse and sex offenders, I wanted to hear what these men had to say.

When I arrived at the Holocaust Memorial I found marked police cars repeatedly circling the block. Finding the Memorial’s security guard, I asked about the press conference. He was friendly and welcoming. However, soon a man in shorts and a tee shirt (turned out he is an undercover police officer) approached me and asked what I was doing here. When I said that I had come for the press conference, he told me that the Holocaust Memorial was private property and that I would have to leave immediately. I asked why I had to leave, could I not just stand quietly at the Memorial and wait? He said, in a very threatening and intimidating manner, that he had told me to leave once and that he would not tell me again. He made it clear that, if I did not leave immediately, I would be arrested.

Since when do the Miami Beach Police have the right to prohibit the public from listening to people whom they do not like? I found it particularly sad that this totalitarian police state behavior occurred under the shadow of the towering hand at the Miami Beach Holocaust Memorial. As a community, what are we going to do about another case of police abuse of power and prohibition of free speech here?"

William Samek, Ph.D
Press Release
6/16/2007

***
Miami New Times

Miami Fix Your Cops

Miami Cops Burn Constitution

Activists prevented from holding a news conference and rally in Miami

Miami Ground Zero Under the Bridge

Miami Ground Zero Event Suppressed by Police

The Daily Kos

Florida Progressive Coalition

"Life is a series of near misses. But a lot of what we ascribe to luck is not luck at all. It's seizing the day and accepting responsibility for your future. It's seeing what other people don't see, and pursuing that vision, no matter who tells you not to."

Howard Schultz, Chairman and Chief Global Strategist, Starbucks