The distribution of hateful, anti-Semitic flyers in Miami Beach and Surfside over the weekend, blaming the “COVID agenda” on a list of Jewish doctors and officials, has not just alarmed that community. Everyone is disgusted.
Police from several jurisdictions are investigating the source of the crude, false and inflammatory flyers, which were carefully left on lawns and driveways inside plastic bags so they wouldn’t get wet, with pebbles to weigh them down, so they wouldn’t fly away.
In other words, whoever did this has obviously put some thought and effort into it.
Mayor Dan Gelber said Miami Beach Police had stepped up patrols in certain neighborhoods and were actively seeking video footage from front doorbells and other sources to find the hatemongers. Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said police may have found a rental car involved.
Leaders are concerned the rhetoric could escalate to violence.
“It’s not harmless stupidity. It’s hate and that’s a problem,” Gelber told CNN Tuesday. “If you are dealing with someone who is willing to, under the cover of night, drop `100s of leaflets, what else are they willing to do?”
Said Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine-Cava: “As the Mayor of our beautifully diverse, inclusive and caring community, and the first Jewish Mayor of Miami-Dade County, antisemitism and all acts of hatred and bigotry cut especially close to my heart.
“I call on our entire community to firmly and forcefully condemn this disturbing flyer, and all forms of hateful rhetoric, threats, violence and bigotry that have become increasingly common in our divided society,” La Alcaldesa tweeted. “Together, it’s our responsibility to leave our children a world that is more just, more free, and more secure. And that starts with teaching love instead of hate.”
Read related: Miami Beach braces for long weekend, Spring Break after burst of violence
These flyers, which were also found in neighborhoods in Fort Lauderdale and California, will be likely be the main topic of discussion Wednesday at the Miami-Dade County Community Relations Board’s Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Committee meeting. But it shares the agenda with two other serious and timely items: preparations for Spring Break — which has sewn tension between Miami Beach officials and black visitors — and the recent shooting death of a rapper in South Dade.
Shandler Beaubien, also known as Wavy Navy Pooh, was driving a Toyota at Southwest 152nd Street and 127th Avenue, near Country Walk, when someone in a four-door gray Lexus opened fire. The 28-year-old was killed but another adult and two children in the car, age 5 and 1, were not injured, Miami-Dade Police Spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta said.
WPLG Local 10 reported that about 80 casings at the intersection and at least one semi-automatic was used in the public shooting that caused the COVID-19 testing site at Zoo Miami to close temporarily.
And with Spring Break around the corner, the timing couldn’t be better to discuss the preparations for the tens of thousands of visitors that flock to the beaches. The past city responses have been so wrong, the NAACP has demanded the resignation of former City Manager Jimmy Morales and initially fought his hiring as Miami-Dade Chief Operating Officer when Levine Cava was elected in 2020.
Read related: La Alcaldesa pushes on with Jimmy Morales post vs black leaders’ pushback
Founded in 1963, the Miami-Dade Community Relations Board‘s primary mission is “to intervene and contain community tensions, as quickly as possible,” a press release says. “The secondary mission of the Community Relations Board is to work proactively to identify and relieve intergroup conflicts before crises arise; to develop bridges of understanding and support programs in the community; to foster understanding, communication, and mutual respect; to develop and support local or city-based Community Relations Boards throughout the county; and to assure that resources are in place to respond to community crisis.
The meeting starts at 11 a.m. at 9900 NE 2nd Ave. Residents can also participate via Zoom at http://miamidade.live/CJLE or on the phone. U.S. callers can dial toll-free number 1-877-853-5247 or 1-888-788-0099 with Meeting ID 92755748663#.
This meeting will also be livestreamed on @AdvocacyMDC’s Facebook page. And anyone with information on the flyers is asked to call Miami Beach Police at 305-673-7901.
Anti-Semitic flyers, Spring Break prep & South Dade shooting on CRB agenda added by Ladra on
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