Held at gunpoint, handcuffed, unlawfully detained, unlawfully searched, and harassed. OUTRAGE, SHOCK, AND UTTER DISGUST!
Florida – -(Ammoland.com)- The Board of Directors of Florida Carry are appalled at the recent treatment of six of our members at the hands of officers of the Miami Beach Police Department (MBPD) on July 24th at approximately 10:00 am.
Our members were peacefully fishing at South Pointe Park Pier while openly carrying firearms in accordance with 790.25(3)(h) Florida Statutes, as members of our organization have done at various locations throughout the state since 2010. The organization uses these gatherings to hand out literature regarding firearms laws in Florida and to demonstrate that a visible gun is not necessarily a threat when held by a law-abiding citizen.
Apparently, the law enforcement officers themselves are the threat. Cell phone video of the incident.
Shortly after the arrival of the six members, a yet unidentified Miami Beach Park Ranger arrived and told our members that they were prohibited from carrying openly at the park. Our members politely informed the ranger that he was incorrect, even offering him a printed copy of the 790.25(3). The ranger refused to acknowledge the statute, and instead called who we believe to be a supervisor, who responded they did not know the law. The ranger decided to instead call Miami Beach Police, report our members, and leave the scene.
Minutes later, a unit of Miami Beach Police officers approached our members and were greeted. Instead of a greeting and engaging in a consensual inquiry, the officers completely ignored any semblance of reasonable suspicion and at least three officers drew their service pistols and aimed them at our members, who were committing no crime, were not acting in a rude, dangerous, or threatening manner, and who were simply fishing.
At gunpoint, officers threw our members to the ground, and in the process injured two of them. They then illegally confiscated the lawfully holstered firearms and were unlawfully detained without reasonable suspicion for over 90 minutes, before being released from cuffs.
Before the lawfully owned and carried firearms were returned, and after MBPD was aware that the members had committed no crime, all firearm serial numbers were illegally recorded, and our members were told to open their vehicle trunks to the view of MBPD officers. Officers had removed cartridges from magazines, and themselves placed the firearms, magazines, and ammunition into the owner’s vehicle. Owners were not permitted to open the vehicle compartment in lieu of the trunk, nor were they permitted to rearm until officers had concluded their interaction.
Finally, the pier which by then had been empty for two hours, remained closed at the order of the City of Miami Beach, confounding our members who wished to continue fishing.
In a Miami Herald article on the incident, Miami Beach Police Chief Daniel Oates said, “Given the current climate, if six people show up to to (sic) a pier in South Beach carrying guns, our citizens expect us to respond promptly and address any potential danger. We did so, and I am confident our officers acted appropriately.”
The actions of the Miami Beach Police Department and the subsequent comment by Chief Oates are unconscionable, unacceptable, and unconstitutional. Florida Carry will see that the City of Miami Beach learns it cannot abuse the fundamental civil rights of Florida citizens.
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About Florida Carry
Florida Carry, Inc, is a nonprofit, non-partisan, grassroots organization dedicated to advancing the fundamental civil right of all Floridians to keep and bear arms for self defense. Their website is www.FloridaCarry.org.
These cops are lawless thugs. They try to bully, intimidate and harass people into being sheeple. If I had done this when I was a cop, it would have been my last day on the force and most likely facing charges and most likely a lawsuit filed for threats, assault and under color of law rights violations. If you dont know the law, how can you enforce made up bullshit? Because the public doesn’t know their rights. We dont feach civics anymore because it doesn’t fit the narrative of commie teachers. Oh, and btw, I used to teach too. I… Read more »
As to the supposedly illegally acting police, has legal action against them?
Matt in Oklahoma: Military specifications and technical definitions very clearly define Assault Rifle. Regarding Assault Weapon, that can be and is ANYTHING that one person attacks another with. As for Lady Dianne from California, she well knows the difference, though there is a significant difference between what she knows, she isn’t stupid, what she will publicly admit, and her political claims. By the way, altogether to many gun owners have, for entirely to long, played the word game conceived by their sworn enemies. More than once, I heard fellow shooters talk of the ASSAULT RIFLE MATCH they had attended or… Read more »
Federal park, federal park ranger, no you cannot carry guns in a federal park. State laws have no bearing on federal land or property. These idiots better know the law before they get their silly asses shot.
We decided to cover this story on the LEO Round Table law enforcement talk show. Here’s the link in case you want to check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCMSRlN0M1E&t=32s
If, as is claimed, the armed individuals were acting within the law as written, then it is the police who were way out of bounds, and it is the police who should be sanctioned, from the top of the police force to the bottom.
Benjamin Broda says:
July 5, 2018 at 12:44 PM
The park ranger didn’t have to call the police. He is a mandatory reporter of crime, that’s all. No report of crime was made.
I would bet that the ranger knew what the law stated, and could not do what the police could. That is why he called his friends form the police Dept. The Chief should be fired for this. He allowed it to happen.
Young people, generally, and young people going into law enforcement, distinctly, do not use critical thinking skills. Could it be that the socialist indoctrinators realize that lacking critical thinking skills, people are more easily made to just do what they are told?
You are not showing my comments is why I entered it more
These people are not police, they are thugs in uniform. I am a retired Law Enforcement Officer, and what they did was against the law. I would sue them for violating their civil rights When they placed cuffs on these people they were under arrest. If the person cannot leave at their discretion, “UNDER ARREST” “DETAINDED”. The Chief is wrong also, He violated the Law by not holding them accountable. THEY SEARCHED THEIR PROPERTY WITHOUT A WARRANT. They know the Florida fishing law, but chose to disregard it. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free… Read more »