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- [00:00]
Anonymous Caller or Guest
Foreign.
- [00:10]
Host (Billy)
Hey, Roy. Huge breaking news this week on stories that we have been following on this program for literally years. I think first up, Rishi Kapoor. You remember that guy, the developer and Coconut Grove and Carl Gables. Yeah, that guy, the guy who I like that, that Roy is pretending to remember what I'm talk talking about. But Rishi Kapoor was the guy that had Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, aka on the payroll secretly for 10 grand a month, paid him over 170 grand. He actually rented an empty building from Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago, Steve Suarez, who is Francis Suarez's cousin. They bought this building and a few weeks later they sign a lease with Rishi Kapoor who starts paying them over 12 grand a month in a building that he never used. What does that sound like to you?
- [01:04]
Miami Dade County Commissioner
Right, fraud.
- [01:05]
Host (Billy)
Well, Rishi Kapoor amazingly was arrested last Friday on his birthday no less, wearing a U shirt and flip flops at a hotel in Fort Lauderdale where I guess he was celebrating his completion. Yes. And he was charged in huge indictment like so many counts and $85 million fraud scheme. Interestingly, none of it has to do with with any of the politicians he had on the payroll. No kidding. So I'm not sure if there's another shoe that's going to drop there or what's going to happen, but we're going to get all into that next week. Also we're going to talk about Ball and Chain four or as the judge called it, Carollo the sequel. So remember the Carollo case where Ball and Chain owners Bill Fuller and Martin Panilla sued Joe Carollo? They got a judgment for 63 and a half million dollars because he weaponized city government to violate their constitutional rights. Now they're suing the city cuz they ain't never gonna collect a penny from Joe Carollo, let alone 63 and a half million dollars cuz they don't have it. So they're now suing the city for potentially hundreds of millions of dollars and that could break the city. And there was an epic knockout drag out battle in court this week. It was amazing. The judge was like he's this old school character. And Art Acevedo, remember him, the former police chief who got fired after six months for calling out the city commission for corruption. He was there. They wouldn't let him testify at first. And then we discovered that the judge's daughter works on Art Acevedo's legal team for his lawsuit against the city for the whistleblower lawsuit for violating his right. It was such a like a real life courtroom drama. And it Ends up all this craziness. They're talking about Jeffrey Epstein somehow. They're talking about the judge's daughter. They're talking about the police chief. The judge recuses himself after three years on the case. On the eve of trial. Trial is supposed to start in like two weeks. The judge just goes, peace, and he's out. I mean, that makes sense if his daughter is dealing with the Acevedo case on the other side. It was wild. The whole thing was amazing. And we're going to talk all about that next week. This week, though, brother Lyle Muhammad returns from the circle of brotherhood to talk about the Hardiman crime family. The Miami Mafia just shaken down this charitable organization that does nothing but try to help the underserved, if not entirely unserved, parts of our community. First up, Roy.
- [03:50]
Narrator or Reporter
Three brothers, all convicted. Alan Oren and Tal Alexander found guilty of all counts, including sex trafficking, sexual abuse, and sexual exploitation of a minor. The jury returning their verdict after 20 hours of deliberations. Eleven women testifying against them, all accusing one or more of their brothers of sexual assault, some even claiming they were raped. Eight of the women said they were drugged. It's a fall from grace. Two of their brothers were once high end real estate brokers and the third a private security executive. Now they could face up to life in prison for their crime.
- [04:21]
Host (Billy)
The Alexander brothers are a sensational and salacious story of power, privilege and perversion. Oren and his older brother Tal Alexander were known as the A team. Among the top luxury real estate agents in Miami, Manhattan, the Hamptons, Aspen and London. They sold over $810 million in real estate in 2023 alone. In their 20s, they closed over $7 billion in deals. Their celebrity clients included Adam Neumann, Timberland, Tommy Hilfiger. They sold Ken Griffin his $238 million penthouse in Central Park south back in 2019, which was then the most expensive listing in the U.S. in Miami, they were famously Jared and Ivanka Trump's. Well, I guess their name isn't Trump, but Kushner's realtor for their $24 million home in Indian Creek Village, also known as the billionaire bunker. Private island with 40 homes, its own private police force. Neighbors include Jeff Bezos and Tom Brady. Tal Oren and Oren's twin brother alone, who worked as a vice president for their parents company, Kent Security, which first opened in South Florida in the 1980s, were indicted in the Southern District of New York, federally on this sex trafficking indictment. They've also been charged with three separate sexual assaults. Down here in South Florida by the Miami Dade State Attorney's office. It's a wild story. And Vanity Fair's Willem Marks has covered this story for the magazine. He is also the author of an upcoming book about the Alexander brothers. He was in court for all of the trial, including the verdict. He's there working on the story as we speak, but is good enough to join us. Willem. I mean, this is an epic rise and fall. These guys were private jets, $50 million, $30 million homes. Not only that they sold, but they lived in. What was the atmosphere like when the prosecution, the U.S. attorney's office, got a clean sweep. Ten guilty verdicts on ten charges for all three brothers.
- [06:27]
Willem Marks (Vanity Fair Journalist)
It was actually remarkably somber, to be honest, Billy. The number of counts and obviously the number of defendants, three meant that the announcement, as it were, by the four person of the jury went on for quite some time because the judge was having to ask on each individual count, for each individual defendant, whether the jury had found them guilty or not guilty. So that took some time to get through. The three brothers, flanked by their various attorneys, sat there in silence. At the end of it, one of the brothers kind of put his head in his hands. One of the twins slumped back into his chair when he heard the final word. Guilty. On the final 10th count. The parents look shell shocked. And one of the wives, within a few moments, was pretty tearful. As for the rest of the courtroom, including the jurors, very, very quiet until they were discharged by the judge and the marshals escorted the rest of us out of the courtroom.
- [07:24]
Host (Billy)
You were there in the courtroom. You heard the evidence that the prosecution presented. Talk a little bit about of what you felt, and clearly the jury felt was among the most persuasive evidence, the most persuasive wit. And were you surprised based on that, that it was a clean sweep, that it was guilty on all 10 counts?
- [07:43]
Willem Marks (Vanity Fair Journalist)
There were 11 women who were brave enough to testify in this trial about what had happened to them. Many of them wept openly and at length on the stand. That was very powerful for the jurors, very powerful for those of us in the courtroom to understand the trauma they'd been through. And many of them had corroboration in the form of outcry. Witnesses, as they're technically term. Those are people who they had told about well before this became a huge public scandal, and that was used to buttress their account of what had happened to them. There were also some experts talking about the role of drugs in this case, although not based on specific knowledge of the evidence in this case, but more broadly about the way that certain drugs react inside the human body and their experience of sexual assault victims, perhaps those that have been aided by pharmacological substances of the kind that the prosecution alleged the brothers had been using. And then there was also someone able to talk about the way that trauma operates in the mind. And these were so consistent the way they talked about the experiences of witnesses on the stand, although they'd not seen details of the case itself, that would, I imagine have been very persuasive for the jury to understand that that is essentially what happened to so many of these women. Of the 11 who testified, eight testified to have been drugged in the past.
- [09:10]
Host (Billy)
And there were some videos, a lot of seems, text messages, some blogs.
- [09:16]
Willem Marks (Vanity Fair Journalist)
Yeah, I would say one of my takeaways as a non American, in case you couldn't tell from the accent, is the power of the US federal government to really break down into immense detail the defendants digital lives. And many of the subpoenas served, the warrants served on electronic devices, on online accounts, icloud accounts created this kind of underlying fabric of evidence that they were able to draw upon not just for specific witnesses, but more broadly for the pattern of behavior that was the basis for one of the accounts, which was conspiracy count to sex traffic. And it really made me think how powerful it is to have access to all of our online worlds, if that makes sense.
- [10:07]
Host (Billy)
Yeah, there was some pretty vulgar text. I mean, what I guess the defense attempted to frame or characterize is locker room talk or boys being boys. I think even the word scumbag assholes was actually bandied about from the defense itself was none of that particularly persuasive apparently to the jury. And are you surprised there wasn't at least one or two counts there that they faltered on?
- [10:30]
Willem Marks (Vanity Fair Journalist)
I can't speak to kind of the jury state of mind. I mean, obviously they were unanimous on all of their decisions on all of these counts against all of these defendants. There were definitely moments where you saw again and again and again the defense trying to not just undermine the evidence presented by these women, but also, as you mentioned there, bring out the idea that these men weren't criminals. They were just to use their terminology. And it didn't seem to ever really land. If you were to watch the faces of some of the jurors, if anything, that made the defendants even less likable than the testimony of the witnesses and the evidence of some of their communications. And seemingly, you know, in terms of accounts, it was very complicated to try and explain what the thresholds were to convict on some of the charges around enticement to travel and sex trafficking, conspiracy to sex traffic. It took a long time for the prosecution to lay out which verbs needed to be considered and the chain of events and the intent. And I think the concern of many amongst the supporters of the prosecution of these men, amongst witnesses, amongst victims, was a concern that that complexity would perhaps be a barrier to conviction. But it seems not to have been.
- [11:49]
Host (Billy)
Speaking of the sex trafficking accusations and charges, they got a unanimous verdict here on all 10 counts. Last July, there was a mixed verdict in the Diddy case, which was also prosecuted in the Southern district of New York. So I think there was, at some point or another, there were some overlap in the. In both the prosecution team and the defense team on that case. There, Diddy was acquitted of the more serious charges, racketeering and particularly sex trafficking. This was a similarly novel interpretation of the federal sex trafficking statute to basically say they used their lifestyle, their luxurious lifestyle and their money and these beautiful houses they rented in the Hamptons for parties and things to lure these women in for these alleged commercial sex acts. Can you give us. I know you're not an attorney, but what did you glean in the courtroom about, I guess, why this was a more. What the allegations were with respect to sex trafficking and why. Perhaps it was a more persuasive argument here in this case?
- [12:53]
Willem Marks (Vanity Fair Journalist)
Yeah, I mean, so two things about. You say that at least one of the attorneys worked on Diddy's case, Marco Niffalo, his firm, and Tony Garagos, his partner, had both been involved in that case. And talking to the defense team ahead of the trial, you know, they were at pains to point out that this. This was a very complex statute. I think the phrase that one of them used to describe it to me was a square peg in a round hole. That the behavior of these men, although it may be objectionable to many, didn't necessarily amount to sex trafficking technically. What's so striking, though, about this decision and why it may be different to the Diddy trial, was that on this jury was a very accomplished, very experienced lawyer who had an understanding of the law, who ended up serving as the full person. And my suspicion, although I can't confirm this right now, is that as that four person, she was the one that was really explaining the law repeatedly to her fellow jurors. And that may have been while they, you know, understood that this was a stretch, as it were, There were some complexities around applying this behavior in this law that they were willing to follow. The prosecution's theory of the case, and therefore were willing to apply these federal statutes to the behavior that they'd seen
- [14:15]
Host (Billy)
described within the world of the case itself. Eleven women testified, eight say they were drugged. Two of those women were underage at the time of the alleged assaults. But I think part of the reason this case has become such a big case, publicity wise, while you're working on a book about it, is that the world of the case goes well beyond that courtroom. What are the numbers that we're talking about of women that have actually come forward and made comparable, if not identical allegations to those of the women who testified in this case? How, how big does it go? How far back does it go in their lives?
- [14:50]
Willem Marks (Vanity Fair Journalist)
So, just based on the prosecution statements prior to this trial, they said they'd spoken to around 60 women during the trial. There was a brief moment, and it was one of those ones that you would miss if you weren't really paying attention. They said they'd spoken to 70. I have probably myself spoken to something approaching that number at this point and, you know, have pretty conclusive evidence about incidents dating back to the early 2000s when the brothers. I think the first instance I've come across in my reporting is when they were the twins, were, I think, sophomores at high school, and here in Miami was a junior in Miami, Michael M. Cropped, high school.
- [15:32]
Host (Billy)
What happens next? August is sentencing. What are they looking at?
- [15:38]
Willem Marks (Vanity Fair Journalist)
Yeah, August 6th, 10:00am There will be a couple of conferences involving the various attorneys on both sides and the judge in July. There are mandatory minimum sentences for some of these counts. There are guidelines for some of these counts. There will be efforts by the defense to provide mitigating factors that might induce the judge to think about a lower band of that guideline for the sentences. There will be no doubt arguments by the prosecution about aggravating factors, the age of some of these women, not least the lack of contrition so far shown by the brothers. And so, you know, I've talked to half a dozen attorneys both involved in the case and observing this, saying that this could be 30 to 40 years even to life. And so, as the former general counsel of the FBI, Judge Valerie Caproni has throughout this trial been very tough on the brothers and their defense teams. And, you know, there's. There is a good chance men will spend decades behind bars, you know, if they're not able to appeal.
- [16:46]
Host (Billy)
Might we also anticipate some victim impact statements? Might there be women who weren't even witnesses in the case allowed to come forward and make statements to the court to consider in sentencing.
- [16:57]
Willem Marks (Vanity Fair Journalist)
Absolutely. So you'll probably hear from some of the main victims and witnesses, expanding on their testimony on the stand during the trial to talk about the impact this had on their lives. You might hear from other victims, other witnesses who did not end up testifying the trial, were not called, or maybe have come forward since the start of the trial or more recently, since the start of the investigation. And so together, that avalanche of victim testimony and victim impact statements could again encourage the judge to impose a very strict sentence indeed.
- [17:30]
Host (Billy)
Last question. Willem, last month in Vanity Fair, you wrote a sensational story. Have mercy. The market for pardons in Trump's Wild West Wing. You spoke to pardoners, pardonees. And the as yet unpardoned have to wonder. These guys are, you know, conservative Republicans. They were seen partying at Mar a Lago. They obviously were. Two of them were realtors for Jared and Ivanka Kushner. Has there been any serious talk or buzz about the possibility of, if not an outright pardon, perhaps a commutation, even if it is on the president's way out in a couple of years? Because two or three years is certainly better than you're talking about. Minimum of 15 and possibly as much as 30 to life. Yeah.
- [18:17]
Willem Marks (Vanity Fair Journalist)
So there's a very small cloterie of lawyers and lobbyists who have been able to successfully obtain pardons outside of the January 6th pardonees over the last 14 months since Trump took office. And at least one of them has been in direct contact with the brothers and their family and their attorneys. And it does seem like there's every possibility those conversations could continue. And it was actually for the first time hearing about that possibility that drove me to start digging into that world of presidential pardons. And although I didn't end up focusing on the brothers, that is something certainly that will be worth watching in the months and potentially years ahead.
- [18:58]
Host (Billy)
Willem Marx. Read him@vanity fair.com and look for his upcoming book on the Alexander Brothers. Thanks so much for being here.
- [19:06]
Willem Marks (Vanity Fair Journalist)
Thanks so much. See you later. Bye.
- [19:10]
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- [20:18]
Host (Billy)
Folks, listen up.
- [20:19]
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- [20:42]
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- [21:15]
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- [22:32]
Miami Dade County Commissioner
I know what it looks like to be threatened by somebody in the gang. I know how a gang acts in unison. And so to me, earlier today when I saw some of the activity that was going on in in front of this dais, I recognized gang activity. What I'm seeing is an organization that uses our funding to do good in the community. Supposedly an organization that started with individuals who were accused of robbery, extortion, given plots of land, no development and they are threatening us, especially the District 3 Commissioner if we don't give them more. How should we handle that? I don't feel comfortable paying individuals who will continue to threaten me and and my family. I would request an immediate suspension of any payments being made to Nana and also to the Circle of Brotherhood for the actions that they've displayed not only here today, but in the in the past, where in fact their executive director has said that he has people that can come see me. It's on the record and so I won't be distorted on this dais. I won't be intimidated on this. Daisy. One thing I will not do is cower to any thug in a polo shirt that claims that he loves black people in our community and by doing good from time to time will take advantage of opportunities to do bad for people who are giving back to this community. What we can't allow is someone who feels that they're too big enough to fail, that they're so big that they can threaten any one of you and force you all to do their what they want you to do. This is terrorism, if you will. That's what these sorts of actions are like.
- [24:20]
Host (Billy)
Hashtag because Miami, that was former City of Miami commissioner, current Miami Dade County Commissioner. Pay to play. Keon Hardiman. That's what I call him. Keon Hardeman of the hcf, AKA the Hardiman Crime family. Part of one of these multigenerational political dynasties that have been plaguing and preying on this Community for decades. And wow, that was a lot. Mind you, that was a less than two minute excerpt, Roy, from what was like a nearly 20 minute rant. And I cut it down, like even some of the pauses and the odds, but it was wild and it was mostly about. You heard friend of the show. The organization Circle of Brotherhood, according to their website, they're an organization of primarily black men from all walks of life dedicated to community service, economic development, crime prevention, conflict resolution and mediation, educational services and youth mentorship. They do the shit that the government doesn't do in underserved communities of Miami. And we have too many not only underserved, but entirely unserved communities. One of those, or a lot of those communities are the district in which Keon Hardiman has been grifting in and pretending to represent for many years, for, well, eight years at the city and now four years and counting at the county. And what's been going on. You remember we had them last time, right on the show last year when they were losing federal funding when the Trump administration pulled out the rug from, I mean, hundreds of millions of dollars from organizations all over the country, including those that law enforcement themselves, through prosecutors offices and law and actual police agencies, conduct and community organizations. Yeah, that whole DEI initiative, the anti DEI initiative that Trump was trying to pull off and that has left organizations like this scrambling for funding. We'll catch up on that. But more importantly, what's been going on right now, and it's been alleged on this show that Keon Hardiman, just like Joe Carollo did to the ball and chain guys in the city, Kean Hardeman, this has been a jihad of his for political revenge against the Circle of Brotherhood because they supported his political rival in the last election. And that's what's fueling this. Every accusation is a confession. I mean, everything that can. Hardeman said there during that, the shortened version of that rant and what you didn't get to hear sounds like exactly what the Hardiman family and Keon himself have been doing to this community for generations. So he's saying Keon Harderman is a thug. Well, what I'm saying is, is I posted a mini doc two years ago on social media where they were accused of being gangsters in suits and they accused brother Lyle Mohammed, the executive director of Circle Brotherhood, of being like a thug in a polo shirt. So he's even borrowing the terminology that people use to refer to him and his crime family against the people who are trying to do good in this community. And among other allegations are Hardeman has been interfering with the entity's right to do business. Slander and defamation of character, violations of the First Amendment, violations of county ethics and procedures related to meetings hacking, community zone meetings with homosexual pornography. Sorry, we don't have that clip, Roy. Nepotism and intentional removal of finances designated for violence intervention and prevention. Brother Lyle Mohammed is joining us once again. Thank you so much for being here. You are most certainly not in a polo shirt right now. You are way overdressed for the Because Miami program, sir, I'll have you know. I hope you're doing like the cool thing where you like, you have shorts on underneath the suit, you know, like got the suit on top. So, Brother Lal, where do we even begin here? I mean, there is a litany of accusations that Keon Hardiman, you just heard made about you at a public commission meeting last year. You have this list of allegations that you guys put out in a press release this week. Where would you like to begin? Here. How do we unpack this?
- [28:20]
Brother Lyle Muhammad (Executive Director of Circle of Brotherhood)
Well, first of all, man, I'd really like to say thank you all to you all for always keeping it a buck. And for people that understand that that's always keeping it 100. You know, we're grateful, you know, and no confession about whether we got the full suit on or not. But it's been one of those days, I think a great starting point. I know the last time that you had us on, we were under those severe cuts that we received from Department of Justice. And I'll be honest, you know, because of the quality of our work, we received a great outpouring of financial support nationally, not locally. National organizations like Everytown for Gun Safety and Giffords and the Community based Public Safety Collective and the alliance for Social and Safety. I mean, just from all over locally. I must say, though, also the South Florida based Health foundation did a tremendous job and helping us get through that. But it's the local stuff that we've been dealing with, which has been a continuum for those who don't know. Nothing that we talked about last time with the Hardimans has stopped. It has only continued and escalated. And that piece that you showed there, there still have been no apologies, no responses from any of the commissioners yet. They all voted unanimously at that time to suspend our funding for investigation. And as of September of last year, we were 100% wiped out of county funding.
- [29:57]
Host (Billy)
So let me ask you, what is it that he is claiming that you did or threatened? He said you'd have some people come see him. He said that you were Threatening him and the other commissioners at that commission meeting last year. What is he talking about?
- [30:12]
Brother Lyle Muhammad (Executive Director of Circle of Brotherhood)
First of all, I don't know, in reference to the first comment, what he's talking about, but I can guarantee you if there's a video clip, I'll stand on anything that I've said, particularly if it's in defense of our community. But I don't know what that comment is about. I think the larger question is the impetus that gave the commissioners the will, I guess, to suspend our funding was that we made a threat at that particular commission meeting and the initial inquiry we sent out, which we still haven't got a response from Washington. What was the threat? We haven't seen anything on video, anything in writing. We haven't seen anything that was said by me or anyone that was at the commission chambers that day that can be interpreted as a threat. And we had zero response, again from the county Commission.
- [31:01]
Host (Billy)
Now, to be clear, what he appears to be talking about, the gang activity, the group activity, is that there was a bunch of people at various meetings of the county Commission who showed up to support Circle of Brotherhood. People showed up with shirts. They came to participate in public comment, which is supposed to be two minutes, but arbitrarily. The chairman, Anthony Rodriguez, who himself is under investigation for chicanery involving some bullshit nonprofit organization that the county was funneling money to, but doesn't appear to have been doing any kind of actual charity work like you guys do. So he's not exactly an authority or got some moral high ground here to stand on. But a lot of the people get shut down during public comment for no reason. I imagine that's the violation of the First Amendment rights you're talking about. But. And for somebody like me, who shows up to not a lot of county commission meetings, but a lot of public meetings in general, participates in public comment, which is really the only opportunity that most people in the community have to engage their lawmakers, because most people don't have the clout or the money to. To get a meeting one on one, with their own representatives or their mayor. And so the only time you get to engage your government and your representatives is when you go to these meetings and engage in what is supposedly, as we say in Miami, public comment, and they get shut down. You get your time cut in half from. You prepare two minutes and you practice two minutes, and you time two minutes. But they say it, we're only giving you one minute now. So people got to scramble. Then they say, oh, I don't know if this item's on the agenda or we deferred this item, or you're not referring specifically to the wording. I mean, it's crazy. And I don't know where the ACLU has been. They've been absent on this. But that's. What he's referring to is, quote, unquote, gang activity, is that you all were ganging up on the commission by showing up en masse, which means you had a lot of support and a lot of public commenters who were supporting your organization. That's crazy to me because that's saying, like, he refers to it as ing terrorism. You heard that, Roy? Terrorism. Yep. Okay.
- [32:58]
Anonymous Caller or Guest
And why?
- [32:58]
Host (Billy)
Because people in T shirts showed up and said, we support this community organization that you are defunding because we care about violence and our youth in the streets of Miami. Now, here were your comments from earlier in that meeting, which I imagine is where they claim the threat comes from.
- [33:14]
Brother Lyle Muhammad (Executive Director of Circle of Brotherhood)
So what I will do with my one minute that I have is address someone who's not here in reference to the use of discretionary funds. And what I mean by that is if we're going to make a decision on discretionary funds, we need to start looking at the lease, the lost, and the left out our foster care population, and in reference to gun violence. It's quite a shame that you all were sent information from this brother that's been to the White House five times because of his expertise. Three testimonies before a congressional hearing on it. And I'm just sending out a warning to Commissioner Keon Hardiman. Please do not reference anything by name. Yeah, I got a point of order, and that's my time, and it's a
- [34:01]
Anonymous Caller or Guest
shame on all of you.
- [34:04]
Host (Billy)
All right, thank you so much,
- [34:07]
Miami Dade County Commissioner
sergeants.
- [34:08]
Host (Billy)
So was there a threat there that I missed?
- [34:11]
Brother Lyle Muhammad (Executive Director of Circle of Brotherhood)
I missed it. Everyone else missed it, and there'd been silence on that. Yet it was the threat that they said alleged them unanimously, to suspend our organization and launch an investigation into our finances. Never have they launched an investigation into our programmatic activity.
- [34:34]
Host (Billy)
So that was a pretext then, Meaning, like, the fix was already in. Keon was out to get you. He was going to strip you of the funding, irregardless, as we say in Miami. And that was just some sort of bullshit thing then, right? It wouldn't matter what you said. You would have, quote, unquote, threatened him.
- [34:53]
Brother Lyle Muhammad (Executive Director of Circle of Brotherhood)
It looks that way. You know, and again, we're still holding the other commissioners accountable, and we're just asking a simple. If I made a threat, I apologize, but I need you all to produce the threat.
- [35:07]
Host (Billy)
Now you guys are being threatened because as I said, every accusation is a confession. Your funding has certainly been, you've survived so far, the national, the federal funding cut, but you're trying to survive the local or county funding cut. And again, these are services not provided by the government, not provided by the commission's office that you guys provide. So what is the latest threat? What are you concerned about next for retention? Retaliation. And get into a little bit about this claim of political retaliation revenge.
- [35:36]
Brother Lyle Muhammad (Executive Director of Circle of Brotherhood)
First of all, in terms of the political retaliation revenge, let it be said for the record that in all my years in being in Miami, I've been here since 2007. I've had one 10 minute sit down meeting with Commissioner Hardeman in all these years, the only time that I was approached by him. Now mind you, as an organization, we don't back candidates, we as individuals back candidates was when I was campaigning for someone running for the same seat that he was running for and he got out his car, came out into the middle of the street and area and asked me, what was this like? I don't have a right to participate in my freedom to back candidates. But ever since that time, for me, it may go back for other members of the organization, but I'm responsible for leading this order. Ever since that time, there has been a trail of injustices and attacks directly from Commissioner Hardiman, directly toward the Circle of Brotherhood. And ironically, even with the latest attacks that took place in August of last year, a national report came out that talked about the most historic drops in homicide in the history of Miami Dade County. And we were implicated as a major part of what made that happen yet again. Still, the county has zeroed out funding, not just for us, but for community based violence intervention in general.
- [37:23]
Host (Billy)
Last question before we go, because I have to ask, you can't put this phrase in a press release and not have me ask you about it. Hacking community zoom meetings with homosexual pornography. What is that story?
- [37:35]
Brother Lyle Muhammad (Executive Director of Circle of Brotherhood)
Yeah, this was the time when we were being denied the million dollar ARPA money that was earmarked to us by Mayor Suarez at the time in the city of Miami, which took three years to get that. And we took on the Virginia Key beach fight. When we took on the Virginia Key beach fight, the only opposition we had was from the Hardiman camp. And we finally organized a community zoom meeting with banking professionals, business professionals, activists in the community. And sure enough, that's exactly what happened. To interrupt that meeting on several occasions, it was horrific.
- [38:13]
Host (Billy)
Brother Lal Muhammad, Executive Director of Circle of Brotherhood, you could Find them at circle of brotherhood, miami.org. i remember that. I mean, that was a whole Hardeman crime family hijacking of the Virginia Key Board. I recall that. You were on the right side of that, but on the wrong side of the Hardimans, obviously, there.
- [38:30]
Brother Lyle Muhammad (Executive Director of Circle of Brotherhood)
And I do want to say that it's gotten to the point now where we realize that I guess, like the mind of the story of Moses and Pharaoh, he's bent on attempting to completely wipe out our organization, including evict us from this very home that we built as a safe haven for so many in Miami Dade County.
- [38:49]
Host (Billy)
Oh, it's a real estate hustle, Roy. So it usually is. It's always when push comes to shove, you can always. He mentioned you remember Keon in passing kind of reference. Like they've been given real estate. The second you hear one of these guys, any commissioner bring up real estate, you know what's going on, just. Ah, God, I love this town. Brother Lyle, thanks so much for being here again and good luck to you.
- [39:12]
Brother Lyle Muhammad (Executive Director of Circle of Brotherhood)
We thank you all for always keeping it a buck 100.
- [39:16]
Host (Billy)
Roy. Municipal elections in Surfside are just days away. Tuesday, March 17th and you'll never guess who's back on the ballot. No. Our old friend. Not Slow Mo Slomo. Slow Mo Danziger. I just want to let everybody know I have a few black friends.
- [39:32]
Miami Dade County Commissioner
He probably does.
- [39:33]
Host (Billy)
So he probably, probably, probably is doing a lot of work. Most likely. He definitely, definitely doesn't. Shlomo Danziger is the disgraced ex mayor of Surfside. This tiny little town, I don't know, it's like a mile long if that, north of Miami Beach. And he was just the king of corruption and chaos. He sold out to all of the developers. He destroyed his laptop, hard drive. He basically wiped it clean. That's the town's laptop before he turned it in, destroying all the public records. Allegedly. He lost his town issued cell phone after he lost reelection two years ago. But only after people started making public records requests for his text messages and call logs. Suddenly the phone went missing. This guy's a real bad guy. And as you remember from a few weeks ago, he's being sued by Joshua Epstein for violating his civil rights. Back when he was like a teenager, they falsely arrested this kid for political retaliation and now they're getting the shit sued out of them. So when you say he lost his cell phone, did you do the old finger quotes there? Lost his. Lost. Yeah, those are some hard, hard finger quotes. You're getting carpal tunnel there with those air quotes, right? Hurts so he's running again. Everybody just thought, like when you're this embarrassing and this corrupt, you'll just have some pride and go and disappear. But he's back and he's got all kinds of again, like shady money behind him from mysterious secret packs. And he's singing a whole other tune. It's just this. All this revisionist history about how like he is somehow a model of. Of stability and competent government. And man oh man, is he bad news. But good luck to the people of Surfside. I just say abd. Vote abd. Anyone but Danzinger. Slow Mo Cocaine's.
- [41:31]
Willem Marks (Vanity Fair Journalist)
Do me a favor. Turn around, put your hands behind your back.
- [41:33]
Host (Billy)
18 year old Joshua Epstein cuffed on Friday in Surfside. Accused of pushing the vice mayor Jeff Rose after a commission meeting. He was charged with felony assault.
- [41:44]
Zyn After Dark Advertiser
Assault on an elected official.
- [41:45]
Host (Billy)
They arrested my son to teach him a lesson. The silence residents from speaking out.
- [41:50]
Zyn After Dark Advertiser
This is third world thuggery.
- [41:52]
Host (Billy)
To use the police force to silence a political opponent is something we see happen in Russia.
- [42:02]
Anonymous Caller or Guest
An underhanded slimy little shove. That place is eight blocks and somehow more corrupt than Havana. No shame or pride. I wanna be dictator with a man bun.
- [42:19]
Host (Billy)
Don't ask me to get the police tomorrow. Have a seat.
- [42:21]
Anonymous Caller or Guest
Thinks he's so smart. But there's not much underneath that yarmulka. My sugar nut Trimon and Singer. Screw that guy. He's making cigarettes trips with billionaires out in Dubai. Don't vote in Singer in Surfside. Psychotic racist parts. Yeah, that's Den Zinger Wiener. Bad guy.
- [42:50]
Host (Billy)
Does anybody know to speak Spanish to tell us her? Because I've said it like four times.
- [42:56]
Anonymous Caller or Guest
Vice Mayor J. A fake tough guy who likes to bully kids. See what to me they're shameless assholes. Moronic fascists jailing their critics. The chief of police has been accused of sexual harassment. Marcian. Oh, people, please. We got a vote on Matt on March 19th. Come on and sing Slow Mo. Screw that guy. A ringer for developers. There's other signs in his eyes for cock. The little schmuck. Yeah, that's Dan Singer. Wiener.
- [43:43]
Host (Billy)
Ow. I just want to let everybody know I have a few black friends.