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- [00:00]
Naomi Feinstein
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- [00:31]
Roy
How are you?
- [00:31]
Raquel Pacheco
I am recording this for the record.
- [00:33]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
You can record all you want.
- [00:34]
Raquel Pacheco
How can I help you?
- [00:35]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
Is that your account?
- [00:37]
Raquel Pacheco
I refuse to answer questions without my lawyer present.
- [00:39]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
Like I said, you're not.
- [00:40]
Raquel Pacheco
Freedom of speech. This is America, right?
- [00:42]
Naomi Feinstein
Veteran.
- [00:43]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
And I agree with you 100%.
- [00:44]
Raquel Pacheco
So you're here to investigate a statement that I allegedly made on Facebook. Am I being charged with the crime?
- [00:50]
Roy
The concerning part and not concerning for. For the person who's posting it when we're just trying to prevent somebody else getting agitated or.
- [00:58]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
Or.
- [00:59]
Roy
Or agreeing it. We're not saying it's true or not. That guy who consistently calls for the death of all Palestinians, that can probably incite somebody to do something radical. That's all we're here to talk about. And we wanted to get your side. If it was you that posted that to. I would think to refrain from posting things like that because I could get something inside.
- [01:15]
Naomi Feinstein
I appreciate your concern.
- [01:16]
Raquel Pacheco
I appreciate you coming out here.
- [01:27]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
New Year, same old Miami. As Americans are watching on live tv, the federal government ignoring, disregarding, violating, make disappear our first Amendment rights, second Amendment rights, fourth Amendment rights, sixth Amendment rights. Probably our fifth amendment rights as well. The same thing is happening right here at home because Miami and the Miami of today is the America of tomorrow. I mean, that's been pretty clear this past week. Roy, you remember. Yeah, I mean all things Miami, right? Sports, culture, politics. We had a Florida man, president, a Miami man, Secretary of state, attending the national championship of college football here in Miami. Jinx with the Miami Hurricanes playing a fellow born in Boston, but Miami boy and Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza. This is my first show back on because Miami. But I was here, of course, doing Como said he say sports. Couldn't find the sports. I did it live on, of course was here to witness Roy Stradamos call that game ending.
- [02:33]
Roy
I mean, it was staying the call, man. I mean, come on, I've been watching football for 41 years. That's what happens.
- [02:40]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
So it Happened at the end of, like, all of our losses this season. But Miami's going to Miami. And what you just saw was cell phone video from Raquel Pacheco, an Army National Guard veteran, former candidate for the Florida State Senate and Miami beach city commission. On January 12, she got a visit from Miami beach police officers because she was reported by Mayor Steven Miner for making a mean Facebook comment underneath a post of his. Yes, that is a real thing that happened and it made for strange bedfellows because it's kind of, you know, politics is a perfect circle, Roy. And so it's brought a lot of people together that you wouldn't expect to be agreeing on an issue. And Stephen Minor, you might remember, is the. Is the Miami beach mayor who is an accused serial sex pest. He was forced to resign from his government job as an SEC attorney 17 years in. So he was just three years away from a fully vested pension. And he resigned to kill an HR investigation into multiple accusations from multiple women in the SEC's Miami office of sexual harassment, including a college intern and a fellow lawyer in the office. And he also is responsible for the international humiliation when he attempted to shut down the O Cinema, our local art house cinema, for playing a documentary he didn't like that won an Academy Award the month before. This guy just can't help himself. He's also being sued. When I say him, I mean him and the city. So the taxpayers are footing the bill for a First Amendment lawsuit against the city for violating the First Amendment rights of a Jewish peace organization to conduct peaceful demonstrations. I mean, it just, it just, it.
- [04:29]
Naomi Feinstein
Just hashtag, because Miami beach.
- [04:34]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
We're doing all the carts, all the. Roy. Roy. This is extremely frustrating because obviously the First Amendment is numero uno in the Bill of Rights. And in our hearts, Roy, here at the. Because Miami show. And what we saw happen here was the police put out a statement. Let's start there. After this incident started to blow up internationally, Raquel Pacheco's video went viral, they wrote. On Monday, the Miami Beach Police Department was made aware of social media posts containing potentially inflammatory commentary referencing a Miami beach elected official. In light of recent national concerns regarding anti Semitism and out of abundance of caution, the department assessed the post for any potential safety implications. As a precautionary measure measure, Intelligence unit detectives conducted a brief. Let's. Let's go ahead and stop there. Reason is the key phrase here, is that on Monday, the Miami Beach Police Department was made aware of a social media post. So my producing partner, Alfred Spellman and I wanted to know how they were made aware of this social media post. And so we sent in some public records requests that are now about two weeks old. The first request was for all emails that contained the keyword in quotes Raquel Pacheco, from like a six day period from about January 6 to 12ish. And they came back and they said, we found 56 emails for you and we'd like to charge you $1,560 for them. Well, they claim that the 56 emails were on average 70 pages each, that they totaled 3,920 pages. So they wanted over $1500 for it. And in order to proceed with the request, a 50% deposit was required. What? Yes. So that was the first. Was the first thing that happened. So I decided to narrow the request and I sent a second request saying, you know what, just give me whatever documents that you referred to in your statement saying that on Monday you were made aware. How were you made aware? I was told it was an email. So give me that email. I'm basically asking for one document.
- [06:44]
Roy
How much is that?
- [06:45]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
So they wrote back. We found six emails. Well, that's much fewer. That's a good start. They want $1,480 to go through the 3,742 pages. That's $250 per email. Whole thing is ludicrous. So we amended both requests and said, you know what, don't review 3,000 4,000 pages. Just give us the first page of each email, ignore every page, thereafter, the rest of the thread, any attachments. So now it's only for six emails, basically. So we'll see what happens there. In the meantime, they are in full blown panic. It is crisis management mode. There are all hands on deck meetings with the whiny, crybaby mayor whose genes are so tight he's not getting enough oxygen to the brain. So this guy's got the police chief, he's got the city manager, the city attorney. No business of the people of the city of Miami beach are getting done. They're just in crisis management mode to try to spare what's left of the miserable international humiliation of a reputation that is Stephen Minor. And they put out a second statement. They're not releasing any public records. They just keep writing more statements. The next one is crazy, and it's from Chief Wayne Jones, who is ordinarily a reasonable man. But this thing reads like the mayor was holding a gun to his head. I was like, hey, police Chief, blink twice if you need help, he says in response to recent media inquiries. He doesn't write this, but he's. We're not releasing any public records, but Wayne Jones has the following statement. Given the real ongoing national and international concerns surrounding anti Semitic attacks and recent rhetoric that has led to violence against political figures, I don't know what that has to do with anything, but he says, I directed two of my detectives to initiate a brief voluntary conversation regarding certain inflammatory, potentially insightful, false remarks. Now the police chief, with no corroboration or investigation, is characterizing Raquel Pacheco remarks as being false all of a sudden. That wasn't the story two days earlier, but he just wanted to make sure there was no immediate threat to the elected official or the broader community that might emerge as a result of the post. The interaction was handled professionally and without incident. I had serious concerns that her remarks could trigger physical action by others. At no time did the mayor or any other official direct me to. To take action. Whoa, is this some kind of high bullshittery? First of all, stop releasing statements and release the public records already. You know what we're looking for. They got to come out irregardless. So release them. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Do you have the money for that call Uncle Dan. Let's get the Meadowlark credit card up in here. I need a public records budget on this show. Damn it. I really have a pizza and parody song budget. Alright, this is ridiculous. So, first of all, he characterizes Ms. Pacheco. His remarks as false. But yet there appear to be several disingenuous, if not outright false claims in Chief Wayne Jones's statement. Okay, first he says, at no time did the mayor or any other official direct me to take action. Dude, we already know that this incident was a direct result of a complaint by the mayor's office to the police department. Okay? Via an email that the city refuses to release. So to borrow the chief's terminology, Minor, at the bare minimum, incited this questionable visit by detectives to Ms. Pacheco. Okay? If you call 911 Roy, to report a suspicious person and that person gets arrested, you didn't order the police to arrest that person, but you called the cops on them.
- [10:12]
Roy
No, I probably would get arrested in.
- [10:14]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
That situation, but what I'm saying is that's exactly what happened here. Minor called the cops on Pacheco because of her mean Facebook comment. And then the police chief sent armed plainclothes detectives in unmarked car to police her speech by telling her, quote, if it was you who posted that, I would think to refrain from posting things like that. So A threat. I mean, I thought it was pretty clear. It was a very professional demeanor, but it sounded like him policing her speech. Finally, if in fact the police chief Roy had serious concerns that her remarks could trigger physical action by others, how does dispatching police to her home dispel that? The detective himself tells her, we're less worried about you than we are about other people. Well then why go to see her then? It doesn't make any sense. So here to talk to us about it is Raquel Pacheco herself who I understand has heard from many a strange figure, including not one, but two gubernatorial candidates in the Republican primary for Florida governor who support her freedom of speech.
- [11:24]
Roy
Say no.
- [11:25]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
And starting with Paul Renner who was the former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, who had a very reasonable take. Let's play it. This video of Miami beach police interrogating a poor woman over a harmless social media post is outrageous. I served for 20 years in the military and in two wars, so this would never happen in our country. This is a fundamental right of all Americans, free speech. You can disagree with me or anybody else to the top of your lungs. That's your right. And when I'm governor of the free state of Florida, you will have that right. I understand some elected officials don't get it. I do. We will protect it here in Florida. James Fishback is a griper adjacent kind of right wing Internet troll. A grouper groiper, not a square griper Fish packs though. He's been making a lot of news lately with his race baiting rhetoric against opponent Byron Donalds, who he's nicknamed Byron Byron. And he wants to quote, send him back to the ghetto, end quote. There's allegations of grooming, there's multi state voter registration controversy, a big public blow up on social media with Governor Ron DeSantis. Adviser Christina Bashaw is a wild man and he appeared. Yes, we are showing a clip from One America News from OWN on because Miami it is the Matt Gaetz show.
- [12:44]
Mike Ryan
What?
- [12:45]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
I don't even know what's happening right now. We are through the looking glass here people. But this is what I said about strange bedfellows and James Fishback had this to say. How can a governor vindicate free speech? Well, in this particular case what I would do as governor is I would use my powers vested under Article 4, Section 7A of the Florida Constitution and immediately remove the mayor of Miami beach for dereliction of duty for essentially using his office politically. Pursue someone who merely disagreed with him on the Internet. But I think it's a bigger part of something that you and I, Matt, have talked about for a while, which is Republicans and Democrats not teaming up to fight for higher wages or stopping the great Replacement, but teaming up to combat anti Semitism. Look, we all agree that all forms of religious hatred should be condemned, but that does not give you the right to snatch our free speech rights in the name of protecting antisemitism or defending against it. You're allowed to criticize Israel Netanyahu. You're allowed to call him a war crim. We're allowed to do whatever we want in this country. It's called the First Amendment. And as Florida governor, I'll always defend that. Not an unreasonable position. Then he kind of upped the ante on the Twitter machine now known as X, where Fishback wrote, our Founding Fathers would have publicly executed Miami Beach Mayor Stephen Miner for ordering armed men to confront a woman for criticizing the government. It might have been a, might have been a little bit of a exaggeration, hyperbolic statement. Raquel Pacheco, first and foremost, before we get into all of this craziness, how are you doing? How are you feeling? I know this was a little you, you put on a tough face and a tough voice on your video, but how are you feeling now about all this?
- [14:26]
Raquel Pacheco
Well, first of all, thank you for having me and thank you for highlighting this story. The initial shock has sort of worn off. I'm still dealing with, like, the actual physical and emotional aspects of having to deal with this. Both my son and I are sort of, we're just on extra. We're. My nervous system is on alert, let's put it that way, managing the best I can, trying to get back to life as normal as soon as possible.
- [14:54]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
I guess you made a very powerful statement contemporaneously. Like in the immediate aftermath of this, when you were doing interviews, you remember what you said about the First Amendment?
- [15:03]
Raquel Pacheco
I sure do. It still rings true today. I said that it felt like the First Amendment, and as I know, it died at my door that day.
- [15:12]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
And things aren't getting any better, it seems, on a national level. I don't mean to be glib about it, but your incident is kind of a microcosm of a greater plague in this country that is clearly bringing people from the left, of which you ran. I should have mentioned you ran as a Democrat when you ran for office two times. And people from the right. James Fishback is, you know, I guess they call it the political horseshoe, but like, I'd call it a circle. But what is Sort of that like. Though to hearing from people who, I mean, I don't think it's too presumptuous to say that, that you would probably vote for.
- [15:43]
Raquel Pacheco
No, I wouldn't vote for Mr. Fishback. Mr. Fishback reached out to me, actually. His aide initially reached out to me, asked if I would have a conversation with him. I wasn't even familiar with him as a candidate, but I agreed because I agreed to talk with everyone and we had a good exchange via phone about, you know, standing as Americans behind First Amendment issues and protections. So on that much we agreed. He asked me to go to Tallahassee and do a press conference with him, which I politely declined because after investigating Mr. Fishback's platform, there's. There's nothing there that I can politically, personally or morally align with. So I politely decline. But, you know, the thing that stands out about this outreach from across the aisle is that this is the one issue that Americans can all rally behind despite party affiliation. So, you know, that's promising.
- [16:35]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
It's a start. I mean, it must be. Must provide some solace, if not comfort.
- [16:41]
Raquel Pacheco
It does, it does.
- [16:42]
Naomi Feinstein
It's.
- [16:42]
Raquel Pacheco
It's good to see Americans lay down our differences and come together over this issue. It's like First Amendment number one. You know, we get this right, we're screwed.
- [16:54]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
So I talk on this show a lot about the city of Miami, which is a very different beast than the city of Miami Beach. The government's very different. Obviously the makeups. You know, City of Miami is one of the largest cities in Florida and it operates very differently. The city of Miami beach, which is a barrier island with approximately 80,000 full time residents, and you have a very different system of government where the mayor has a vote, all the commissioners run citywide and not as districts like we do. In the city of Miami, there are six other people other than the mayor. I'm going to name them because I think it's important. Monica Matteo Salinas, Laura Dominguez, Alex J. Fernandez, Tanya Bot, David Suarez, Joseph magazine. All of these people had the same mandate as the mayor. They were all elected citywide. Some of them were elected by more votes or a far greater margin. Monica Matteo Salinas was won by 20% more than Mayor Minor was voted with. And they all have the same one vote on the commission out of seven. I finding this silence of these folks really peculiar and odd. The spinelessness, the cowardice they are enabling this ongoing misconduct of this mayor, in my opinion. Have you heard on the record from any of these people, have they spoken out Publicly about you're hearing from statewide candidates for Florida governor. Have you heard from your local. You're a resident in Miami Beach. Have you heard from your local representatives who probably voted for some of them?
- [18:32]
Raquel Pacheco
Not one. Not one. I'm in shock, actually, at the response for. You know, I'm going to say some things today that maybe will not make me any new friends, but I never got into politics or activism to make friends. So I'm just going to be very blunt here. I'm incredibly blown away by the lack of response from the entire Democratic side of Florida politics on this issue. You know, you mentioned Mr. Fishback, and I don't even know this other gentleman. Well, Paul, Paul Renner. I wasn't even familiar with his comments. But I'll tell you, the silence from the Democratic side is really quite deafening here. I haven't heard from David Jolly. I haven't heard from Nikki Freed. I haven't heard from. I've heard from one political consultant, not Christian overt, thankfully. It's just absolutely deafening. It's just, you see this opportunity for the Democratic Party of Florida to come together on an issue that even Republicans can come together on. And what do you hear?
- [19:34]
Naomi Feinstein
Crickets.
- [19:35]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
You know what I say? The Democrats never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. So while this doesn't shock me, it certainly disappoints me. And I think it was my friends left of center who once told me, silence is violence, as those of us who have privilege in this country have to use our, our platform and our bully pulpits to speak out for people who don't have the ability to amplify their own message or perhaps are afraid to do so. So to hear silence is violence. And then, as you put it, deafening silence from Democrats and from the left on this is absolutely, to borrow a term, deplorable.
- [20:15]
Naomi Feinstein
It is.
- [20:16]
Raquel Pacheco
And it speaks to a much bigger issue that we have here in Florida. I mean, I've always suspected that we had some organizational issues, but now I'm, I'm certain of it.
- [20:27]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
Well, they're systemic. I don't really see how Nikki Freed has a job. I mean, you look at the latest, if you look at the latest statewide voter registrations, I mean, Republicans just continue to widen that gap. I mean, the only person who can be this, like, wrong and this bad at their job and keep it are, like, meteorologists. Like, I don't really understand how. And even they, I think, have a better success rate than Nikki Freed. I mean, this is just embarrassing already. Incidentally, the show's not Called Making Friends, Raquel. It's called because Miami for a reason. It's, it's. It's because if you close your eyes, you can see how many we give on this program. So you've come to the right place to alienate your political party.
- [21:08]
Naomi Feinstein
Yeah, I feel totally at home.
- [21:09]
Raquel Pacheco
Thank you.
- [21:10]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
So let me ask you finally, before we go, what is next? I understand you've lawyered up. We're all trying to get some public records here that I, in my opinion, are clearly being slow walked by the mayor. I think there is a conspiracy to violate Florida statute going on in the city of Miami beach right now. And I hope they're looking at a lot of lawsuits. I know I'm ready to go. If they don't turn, turn the. And public records are called public records. They don't belong to the mayor, they don't belong to the city manager. They don't belong to the city of Miami Beach. They own nothing. They work for us. And all of the work product that they generate is our work product. It is on our time and our dime. I had a Republican lawmaker on late last year on this program who's introducing a bill this legislative session in Florida to make chapter 119 stronger because he is now experienced for himself how this, this statute is. Is abused. And I think there is no doubt we are seeing an abuse of that here. I'm sorry, I got to get off my billy pulpit. But what is next for you and what are you experiencing with your own, I imagine your own public records requests.
- [22:15]
Naomi Feinstein
Right.
- [22:15]
Raquel Pacheco
So we have our own public records requests. You have yours, the Herald has theirs. There's lots of public requests and going, you know, in actively active at the same time, we're going to keep pressing for those. I really, you know, I'm really taken aback by the, like, the absurdity in the city's lack of response here. There hasn't been any discussion about having an open medium, a meeting or trying to discuss this with me. So, you know, at the very least, at this point, I think the best they can do is, you know, the right thing to do would be for them to release the documents at no cost and to just have a completely transparent process and maybe conduct an internal investigation. So we're going to advocate and push for that.
- [22:55]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
Absolutely. In my last email, in fact, I'm writing one right now. You got me all fired up. I'm sitting here literally writing a public records request to the city of Miami Beach. But I specifically said, and I copied everyone in the city. I said with the. With the overwhelming public and media interest on this, you should waive all of the fees associated with these public records requests in the interest of full transparency. When do you think that'll happen? Right?
- [23:19]
Roy
You know, when ho Freeze is over?
- [23:21]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
Probably, Probably. Probably about right. Raquel Pacheco, thanks so much for being here and good luck to you.
- [23:27]
Naomi Feinstein
Thank you.
- [23:27]
Raquel Pacheco
Thank you so much.
- [23:32]
Mike Ryan
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- [24:53]
Roy
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- [26:03]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
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- [26:35]
Roy
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- [27:09]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
Gambling problem call 1-800-Gambler. New York call 877-8-HOPE&WY or text Hope and why Connecticut? Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org on behalf of Boothill Casino in Kansas. Wager tax pass through may apply in Illinois, 21 and over in most states. Void in Ontario. Restrictions apply. Bet must win to receive bonus bets, which expire in seven days. Minimum odds required. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkng.coaudio Limited Time Offer. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is long gone, term limited forever. He can never run for mayor of Miami again. He can never run for Miami City Commission again. Now that there's lifetime term limits. How can I help? But he's can't anymore. He's. But the scandal, the scandal is like Celine Dion's heart and mind. It goes on and on and on. And now even in, in his absence, in his wake, there is a scandal. It started out as Watchgate and it is a cover story of the Miami New Times. It then moved on to Giftgate and now it's Meat Gate. We're going to now we're going to follow the whole journey. If you put garbage in, you're going to get garbage out. With with Naomi Feinstein, staff writer at Miami New Times friend of the show, back joining us because she's been writing all of these stories. Naomi, let's start at the beginning here. Francis Suarez apparently on his way out the door. It's unclear exactly when gifted to somehow this guy had four, at least four sergeant at arms, which is ludicrous. We have covered his abuse of the sergeant at arms system ad nauseam on this show and just the absolute waste of of police time and resources, a taxpayer money, how it's helped to kill morale at the Miami Police Department, which has never been lower. And he gifted them, Roy, for Sergeant at Arms, Rolex watches. We don't know what model of Rolex watch. We don't know if they're used or they fell off a, they fell off a truck or we don't know what. But four Rolex watches, like he's a.
- [29:26]
Roy
Quarterback and he's giving watches to his offensive line.
- [29:30]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
Hang on. Wait for it. Wait for it. Roy, you know what? I'm looking for sports. So hey, and I'm curious, Naomi, do you have any idea what might be like the floor on this? What is the bare minimum that Francis Suarez might have spent out of pocket to gift these luxury items to his two police officers?
- [29:55]
Naomi Feinstein
Yeah, I mean, obviously I wish I knew this. They know the style. If it was primary market, secondary market, but floor it could be 6000. It could go all the way up to 100k depending again on the model. If you bought it on the secondary market, as we all know, like, I mean, none of us need to be watch connoisseurs. We've seen the prices, you know, of jewelry watches. So have skyrocketed really since the pandemic. So if you want to imagine what the price is, if you're wondering why.
- [30:26]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
Where he got this money from, it's because, Mr. Mayor, you're brilliant, you were super smart.
- [30:30]
Roy
And we'll show those watches didn't come out of the back of a truck.
- [30:32]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
Well, that's what I said. I don't know. We don't know. They, they could be previously enjoyed. They could. I mean, do they have serial numbers on it? We just don't know. But what we do know is that there is an investigation by Miami Police Internal affairs into these four officers. Well, three of them, one of the four have retired. Two of them we know, have in fact been been demoted. The timing seems to be curious, though it may have been prior to this internal affairs complaint and, and investigation being launched. Naomi, first and foremost though, let's talk about this IA investigation. Apparently there may have been some violation of departmental orders or policy as a result of a. Whether it's an elected official or whether he was already a private citizen giving a gift or what could have the appearance of a bribe for some sort of preferential treatment. What are the rules here that may have been violated?
- [31:30]
Naomi Feinstein
Yeah, there are strict rules about, you know, officers, any employee within department accepting gifts or gratuities because they want to prevent, you know, bribery, you know, corruption, or even, let's say it mean that no one, someone got a gift for a police officer and they meant no harm by it. They didn't know the rules, but they don't want to present the image as though that officer, employee is compromised. So. And I think, you know, the sheer fact that, you know, if they did get these, if they got these watches, you know, on itself, it doesn't look good, you know, accepting a gift. But the sheer fact that luxury watch at this price, I think supposedly had been rubbing people within, within the department, you know, the wrong way. The message that it sends, of course.
- [32:11]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
I mean, listen, this has been part of the problem with the morale is that the fish rots from the head down. And Roy, what's been happening is the rank and file police officers have been sent message that there is just impunity at the top, that there is no accountability for the people in charge of this department. And that's not a good thing. It doesn't make the officers safer on the streets. It doesn't make the, the public safer. It arguably makes everybody, you know, puts everyone in greater danger and makes the streets and the city less safe. You just have a real message being sent from the chief and assistant chiefs and majors that, that, you know, you can act with impunity and they don't even care about the perception of, of Corruption here. Naomi, what do you know about the procedures here? We mentioned one of the sergeant arms has retired. So she gets to sail off into the sunset with her beautiful Rolex WristWatch. But there's three other officers currently employed, two of whom have been demoted. A great personal expense because they are. They're making much less money. I mean, upper five figures, if not lower, six figures, less money. But they're all subject to this internal affairs process and they can be called in and subjected to discipline. What do we know about this?
- [33:22]
Naomi Feinstein
Yeah, I mean, may I add one thing, though, so sorry, really quick. Yeah, two got demoted. One didn't it? So begs the question, you know, why one wasn't, you know, maybe. Who knows, what could it be? But one other thing that's really interesting is that supposedly there was one additional sergeant of arms who allegedly was gifted a watch but declined, you know, given the orders. So that has been added to the complaint. And so that would be very interesting to see what comes out of that. But yeah, I mean, so there was a fifth.
- [33:54]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
To be clear, there's a fifth sergeant at arms. There's a fifth who was offered a Rolex by Francis Suarez, but turned it down, presumably because he knew it was a violation of policy.
- [34:04]
Naomi Feinstein
Yeah, I tried to confirm that. I haven't gotten any confirmation. I complete dead end. But as we know, they're investigating it. Supposedly they're investigating it again. The process is ongoing and we might not hear for months. I mean, you're. You're no stranger to knowing how these investigations work.
- [34:20]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
So come on, we might never eager to see. We may never hear again. This may never come up again.
- [34:25]
Naomi Feinstein
And I think the big question, I think for a lot of people have been, what will be the outcome? I mean, they're like, I guess Francis is, you know, scot free. He's not in office anymore. I guess it's reputation, more of a reputational thing. But it is very interesting.
- [34:38]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
What, what rep. What, what reputation? Underhanded man, child fail son. I mean, come on, Naomi. The major in charge of internal affairs is Windsor Lozano. And Windsor name. Windsor Lozano is part of a. Let's call him a Miami police dynasty. His father, I believe, was a police officer. His father's brother. So Windsor Lozano, his uncle, William Lozano, was also a Miami police officer. And if that name sounds familiar, it's because William Lozano, in January of 1989, shot and killed an unarmed black motorist, Clement Lloyd, who was allegedly fleeing another Miami police officer who was chasing him for an alleged traffic violation. Lozano was on foot investigating an unrelated incident, heard about the situation and later claimed that the motorcycle veered toward him. He fired at the motorcycle striking Lloyd in the head and killing him instantly. The motorcycle crashed into an oncoming car injuring two occupants. And Lloyd's passenger on the motorcycle, a 24 year old named Alan Blanchard, died the next day from his injuries. Several black witnesses said that Lozano walked almost to the center of the street, dirty Harry style with his handgun poised and ready to shoot for several seconds at the moat. As the motorcycle approached, so stood in the path of the motorcycle and executed the man, according to these witnesses. Now I should say this was January of 89. You remember the Super Bowl? Super bowl was here at Choirabi Stadium. I was there. The city burned while the world's press was here covering the super bowl in the so called Lozano riots. Lozano was originally convicted of manslaughter. And then Roy Black, the famed criminal defense attorney who just passed away last year, won an appeal and in a retrial he was acquitted and went free. And William Lozano was the last police officer in Miami Dade county to ever be charged with an on duty killing. And so this is the esteemed background that this internal affairs major comes from. And Naomi, who polices the police. Am I to believe that Windsor Lozano, the internal affairs major who is supposed to be investigating Watchgate is himself under investigation?
- [37:16]
Naomi Feinstein
That brings us to Gift gate. So yeah, he is gift gate. It went from watch it to gift gate. And that is a good question to ask who police is the police.
- [37:29]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
So what is gift Gate now? So this guy is investigating improper, alleged or potential improper gifts made to Miami police officers and he himself is caught on video that was posted publicly to the Internet accepting improper gifts.
- [37:46]
Naomi Feinstein
Yeah, yeah. So in wake of Watchgate, we've now entered Giftgate where there was a video of Major Lozano appearing to receive a luxury gift box from a chef and owner of El Toro Loco. You know it's a TikTok video. He, Lozano is wearing his badge, he has his gun on his holster and he is posing with this gift box. And you know, and he's giving the guy a hug and opening this box. There's wine, there's all these meats, you know, like these gourmet like butcher meats jacket. There's even a birthday card and a scotch glass or whiskey glass. And he's accepting this gift, seemingly accepting this gift in this video. And so we wrote this story and actually an interesting snippet of this, of this story is who posted the video, again, is the owner of El Toro Loco Steakhouse. There's a few. There's a few locations. There's a location within the city of Miami. His name is Aldo Espinosa. And actually, if you go through the same TikTok account and Instagram account that posted this video, they also posted a video from his birthday of Lozano and also chief Manny Morales celebrating their birthday with him. So. So I bring that up because when I reached for comment Lozano, he told me, thank you, you know, for reaching out. Just want to clarify, this was just a skit. I had no clue it would be posted online.
- [39:15]
Mike Ryan
Oh.
- [39:17]
Naomi Feinstein
But he says purely promotional. You can even call Aldel, he can explain, which I did. And he said, yep, it was just for promoting his new butcher shop that was opening. And these are one of the gift boxes you could get. But my ears, you know, I still kind of perked up by that because this video was posted back in July. You know, I just reported this in January. So this video has been up for a long time.
- [39:37]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
Seven months, so.
- [39:39]
Naomi Feinstein
Exactly. So I use that information, I put it in the story and let the reader decide.
- [39:43]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
So the idea being that if Lozano didn't know that this was going to be posted online, he certainly has known for several months. And if it was. If he understood that it was a. It appeared to be a skit in which he was violating policy, clearly identifiable as a police officer with badge and gun, then he probably should have asked his buddy to. To take it down so that not only would he not get in trouble, but it wouldn't send the kind of message that we were talking about down the chain of command that you can behave like this in uniform without any kind of accountability. So now this. The Coral Gables Police Department is now investigating the head of IA because of course, IA can investigate the head of IA because he's the head of IA for crying out loud. So now this has been kicked over to Carl Gables, who are investigating the head of IA for possibly accepting a gift in violation of policy while he investigates other Miami police officers for possibly accepting gifts in violation of policy. And all of this takes us to Meetgate, because then in the gift that keeps on giving. You now dig into El Toro Loco and find out some wild shit about the relationship between this so called Miami meat czar, as you've dubbed him.
- [41:02]
Naomi Feinstein
And what else would you call him.
- [41:04]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
And put it on the pole? I don't know. I don't know. But. But there is. This man has a very, very deep relationship between us and Our tax dollars, it seems. What did you learn here? You know me.
- [41:21]
Naomi Feinstein
As we shift from giftgate to Meetgate, I. What stood out to me was, I think this was so important is because, you know, I think context matters because we want to know is there. It could have been a harmless thing, just giving him gift. They're good friends. But also I wanted to know, does this guy have further ties within the community and involved in city business? So as I said, he does actually have a meat distribution company where, you know, he's giving out these meats and then he also has the steakhouses, one of which is in. Within the city of Miami. And so in doing this, I got records to show that since December 2023 through December 2025, he's been getting quite a bit of money. $730,000 worth.
- [42:04]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
What?
- [42:05]
Naomi Feinstein
Of money? Because of. Yes, wait, I'll get there. And basically. Meaning this money is basically from District 3 and District 1. And they are for different very. I mean, the District 3 under Joe Corolla was the big spender. He's responsible for 90% of it. Cabela, District 1. Gabella's office only basically had two purchases.
- [42:32]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
So for clarity, these are. Sorry to interrupt. These. This is what we call discretionary funds. So there's no. There's no bidding. There's no rfp. There's no. These guys can spend this money however they want to spend this money without any kind of accountability other than, I guess perhaps, you know, requesting these records and being able to see how they spent them. So they're just writing checks. Three quarters of a million dollars, it seems. And counting. Because even though Joe Corolla is gone, Miguel Gabella is there still spending tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. On what? On meat. What. What are they spending?
- [43:06]
Naomi Feinstein
Yeah. So for District three, for instance, in District one had one had one of these giveaways. So. So Corolla would have a lot of these holiday distribution events where you would have, you know, turkey giveaways. Pork shoulder giveaways, evidently, Al Capone style. I wasn't well versed at that.
- [43:23]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
King style. Wait, Pork. Pork shoulder giveaway. Pork butt. Pork butt.
- [43:29]
Raquel Pacheco
Yeah.
- [43:29]
Naomi Feinstein
And for holiday distribution events, you know, turkey makes sense. Thanksgiving.
- [43:32]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
So three quarters of a million dollars in pork butt.
- [43:36]
Naomi Feinstein
So give you one example. November 2024, his office bill paid 156,000 for whole tur in December. This past November, again, that's for turkey distribution. In November 2025, $200,000 for whole turkeys. But there's also 111,000 for some prime pulled pork shoulder. So, and then these various in our article, and if you guys people take a look at it, I have a little breakdown since December 2023 of each month of. Of what they were billed. You know, it's pork shoulder, turkey, pork shoulder. Cabela's office had one other purchase besides a one distribution, meat distribution. Spending. It was for a staff luncheon for only $448.
- [44:23]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
So the kind of money we're talking about, though, I have to ask the question, not making any accusations, but the kind of money we're talking about, particularly Joe Corolla and these guys, El Toro Loco, they have a food truck outside here at Bayfront park, which was the subject of part of the scandal or the controversy in the Bayfront Park Management Trust, where. Where it was alleged by the former executive director who's now suing the city and the Bayfront Park Management Trust and Joe Carrillo saying that. That these were very politically connected individuals to Joe Carollo, and he allowed them to apparently tap into the city's power supply so not have to furnish their own generator as they're apparently required to do, perhaps by lease or contract or whatever, and basically steal, he was alleging power, electricity, and arguably tax dollars from. From the city. So these people have come up before. But when you're talking about this kind of money, there's always the question of alleged kickbacks. There's always the question of when. When there's so much money going out and there's no accountability and there's no one else in city government, no procurement doesn't know about it. City manager doesn't know about it. City attorney doesn't know about it. Nobody is looking over and approving these contracts. But where is this money going? Is it all going to Toyke? Is it all going to pork shoulder and. Or pork asshole or whatever. Whatever.
- [45:37]
Naomi Feinstein
We can say that now.
- [45:39]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
But like, can we follow the money any further here, Naomi?
- [45:43]
Naomi Feinstein
I mean, this is just the beginning. I mean, let's see where it happens. As far as I know, I'm not sure where else the money could lead us. You know, it's just. I got Excel sheets and Excel sheets full of, you know, these invoices. So it's. We. I don't know where it could lead. It could lead somewhere else.
- [46:02]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
You know where it leads. It leads me to the conclusion that we are in the wrong line of work. Work, because these sergeant arms make almost 200 grand a year basically to just like chauffeur, you know, there's. There's no, like you know, no life and limb. It's not really protecting and serving the way rank and file, you know, police officers do. You basically are a chauffeur for elected officials who nobody recognizes anywhere they go anyway. So there's not exactly like a Secret Service level of, of. Of threat or anxiety. And then they get Rolexes, apparently. And then, you know, if we, if we sold pork butt or whatever, we'd apparently be making, you know, three quarters of a million. I just like, it all feels like we should just, you know, what do they say? I want either less corruption or more of an opportunity to participate in it. Because, like, this is just absolutely nuts. And I want to say for the record, if Francis Suarez, we're all human beings here, and these cops are human beings, and they did a job for him, by the way, at our taxpayer expense. But nonetheless, if he wants to give them a sweater or he wants to take them to dinner, a nice dinner at Capitol Grill or Sunny Steakhouse or something to say thank you and farewell, I don't know that I'd have that big of a problem with it. But when you're giving police officers, and in apparent violation of policy, luxury gift items that could very easily be seen as some kind of an effort to impact how they might do their jobs towards this. This person who has been incidentally accused of a great many different, different things that might require law enforcement action here. Roy, you know, I was going to apply. I know Miami New Times is looking for a new editor, and she. I was going to apply for that job. Well, I think we all know I'm going to go to the food truck across the street and apply for a job at El Toro Loco. Yeah, I'm going to get into the turkey and pork ass distribution. Pork business.
- [47:51]
Naomi Feinstein
Listen, we can say that now.
- [47:54]
Host (possibly Dan or Matt Gaetz)
Yeah, you're right. Naomi Feinstein. Read her at Miami New Times.com she's been doing great work. Really fascinating stuff that I think is of interest well beyond the borders of Hashtag, because Miami, in the meantime, cocaine's.