MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A man was caught on camera posting sinister signs with a menacing message on Miami Beach.
Despite the community being hit by hate, police said there is nothing they can do about it.
Surveillance footage shows the man as he got out of a minivan while holding the signs.
He stuck one of the signs on a Ninth Street building, before 7 a.m., March 22.
As the footage continues, it shows him walking across the street and planting another sign into the ground, and there were more signs found in other locations.
Near Ocean Drive and 10th Street, another discovery was made as seen on a public Instagram account.
“Somebody out here really don’t like Black people,” said a man on the Instagram video.
Miami Beach Police are also in possession of the video.
The handwritten messages say “No more [N-word] and shootings.”
The messages were distributed a day after the largest spring break crowds of the season were recorded on South Beach and after two consecutive days of shots fired on Ocean Drive, which resulted in five people injured along with the announcement of a spring break curfew.
A couple of days later, the signs were also discovered by Mitch Novick, the owner of the Sherbrooke Hotel.
“I was jolted,” he said.
Novick said he took the sign down that March 22 morning.
“I was taught to rip down all hate, and that’s what I did,” he said.
7News ran into Adele Tucker and Michelle Reese, tourists visiting Miami Beach from Cleveland, and asked their opinion on the matter.
“For people to still be hurtful and hateful, it’s heartbreaking,” said Tucker.
“It was done by someone who is ignorant, so I will not acknowledge it, and I have no respect for anyone who feels that way,” said Reese.
The mystery man on video with the signs also appeared on Novick’s camera footage.
Novick emailed the video to Miami Beach Police Chief Rick Clements to inform the department about the hateful messages he found.
“Terrible,” said Novick.
A source within the MBPD said they have made contact with the man who posted the signs but have not released his name.
In response to a 7News inquiry on whether any criminal charges or arrests could be filed in the near future, Miami Beach Police stated, “We’ve identified the subject believed to be involved. However, after conferring with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, there are no applicable charges. These cowardly acts have no place in our city or anywhere else.”
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle issued a statement that reads, “My hate crimes prosecutor could feel the frustration of the Miami Beach Police detective when the detective stated that he could not find an underlying crime, such as malicious mischief or trespassing, for he could arrest the suspect so that Florida’s hate crimes enhancement could be applied.
Members of the Miami-Dade County Community Relations Board met Wednesday. They said they have received many calls from citizens concerned about the hateful act caught on camera that hasn’t been classified as a crime.
“I would love to find out who’s responsible, simply to [meet] face to face with him and say, ‘What were you thinking? What’s your motive behind this, and why?'” said Ervens Ford, chair of the board.
The City of Miami Beach has since lifted their state of emergency along with the curfew.
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