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“State Senator Daphne Campbell called the police on me for committing an act of journalism.
While we’ve known that this took place for over three months, we only received a copy of the police report today.
Coincidentally, Senator Campbell also called the police on Miami Herald reporter Sarah Blaskey today.
Update: @daphnecampbell called the police on me for “threatening behavior” at this event. Last time I checked, asking questions at a public forum was allowed. Don’t worry guys, cops didn’t think the complaint was credible.
— Sarah Blaskey (@Blaskey_S) August 9, 2018
In both cases, police did not take Senator Campbell’s claims to be credible.
On May 1, 2018, I attended the tail-end of a public meeting of the Miami Shores Village Council.
I knew that Senator Campbell would be there and I wanted to get some more b-roll shots of her in action in the community for possible use in future stories.
I filmed Senator Campbell interacting with members of the Miami Shores council and filmed her as she left the building.
I also filmed her while she was driven away in a car.
All the while, I stayed on a public sidewalk.
I’ve been trained to report the facts and hold the powerful to account.
I’m allowed to do all of this thanks to our nation’s First Amendment.
Senator Campbell doesn’t seem familiar with the protections for members of the press laid out in the Constitution, so she called the police.
The police didn’t seem to take her claims seriously.
Sen Campbell Police Report by Rich on Scribd
They never contacted me or reached out to RISE NEWS for information on this matter.
I’m a journalist who is working hard to create another way for South Florida to receive its news in this rapidly-changing media world.
I’ve been trained to report the facts and hold the powerful to account.
But I’ve also been trained to follow the law while doing it.
In 2015, I was one of a handful of young journalists to have been invited to the University of South Carolina’s Media Law School.
During that training program, we had a crash course in how to aggressively report while remaining on the right side of the law.
Like all trustworthy news organizations, RISE NEWS hems to a set of ethical guidelines laid out by trade organizations.
We follow those laid out by the Radio Television Digital News Association, Society of Professional Journalists and the Associated Press.
We will follow the law.
But we will not be silenced.”
“The fact that any elected official would summon the police simply because a journalist is performing his or her lawful, constitutionally-guaranteed duty to seek and report the truth is as reprehensible as it is absurd.
While I certainly can’t read Sen. Campbell’s mind, it’s hard to draw any conclusion other than her calling the police on RISE NEWS Publisher Rich Robinson was direct retribution for previous stories RISE had responsibly reported regarding her admitted attempts to seek special treatment from Florida Power & Light in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma last year.
One of the most important jobs of journalists is to hold the powerful accountable.
We commend RISE and Robinson for doing just that in September 2017, and defend their right – no, their obligation – to report on the public activities of Sen. Campbell and other elected officials in the communities they serve.”
For third-party reporting on what happened, read this piece from the Miami New Times:
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—–
Miami has a long and rich history of politicians playing dirty tricks on each other.
And signs are pointing to another example of that in 2018.
William Stuttgen is a registered Republican who lives in the Belle Meade area of Miami.
He’s retired and really dislikes his State Senator- Daphne Campbell.
He even has a campaign sign for Campbell’s opponent, Jason Pizzo in his front yard.
So when he received a letter in the mail last week that apparently came from a group of local Republicans that endorsed Campbell in the District 38 primary on August 28th, he was incensed.
Since no Republican or Independent registered to run in the general election in November, all voters in the district will be able to vote in the Democratic Primary.
Whoever wins in three weeks will be the district’s next State Senator.
And Stuttgen thinks that Campbell is using a classic dirty trick to get unsuspecting Republicans to vote for her.
“Someone got a list of the registered Republicans,” Stuttgen said in an interview at his home with RISE NEWS. “Pizzo didn’t do this. This is a Campbell thing.”
The chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party Juan Cuba said that they will be investigating whether Campbell is behind the flyer, as first reported by the Miami New Times:
The @MiamiDadeDems steering committee will be investigating/ sending @SenCampbellD38 a letter inquiring whether her campaign is involved with this mailer, & asking her to renounce this illegal tactic.
— Juan Cuba (@juancuba) August 7, 2018
Stuttgen said that the flyer was mailed to his house and had a stamp on it.
But it had no return address.
The name of the organization that claimed to pay for the flyer- “your Republican Neighbor” is not a registered political group in Florida and it is not clear where the money for the mailing came from.
It is also not clear how many people received the mailer.
Pizzo told RISE NEWS that his campaign has received another flyer from a voter in Miami Beach.
A Pizzo-supporting dark money group called FloridaStrong also said that have received a flyer from a voter who lives in Miami Beach that came from the same “your Republican Neighbor” group.
RISE NEWS canvassed six random houses on the street that Stuttgen lives on in Belle Meade.
None of the people we spoke to, including a registered Republican had received the flyer as of Sunday.
“Given my opponent’s unethical practices, there should be little doubt that she and her campaign coordinated this slate card,” Pizzo told RISE NEWS.
In a wide ranging phone interview that lasted nearly 45 minutes, Campbell denied the claims that she was behind the flyer.
She said that it was Pizzo who paid for the flyers to go out.
“He made it. It’s Christian Ulvert,” Campbell said of Pizzo’s political advisor. “I don’t have no money to do a slate. It’s them doing it. They’re so stupid.”
“Jason Pizzo can not take me down because I’m a people person,” Campbell said. “I’ve done so much for the communities I serve.
“Pizza wants developers from New Jersey to get rid of Haitians from Little Haiti,” Campbell said. “This is an attack on a black woman. I pray to God that August 28th that he gets his results. I leave Jason in God’s hands.”
On the campaign trail, Campbell has claimed that Pizzo is a secret Republican who wants to buy the election.
“I’m a proud Democrat,” Campbell said at a recent event in North Miami.
While Stuttgen is a Republican, he said that he is moderate on social issues.
Campbell is a pro life, anti-gay marriage Democrat who has been consistently supported by one of Florida’s most conservative religious groups, the Christian Family Coalition.
“She thinks people vote party line and they don’t look at the names,” Stuttgen said. “This is lunacy.
Campbell has a long history of controversy and borderline criminal behavior.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, RISE NEWS uncovered that Campbell had used her personal connection to an FPL lobbyist to try to get power turned on at the house of her “mother” before her other constituents.
Stuttgen said that if Pizzo loses to Campbell, he will be leaving Miami for good.
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Rachel Silverstein is the waterkeeper and executive director for Miami Waterkeeper.
FPL’s Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant.
Cafe Creme, North Miami- 750 NE 125th St, North Miami, FL 33161
Cafe Creme, Buena Vista- 5010 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, Fl 33137
Sixty10- 6010 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33137
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**IF YOU GO: Open 1-6 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays; and 1-8 p.m. Saturdays.
Admission: $12 general, $8 senior and military, $5 students, children under 12 enter free. MDC students, faculty and staff enter free. Ticketed events vary in price.
