4 September 24-30, 2026 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | ▼ PALM BEACH COUNTY TRESPASSED A HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER IS ARRESTED IN PALM BEACH WHILE PROTESTING AGAINST $1 BILLION IN ISRAELI BONDS. BY B. SCOTT MCLENDON V oicing opposition to the coun- ty’s $1 billion investment in Is- rael at a budget hearing, Palestinian-American human rights lawyer and Rutgers pro- fessor Noura Erakat found herself in a Palm Beach County jail cell after deputies charged the advocate with trespassing. Erakat was one among dozens of people who showed up to the budget hearing to de- cry the county’s substantial investment in the Israeli government, which some argued is in- volved in the genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The investment, part of the Israel Bonds organization set up by the government in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack, rose to $1 billion in January after now-sus- pended County Clerk Mike Caruso (who is currently embroiled in a sex abuse case) made a $350.5 million bond purchase, ac- cording to Florida Politics. Erakat is the daughter of Palestinian im- migrants who moved to California, where she was born and earned a law degree from the prestigious University of California, Berkeley. She currently works as a professor of Afri- cana studies at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, and is an editorial member of the Journal for Palestine Studies. She’s been an outspoken opponent of Israel for years, even appearing before the United Nations (UN) to speak against the mass killing of Palestinians by Israel. According to her UN address, “The pur- pose of this campaign is the destruction of the Palestinian people for the sake of achieving long-term Israeli security, what I call ‘Nakba Peace,’ a violent oxymoron that predicates Jewish-Israeli safety on the elimination of Palestinians.” Erakat, who hasn’t returned New Times’ calls or emails for comment, appeared to be there in support of the dozens of county resi- dents who publicly opposed the financial support for Israel. She wasn’t among the (very) few speakers county commissioners allowed to speak at the meeting. Her arrest appears to have happened in the atrium of the government center after the meeting, according to a video posted by Qa- tari outlet Al Jazeera. She can be heard in the video saying she was trying to exercise basic free speech as two deputies hold her handcuffed arms in- side an elevator. According to jail records, au- thorities charged her with trespassing, and she bonded out Wednesday, Sept. 16. Palm Beach deputies haven’t responded to New Times’ request for an arrest report. A similarly controversial meeting played out in Miami-Dade County earlier this month when officials, who voted to increase the county’s own Israel Bond, ejected speakers for speaking out against the issue (including our very own failed gubernatorial candidate James Fishback, The Miami Herald reported). The warning tremors of impending chaos were evident from the beginning of the Palm Beach County Commissioners meeting. Sign-carrying residents packed the audience, and Palm Beach County Mayor Sara Baxter issued a stern warning to all public speakers that absolutely no discussion of the Israel Bond would be allowed because it falls outside the county’s budget. Because there were more than 15 people who wanted to speak, commissioners cut their time down to one minute each, which is custom for the county, Baxter said. Commis- sioners, however, only allowed seven people to speak before interruptions led them to take a recess; the public comment portion, how- ever, didn’t resume. Among those who did get a chance to speak at the meeting was a retired airman who showed up in uniform. “I strongly oppose extending the Israeli bond investment, as both fiscally unsound —” he said before Baxter cut him off for speaking about the bond. Deputies later removed the man under Commissioner Flores’ order after he appar- ently made comments from the audience. What the airman said can’t be made out on the county’s YouTube video, but Flores’ re- sponse was clear as day. “You’re an embarrassment to that uni- form,” Flores said, causing a chorus of “whoas,” shocked gasps, and shouts from the audience. Baxter then kicked a few more peo- ple out before calling for a 5-minute recess that lasted 10 minutes. Flores didn’t respond to New Times’ re- quest for comment. | RIPTIDE | GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS The Palm Beach County Commissioners meeting got so intense Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, that Commissioner Joel Flores told a retired airman he was “embarrassing the uniform” by speaking out against investing in Israel. Screenshot from Palm Beach County’s YouTube ▼ WASHINGTON D.C. ABOUT FACE DID MARIA ELVIRA SALAZAR DUMP TRUMP IN NEW CAMPAIGN AD? BY B. SCOTT MCLENDON M ere hours after Speaker Mike Johnson released House lawmakers from Wash- ington, D.C. on Wednesday, Sept. 16, U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar got back on the campaign trail with a video denouncing Presi- dent Donald Trump’s heavy-handed deportation efforts. There’s only one problem, as many are pointing out in her X post’s comments: she’s been a ride-or-die Trump supporter for years. Salazar posted the ad to X eight minutes past midnight in the wee hours of the following morning. Users began calling out the “obvious attempt at pandering,” as immigration policy ex- pert Thomas Kennedy (a New Times contribu- tor) tells New Times. The main issue for Kennedy, and many others, is that pushback on deporta- tions came only at the end of policy season and the start of the campaigning season. In the video, Salazar issues a stern message to Trump, saying, “Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far. In July, 50% of the 50,000 people who were detained had no criminal record. Be careful what your advisers are telling you about immigration policies. The same Hispanics that helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today. “You can be for immigration what Lincoln was for slavery, and Reagan was for Commu- nism. I’m not talking about giving them amnesty; I’m talking about giving them a dignified life in this promised land. And only you can do that.” Kennedy, who blasted the decision on X, told New Times many immigrants won’t have forgot- ten her pro-Trump stances long before her about-face. “She said we need to review birthright citi- zenship when Trump was calling on citizenship to be revoked,” he told New Times when reached by phone. “This is somebody that has supported Trump in his first term and second term, then went to Alligator Alcatraz and came out saying like everything is great.” Kennedy, who vis- ited the immigrant detention facility with the Florida Immigrant Coalition, said Salazar completely glossed over all the human rights issues evident when he went, in- cluding the now widely reported story about the tiny metal cages where authorities put some detainees. “And we’ve been talking about these little cages since last year,” he said. “We went to re- port that punishment constituted torture. She went in there, inspected the site, and came out like ‘this is great, everything is fine,’ but now a month or month and a half until the midterm elections and she’s straight to Mr. President, say- ing, ‘You’ve gone too far’ or whatever. Give me a fucking break. Get the fuck outta here.” The comment section on X was equally brutal on Salazar; even some apparent Trump support- ers joined in. “You should be ashamed of yourself,” reads the most-liked comment. “Nice, stab Trump in the back...you should re- sign,” one user wrote. “You’re a spineless clown trying to save your job. Where were you when ICE was murdering U.S. citizens in Minnesota? When innocents were being held in cages? Resign and go away, you’re literally the problem that needs to be flushed along with your Orange Diaper Pooping God,” another wrote. Salazar hasn’t responded to New Times’ calls requesting comment. [email protected] “THIS IS SOMEBODY THAT... WENT TO ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ AND CAME OUT SAYING LIKE EVERYTHING IS GREAT.”
