4 December 12-18, 2024 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | culture | Night+Day | news | letters | coNteNts | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | ▼ POINTS NORTH AUF WIEDERSEHEN! FLORIDA NEO-NAZI JON MINADEO DECAMPS TO ARKANSAS. BY NAOMI FEINSTEIN F lorida’s neo-Nazi population just dropped by one: Jon Minadeo II has left the Sunshine State for good. The founder of the anti-Se- mitic hate group Goyim Defense League (GDL) has packed up his Third Reich paraphernalia and Adolf Hitler memorabilia and decamped, bound for Arkansas after two years in Port St. Lucie. “I’m just coming out and just going to start my own fucking lawn-mowing business and, you know, just do lawns for pro-white peo- ple,” Minadeo announced on a November 23 livestream. He’ll also be teaming up with fellow neo- Nazi Billy Roper, creator of the white su- premacist group the Shield Wall Network who aspires to “build a white ethno state,” ac- cording to the Anti-Defamation League. “I get to work with a legend when I get out there, Billy Roper,” Minadeo said. “I look for- ward to meeting Roper, helping out as much as I can. This is the guy who worked under the legend Dr. William Pierce. This guy is a great guy putting together a pro-white thing over there.” After creating the GDL and its attendant network of white-supremacist provocateurs out of his San Francisco Bay Area home base, Minadeo gained infamy for his anti-Se- mitic antics, which included hanging Nazi signs on highway overpasses and driving around in a swastika-covered van as part of his “Name the Nose” tours. His group is also responsible for distributing flyers filled with conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic tropes around the U.S. Minadeo’s ultimate goal is to expel Jews from the United States, culminating in a global war against the ethno-religious group. Along the way, he has amassed a substantial following through his livestreams on Goy- imTV, an online platform where Minadeo so- licits donations and spreads anti-Semitic, racist, and homophobic rhetoric — including to young kids in chat rooms. In announcing his relocation to the sub- tropics from Petaluma, California, in late 2022, Minadeo proclaimed that Florida would be more welcoming to his brand of hate-filled anti-Semitism. Upon his arrival, Minadeo, who comes from a Mexican-Amer- ican family, deployed his neo-Nazi demon- strations, staging light projections on buildings throughout the state and harassing worshipers outside synagogues. He soon realized the Sunshine State is not the Nazi paradise he’d envisioned. In March 2023, Palm Beach County police cited him for littering after he left flyers on lawns throughout the area. He was later sen- tenced to 30 days in jail. Two months later, the Florida Legislature passed H.B. 269, making it a crime to distrib- ute any material onto private property to in- timidate or threaten the owner, to threaten or intimidate a person based on their ethnic or religious attire, and to project images on a building without permission. Outside of Florida, Minadeo was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and causing a public disturbance in June 2023 af- ter he led an anti-Semitic demonstration prior to shabbat services at a Georgia synagogue. Since arriving in Arkansas last week, he says, he has been “loving the demographics.” | RIPTIDE | GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS Movin’ out: With the departure of Jon Minadeo II, Florida has one less neo-Nazi resident. Screenshot via Telegram/HANDSOME TRUTH-Clips ▼ FORT LAUDERDALE JUSTICE RESTORED PROTESTER SHOT IN FACE BY COP WINS $2 MILLION SETTLEMENT. BY NAOMI FEINSTEIN D uring a protest over the killing of George Floyd in 2020, a Fort Lauderdale police officer shot LaToya Ratlieff in the face with a rubber bullet — leaving her with a frac- tured eye socket, a large gash on her forehead, and nerve damage. Four years later, Ratlieff has won a $1.975 mil- lion settlement, closing the books on her 2022 federal civil rights lawsuit against the city. The Fort Lauderdale City Commission approved the settlement during its December 3 meeting. “Today is a celebration of justice for all Amer- ica, as the City of Fort Lauderdale was finally held accountable for its unconscionable police brutality and excessive force directed against peaceful demonstrators seeking to empower the community to demand police accountability,” Ratlieff’s attorneys, Michael Davis, Benedict Kue- hne, and Stuart Ratzan, said in a statement fol- lowing the vote. As part of the settlement agreement, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department must implement tactical and training policies that are consistent with standards set by the National Tactical Offi- cers Association and the International Associa- tion of Chiefs of Police. “While the financial settlement is important for the city to know that it cannot sweep these injustices under the rug, the corrective require- ments will make sure that what happened to me must never happen to anyone else,” Ratlieff said in a statement. On May 31, 2020, Ratlieff joined a Black Lives Matter demonstration in downtown Fort Lauder- dale over Floyd’s murder at the hands of white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, hold- ing a sign reading, “Stop killing us!” As the group passed a downtown parking garage, police de- ployed tear gas without warning and Ratlieff “joined with peaceful participants who were tak- ing a knee and peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights,” according to her lawsuit. Officer Eliezer Ramos struck Ratlieff in the eye with a “kinetic impact projectile” — com- monly known as a rubber or plastic bullet — as she fled, choking from the tear gas. She fell to the ground, bleeding profusely from her face. A stranger brought Ratlieff to a hospi- tal where she was treated for severe facial injuries, which left her barely recognizable. In December 2021, 15 months before Ratlieff filed her lawsuit, a Fort Lauderdale Police Depart- ment internal affairs investigation cleared Ramos of wrongdoing, finding he had not intended to strike her. But after she filed suit against the city, the police department, and nine officers, includ- ing Ramos, U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz threw out Ramos’ claim of qualified immunity, re- jecting his claim that he was simply following su- pervisors’ orders to fire the bullets at the crowd. Ratlieff has said the incident has left her with ongoing trauma and disability, including partial vision loss, migraines, and a scar on her forehead. A class-action lawsuit against the city on be- half of other demonstrators present that day is pending. “After 1,647 days, I close this chapter and be- gin the process of moving forward,” Ratlieff said in her statement. “But for others, this is just the beginning. I stand ready to support the victims of indiscriminate police violence in seeking jus- tice through the pending class action suit. The many other peaceful demonstrators who were terrorized by the out-of-control Fort Lauderdale police will make certain the city understands that its duty is to protect and serve, not attack and harm for no valid reason.” Naomi.Feinstein@MiamiNewTimes.com “THE CORRECTIVE REQUIREMENTS WILL MAKE SURE THAT WHAT HAPPENED TO ME MUST NEVER HAPPEN TO ANYONE ELSE.”
