The office of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has sent out a statement regarding the video which captured an encounter with a Miami Herald reporter at City Hall
The heated exchange happened on September 9th and involved Miami Herald reporter Sarah Blaskey.
"Mayor Francis Suarez has repeatedly answered questions from the local newspaper about the Formula One (F1) event. Last Saturday, after having answered several questions on the subject, without prior notice and unnecessarily, the reporter placed her cell phone inches from the mayor's personal space, who was surprised and, as any human being would react, moved the device away from his face," the statement read.
"Unfortunately, this journalistic entity seeks to divert attention instead of informing the public of what really matters, such as the fact that the complaint to the ethics commission on the F1 issue was dismissed yesterday," Suarez's office statement also said.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
The Herald reported that the Commission on Ethics and Public Trust had dismissed the case Friday after it was found to be legally insufficient in closed session.
In the video provided by the Herald, Blaskey is heard asking him for comment on the allegations.
“Let’s make an appointment and we’d be happy to talk to you” the mayor responds in the video.
Local
After being pressed again by Blaskey to define a day for the appointment, the mayor said “I’m not going to make an appointment now, you can talk to my assistant.”
As Blaskey raised the camera to show the mayor’s face, the mayor asked her not to record him and “put down the phone” before reaching with his hand and covering the lens.
According to the Miami Herald, that’s when Suarez’s bodyguard stepped in front of the mayor, seemingly acknowledging the reporters’ right to record.
“No, no, no. Don’t do that. Don’t do that”, said reporter Joey Flechas.
“You just grabbed my phone,” said Blaskey.
“Don’t put the phone in anybody’s face,” said the bodyguard.
NBC6 reached out to the Herald for comment but they responded that they will let "our video and story speak for themselves."
The complaint filed against the Miami mayor for improperly accepting gifts was dismissed Friday September 15th by the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics & Public Trust.
"A complaint filed against City of Miami mayor, Francis Suarez, was found Not Legally Sufficient and dismissed," read the summary of the decision.
However, Suarez has a complaint open and under review by the Florida Commission on Ethics over his attendance at various expensive sporting events like the Miami Formula One race in May, which is separate to the one he was just cleared for by the Miami-Dade Commission.
Editor's note: We have updated this article to reflect that the Herald did indeed report that the ethics case had been dismissed.
