According to National File, what apparently sparked the social-media exchange is a Palm Beach County plan to put citizens who wish to attend County Commission meetings, and are medically exempt from mask-wearing, in a separate building. This would prevent them from addressing their leaders directly.
A man Contreras was discussing this with on Facebook didn’t appreciate the policy and quipped that he’d like to dump garbage on a county administrator’s lawn. To this Contreras responded, also in jest, “thousands of Mask[s].”
It was sometime afterward that Contreras heard a knock on her door, on February 12 at 10:30 p.m., while she was putting her children, ages 11, three, and one, to bed. Confronting her was a Detective Horton of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBCSO), who told the mother that they’d examined her social-media posts and warned her that trespassing and “dumping garbage on people’s property is a crime — so don’t do it.”
According to National File, Contreras confirmed with the PBCSO that it was a sheriff’s officer who came to her home.
To see precisely what inspired the police action, view Contreras’s Facebook posts below.
And what follows is the video of the mother’s late-night law-enforcement encounter.
Contreras was understandably upset, and made her feelings known. “No matter what a person’s political beliefs are, I do not believe anyone deserves to be bullied by our local government officials,” she told National File. “We should not be intimidated by law enforcement. What happened at my house was clearly political intimidation.”
Pointing out that the mother “hails from a family of patriotic Cuban refugees,” National File also quotes Contreras as saying, “I know what Communism is and we have been living in it for the past year.”
Contreras further mentioned that when she spoke of dumping masks in her post, it might have been construed as referencing public property where government meetings occur.
Detective Horton, who appeared highly unprofessional, also should do some soul-searching. As one commenter under Contreras’s YouTube video remarked, “Wow, he offers a gun or handcuffs as ID. Say something like that to a cop and they’ll charge you with uttering death threats. What an absolute piece of garbage.”
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