A Democratic State Senator from Florida called 911 claiming a woman was threatening her at a restaurant. That woman apparently was a Miami Herald reporter who was asking questions following a campaign event.
Sen. Daphne Campbell can be heard in a recording of the 911 call she placed on August 9, released by the Miami-Dade Police Department, frantically calling for help.
“Can you please send a police for me, please, right now,” she said, as the operator was asking for her location.
“I have a lady who threatened me a lot,” Campbell claimed. “I’m not going to argue with no one. She threatened me right now. I need protection.”
According to the Miami Herald, that lady was their reporter, Sarah Blaskey. Blaskey was reportedly asking Campbell questions following an event for candidates in the State Senate race. Since then, Campbell lost to attorney Jason Pizzo. On the call, Campbell stated she was calling from Duffy’s, the restaurant where the event took place.
Campbell only described Blaskey in response to questions as being white, wearing a colorful dress, and not having any weapons.
It’s unclear what Blaskey was asking Campbell prior to the 911 call. According to a report at the time, Campbell had declined an interview with the Herald but said Blaskey could email her. Blaskey then reportedly listened as Campbell spoke to someone else, before Campbell walked off and placed a phone call.
Police responded, but did not make any arrests. Afterwards, Blaskey tweeted about it. “Last time I checked, asking questions at a public forum was allowed,” she said. “Don’t worry guys, cops didn’t think the complaint was credible.”
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
Law&Crime reached out to Blaskey, Campbell, and the Herald reporter who wrote about the 911 call, but none have responded. Herald executive editor Aminda Marqués Gonzalez said in a statement reported by the publication that Blaskey did nothing wrong.
“Sarah Blaskey was simply doing her job,” Gonzalez said. “Asking a question is not a threat.”
Blaskey is not the first reporter for Campbell to report to authorities. Earlier this year, Campbell called the police on a reporter who was recording her speaking with members of the Miami Shores council and leaving after a meeting. Police did not make any arrests then either.
Campbell also drew controversy in May when she texted a lobbyist for her local power company to restore her service after Hurricane Irma, claiming her mother was sick, despite her mother having died years earlier. Campbell later stated that she was referring to another woman who she considers like a mother. “I called her my mother even though she’s not my biological mother,” she said. Campbell had publicly stated in a 2016 interview that her mother had died.
[Image via WPLG screengrab]
