Community members rallied Tuesday behind an 18-year-old activist who was accused of pushing Surfside's vice mayor after a heated town hall back in February.
Dozens gathered outside of Surfside Town Hall and held signs demanding justice for the teen. The exchange was caught on cellphone video and happened Feb. 28 between Joshua Epstein and Vice Mayor Jeffrey Rose.
"Keep pushing me Josh, keep pushing me," Rose tells Epstein, who's filming. "You already pushed me once and do it again and see what happens."
"I haven't touched you," Epstein says.
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The video NBC6 obtained does not show the alleged push.
"You already pushed me once, and it's on camera," Rose says.
"If I did, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," Epstein replies.
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Epstein was arrested the next day and taken to jail for 27 hours on a felony charge of battery on an elected official.
According to a police report, there was a verbal dispute between an unrelated bystander and the vice mayor. During the verbal dispute, Epstein allegedly pushed the vice mayor in the chest area with open hands.
But Epstein’s mother Eliana Salzhauer — a former Surfside commissioner and outspoken critic — says her son never touched the vice mayor. She claimed there were several witnesses that police didn't bother to interview.
"We have seven witnesses, literally seven witnesses," she told NBC6. "Again, I'm not a puppet master of any kind. These are residents who came on their own that went to police right away and gave statements. They gave written statements, video statements, sworn statements."
Salzhauer said the arrest and investigation were politically charged and an abuse of power.
"The evidence will show that there was no investigation. There was political retribution. Not a fair investigation — political retribution," she said. "They wanted to silence my son, who’s an active critic. They wanted to silence me, they wanted to send a message to residents to be quiet because 'We have the power, and look what we can do.'"
NBC6 reached out to the vice mayor for comment and his side of the story and has not heard back.
