MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – An out-of-state visitor’s $130.81 tab turned into a more than $5,000 bond after Miami Beach police said he went on a racist tirade during a drunken attack on staff at a bar, leading to his arrest on a hate crime charge.
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Police said the incident happened just before 11:15 p.m. Sunday at Norman’s Tavern, located at 6770 Collins Ave. on North Beach.
Authorities said it all began when a bartender asked Michael John Nixon, 42, of Arlington, Virginia, to pay his bill. Police said he replied by saying, “I won’t pay s---.”
An arrest report states he then knocked over and broke a glass cup, said he “won’t pay” and threatened to break more items.
As the bartender stood in front of Nixon, police said he began to make a series of “Hispanophobic” remarks.
“Hola. English, motherf---er,” Nixon is accused of saying. “I live in America. You speak English.”
Authorities said Nixon then repeated “English, b----,” four times before saying, a little more than 12 hours before the presidential inauguration, “F---ing Trump is going to deport your a--.”
They said he then reached around the bartender and punched an employee on the side of his face.
After seeing Nixon’s “increasing(ly) aggressive behavior,” the bartender “began to back up” to allow him to leave to “prevent further physical assaults,” the report states.
However, police said as Nixon moved to leave, he “intentionally struck” the bartender by “forcefully moving his body forward, specifically his left shoulder, towards (him).”
The bartender defended himself by punching Nixon in the face, police said. Authorities said Nixon left, but later came back to the bar as officers were at the scene.
Officers arrested Nixon on a felony charge of battery with prejudice, along with misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief, defrauding an innkeeper and disorderly conduct.
After a Miami Beach police officer testified in a court hearing Tuesday that the victims were Latino and the attack was racially-motivated, Miami-Dade Judge Mindy Glazer found probable cause for all four charges and ordered Nixon held on a $5,450 bond.
He remained in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of early Tuesday afternoon, jail records show.