MIAMI – Prosecutors dropped all charges Tuesday, including a hate crime count, against a man who police said was caught on camera hurling “Hispanophobic” language during a January attack at a Miami Beach bar over an unpaid tab.
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Authorities said 42-year-old customer Michael John Nixon told a Hispanic worker at Norman’s Tavern, located at 6770 Collins Ave. on North Beach, “F---ing Trump is going to deport your a--” on the evening of Jan. 19, a little more than 12 hours before the presidential inauguration.
They said he also told staff “English, motherf---er” and made disparaging remarks about Cubans during a dispute over the $130.81 tab — one they said turned physical.
Nixon, of Arlington, Virginia, was facing a felony charge of battery with prejudice, along with misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief, defrauding an innkeeper and disorderly conduct.
Now, according to a closeout memo obtained by Local 10 News, prosecutors with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said the victim declined to move forward with the case.
“No action will be taken in this case because the victim stated that he and the establishment did not want to go forward with the charges. The victim called (into) the office and spoke to State Attorney Office staff and stated he did not want to go forward with the charges,” Assistant State Attorney Sophiea Bailey wrote. “I called the victim to speak to him so he could explain his reasoning. The victim stated he was not hurt and did not want to deal with the incident any further. I explained to the victim that if he did not want to go forward, I would (not) press charges and the case would end.”
Bailey wrote that the victim “understood.”
Prosecutors announced their decision to drop the charges during Nixon’s arraignment hearing Tuesday.