Organizer cancels protest planned near Trump's Mar-a-Lago for July 4 in Palm Beach
West Palm Beach Police officials told a protest organizer in an email that the protest could still happen, but the event permit was denied for several reasons, including the lack of available resources, which will be directed to the city's annual 4th on Flagler celebration that will take place at the same time along the downtown Intracoastal waterfront.
Wellington resident Mark Offerman of United+ and Democratic Progressive Caucus Inc. told the Daily News on July 2 that the West Palm Beach Police Department advised the city's parks department to deny a permit for which Offerman applied in mid-June for protesters to gather for 15 minutes on the corner of South Flagler Drive and Southern Boulevard.
The demonstration would have started at that intersection, with protesters walking along Southern Boulevard east toward Mar-a-Lago where they would be met by a "Trump Baby" balloon, a large inflatable of the president similar to one that first appeared during a protest in the U.K. Protesters would remain along Southern Boulevard until after West Palm Beach's 4th on Flagler fireworks, then go to one of two gatherings in West Palm.
Emails between Offerman and city officials shared with the Daily News by Offerman show that the city denied the permit but told Offerman that protesters could still gather.
"To be clear: you are authorized and approved to hold a protest or gathering at your desired location," Sgt. Craig Davis, special events coordinator for the West Palm Beach Police Department, told Offerman in a July 1 email. "However, the request for an event — including tents, road closures, or food trucks — is not approved."
The date and time for the planned protest, from 7:30 to 10 p.m. July 4, "raise serious concerns regarding both public safety and your personal safety — particularly in light of recent nationwide events and the current deployment of most of our public safety resources to the waterfront area for our 4th on Flagler event," Davis wrote.
In another email sent to Parks and Recreation Department staff, Davis also said the permit should be denied because it was received less than four weeks before the planned event, and it's proposed in a residential neighborhood where a lack of infrastructure and parking could create issues. Davis also cited safety risks from "potential conflicts with opposing demonstrators."
The 4th on Flagler draws tens of thousands of people to West Palm Beach's Waterfront each year. The city this year plans to have an 18-minute fireworks show at 9:09 p.m. Offerman said he understands that the city's police department has "chosen to err on the side of caution" because of the expected crowds and the protesters "reluctantly" will comply.
West Palm Beach Police spokesman Rachel Leitao on July 3 confirmed the department's decision and said that typically, permits need to be requested four weeks before an event. Offerman submitted his application June 19, she said.
The No Kings protest on June 14, which drew thousands to Southern Boulevard near Mar-a-Lago and West Palm Beach's Meyer Amphitheater, also submitted its application less than four weeks before the event, Offerman said.
However, Leitao said, the situation is not "apples to apples."
"That wasn't a national holiday," she said, noting the 4th on Flagler event. "So it's more apples to oranges."
West Palm Beach tries to be accommodating and responsive to event permit requests but with one of the city's signature events happening at the same time, many resources are dedicated to that, Leitao said.
The two activist groups organized by Offerman have had more than a dozen protests near Mar-a-Lago in the past eight years, and Offerman said he worked with "multiple jurisdictions" on each one. The bridge straddles Palm Beach and West Palm Beach, and law enforcement protection in the area around Mar-a-Lago is provided by those municipalities' police departments as well as the U.S. Secret Service and Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, and occasionally Florida Highway Patrol. The waterway is patrolled by the U.S. Coast Guard and PBSO.
"By expressly withholding any police support at the very beginning of the mobilization, the West Palm Beach Police have effectively 'stopped' our mobilization from happening, as we are certainly not going to subject our participants to potential MAGA violence without any oversight," Offerman said in the news release, adding that three previous "Trump Baby" balloons have been destroyed by the president's supporters.
Offerman pointed to an incident at a demonstration he organized outside of a Tesla dealership on Okeechobee Boulevard near Florida's Turnpike in West Palm Beach, which was part of a national movement in the early weeks of Trump's second term in office, when Tesla CEO Elon Musk led sweeping cost-cutting in the federal government through the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
About 100 people were protesting outside of the dealership March 22 when a man in a black Nissan SUV drove past and yelled at the protesters, then pulled up onto the curb and into the crowd, narrowly missing several people, according to an arrest report. The man then went into the dealership and told an employee "that he stands with Tesla," according to the report.
Two weeks later, supporters of Trump and Musk lined Okeechobee Boulevard outside of the Tesla dealership with large trucks to keep protesters from gathering as planned on April 5, Offerman said. Instead of standing in front of the Tesla dealership, protesters instead stood along Okeechobee Boulevard in front of a storage facility nearby, he said. The group canceled additional protests it had planned in front of the dealership to avoid possible future conflict, Offerman said.
Palm Beach Police had told Offerman that he could go forward with a protest on Southern Boulevard. Department spokesman Sgt. Michael Ogrodnick before the protest's cancellation told the Daily News that police were working with local, state and federal law enforcement partners to monitor the protest, and everyone in the department wants to make sure the organizers and attendees can safely exercise their First Amendment rights.
Trump is not expected to be in Palm Beach for the Fourth of July. According to a Federal Aviation Administration notice to pilots, presidential-level temporary flight restrictions are forthcoming for the area around Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, indicating he will be there from July 4-6.
This story was updated to add new information.
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Organizer cancels protest planned near Trump's Mar-a-Lago for July 4
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