Witness: 'There was no gun' in incident between Mayor Sharief, Rep. Campbell

Broward Mayor Barbara Sharief files criminal complaint

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. ā€“ Miami attorney Michael Joseph says he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief and state Rep. Daphne Campbell, along with their husbands, loudly arguing in a parking lot over Sharief's claim that Campbell had endorsed her re-election bid.

"It was mostly a lot of curse words coming from Barbara Sharief," said Joseph, who is running for state House. "To have a Broward County mayor cursing at another elected official -- it was very surreal."

Joseph said the argument ended when Sharief "aggressively" sped out of the parking lot. He said he thought that was the end of it. But he was later contacted by Broward Sheriff's Office detectives, who told him they were investigating an alleged aggravated assault.

Although the incident occurred in the town of Davie, Sharief directly contacted her friend and political ally, Sheriff Scott Israel, the following day and alleged that Campbell's brother-in-law, Jeremiah Campbell, had pulled a gun on her during the argument.

"There was no gun," said Joseph. "I saw the whole thing."

Another witness, radio personality Bevan Earle, also known as the Duke of Earle, said he was there at the time as well and he too saw no gun.

BSO is conducting the investigation even though the incident occurred in Davie. And now when Sharief goes to the radio station, WAVS-1170, she is accompanied by Davie police officers. Davie police Capt. Dale Engel said they are providing security for Sharief at the request of BSO.

A BSO spokeswoman told Local 10 that request was standard practice and was not special treatment for the elected official.

Joseph said he believes BSO should investigate Sharief's complaint as a potential false report.

"This is definitely a false report, because there was no gun," he said.