PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – A group of about 30 protesters marched from City Hall to the Pembroke Pines police department on Friday. It was a peaceful protest, organized by college students, but when an agitator on a bicycle showed up and started harassing the group, things got heated.
The man rode his bike into the police department parking lot where the demonstrators had gathered, swearing and making obscene gestures at the group.
Kyle Fuller, who was one of the peaceful demonstrators, said the man yelled: " ‘You guys are worthless, you guys are all scums.' He says, ‘Your mothers’ are scums.‘” Fuller said: “(He was) saying very insulting things and he starts getting in our faces.”
The agitator continued to ride around the group and, as he continues to scream at one protester, another protester throws a punch at the agitator.
Police then step in and handcuff 19-year-old Rafael Angel Periera, the protester who took the swing at the agitator.
“Angel, I guess, got set off by everything he was saying,” Fuller said.
After several minutes, the protesters continued with their demonstration, getting down on one knee.
Moments later, the man on the bike came back. He tossed a glass bottle just feet away from Local 10′s reporter and photographer.
Police eventually caught up to the agitator for a second time and he was arrested for disorderly conduct.
Our cameras captured him a few hours after his release to get his side of the story.
“Do you have anything to say for what happened back there, sir?”
The man yelled, “You’re useless” along with some other choice words.
As for Periera, he was taken to the Broward County Jail after police discovered he had an outstanding warrant for trespassing. He is now facing a charge of disorderly conduct and battery because of his actions at the protest.