Miami police investigating online threats against city commissioner

Tess Riski, Miami Herald on Jun 9, 2026

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MIAMI — The Miami Police Department is investigating threats against City Commissioner Miguel Angel Gabela that appeared in the comment section of a recent video posted to Instagram by filmmaker Billy Corben.

The investigation lands amid ongoing tensions between Gabela and Corben, who has posted several videos to Instagram in recent weeks that are critical of the first-term commissioner. The videos include clips of Corben engaging with Gabela at public meetings in what sometimes became heated exchanges.

In the posts, Corben has accused Gabela of “weaponizing government” and criticized him for pushing to name a city street after a former commissioner who resigned as part of a plea deal after he was accused of exploiting his public office.

On one of those recent Instagram posts, which had about 800 comments as of Monday night, a user commented “kill the commissioner.” Gabela filed a police report on Wednesday, saying he felt concerned about his safety. The police report references other “threatening comments” under the post but doesn’t provide further details about them.

For the specific comment referenced, the police report includes the commenter’s Instagram username, which links to an account with five followers and zero posts. The report doesn’t include further details about the commenter’s identity.

Corben condemned the comment, calling it “absolutely terrible” and “disgusting.”

“I repudiate political violence in every form,” Corben told the Miami Herald. “That includes threats or calls for violence.”

Corben said that while he’s a free-speech proponent, “calls for violence are totally out of line and totally outside the scope of the kind of First Amendment and government engagement that I participate in and approve of.”

Gabela told the Herald that he believes Corben “takes the truth, and he twists it.”

“He puts out lies, and then he gets these crazies that really don’t have a clue what’s going on,” Gabela said.

He added that he believes Corben is “inciting violence.”

Corben said that accusation was “nonsense.”

“Talking to public officials in public meetings about public money and public activities is fundamental to the First Amendment and to having a functional government of the people, by the people and for the people,” he said.

Corben added that Gabela, who was elected in 2023, “was a big fan of the accountability journalism that I do when it was about his political opponents.”

“Now that he is an elected public official and I am asking questions of him, requesting public records about his activities — now he seems to take issue with it,” Corben said.

Palm tree incident and alleged police leak

Days before Gabela filed the police report, at the May 28 City Commission meeting, he had directed Police Chief Manuel Morales to launch an investigation into what he described as a “leak” within the Miami Police Department.

That directive arose after Corben posted a video May 21 about a Miami police officer who’s under investigation after he allegedly hit a palm tree, fled the scene and then waited several hours before filing a report about the incident. Corben’s video included body-cam footage and other details, including the officer’s ties to Gabela.

Gabela — upset about Corben’s video — opted to go public with his concerns. At the May 28 meeting, Gabela said the officer had been “trying out” to be his sergeant-at-arms, a coveted position that includes working as Gabela’s police escort.

Gabela called Morales up to the lectern and told him “the only way” Corben could have known to obtain the relevant records “is through a leak through your department.” Gabela defended the officer, saying he had an “accident” and was now being “persecuted” for it.

“He shouldn’t have my political problems,” Gabela said of the officer. He then asked Morales to “find out where that leak came from, because this is very unprofessional.”

Under Miami’s governance structure, city commissioners are supposed to issue directives through the city manager. About 15 minutes later, Gabela, seemingly realizing the misstep, directed City Manager James Reyes to have the chief investigate.

Gabela added that “there can’t be this kind of targeting through the police department.”

A city spokesperson said Monday that the city manager “has requested a memo from Chief Morales regarding an update of the investigation.”

Speaking to the Herald, Gabela characterized Corben’s reporting on the palm tree incident as unfair.

“What do I have to do with that?” Gabela said. “I wasn’t in the car. I wasn’t there.”

He also noted the absence of former Commissioner Joe Carollo, who had been a focus of Corben’s critiques. Carollo was termed out of office at the end of last year. So now, Gabela said, Corben has shifted his focus to him.

Corben’s response? “If he doesn’t want to be treated like Carollo, he should stop acting like [him].”