‘We want to bring awareness to her neighbors.’ Miami protest staged at state attorney’s home.

For months, protesters decrying police brutality marched on the streets of downtown Miami, near jails and courthouses and outside the office of the county’s top prosecutor, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.

On Tuesday night, with election night one week away, a small group of protesters chose a new spot: outside Fernandez Rundle’s Coconut Grove home.

“Katherine Rundle, for the past 27 years, has been living right here, off of the people’s dime, off the people’s dollars,” protest leader Francois Alexandre yelled on a bullhorn, to the crowd standing on a sidewalk across from a row of Miami police officers guarding the gate to the town home complex where she lives. “She has not been held accountable for anything!”

The rally took place Tuesday night as part of ongoing protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The protests have also come during a heated campaign in which protesters have increasingly focused on the longtime State Attorney, who is running against reform candidate Melba Pearson.

Voters go to the polls on Aug. 18. Pearson, a former prosecutor under Fernandez Rundle and a deputy director at Florida’s American Civil Liberties Union, is running on a platform of reforming the criminal-justice system. Both are Democrats.

The rally on Tuesday was organized by Justice for Miami, an advocacy group that says it’s part of an ongoing campaign to highlight 27 stories of injustice, one for each of the prosecutor’s 27 years in office.

“We want to bring awareness to her neighbors,” said protester Deborah Gomez, 40, of Miami Shores.

Protesters marched from Miami City Hall in Coconut Grove to the outside of the luxury town home and villa complex on Bayshore Drive. The rally ended peacefully.

The protesters also demanded the State Attorney’s Office drop criminal charges on people arrested while protesting. Prosecutors dropped scores of cases of people arrested for violating curfews in May and June. But during protests in July, Miami police began taking a more aggressive approach, arresting people who obstructed traffic while marching.

In all, the State Attorney’s Office said on Tuesday night, it had already dismissed 54 protest-related cases, including those for 9 people charged with obstructing a roadway.

“We are still in the process of reviewing more recent arrests on charges of obstructing a highway,” said State Attorney’s spokesman Ed Griffith.

Justice for Miami was created in July after one chief Black Lives Matter organizer, Jonathan Gartrelle, 31, was arrested by Miami police on a charge of felony strong-armed robbery after police say he stole flags from passing Trump supporters in cars. He told the Miami Herald he only took two flags off parked cars and left them on the ground.

Miami-Dade prosecutors declined to press the felony charges. Instead, they filed a slew of misdemeanor charges, including assault, criminal mischief and petty theft.

“It’s clear that these allegations didn’t warrant felony charges, and we commend the state on dismissing them,” said his defense lawyer Alex Saiz. “We look forward to fighting the remaining charges and fighting for Mr. Gartrelle’s right to protest.”

On Tuesday, the crowd chanted “Black Lives Matters” and repeated many of Pearson’s criticisms, including that her former boss, in 27 years in office, has never charged a police officer for a fatal on-duty shooting.

Pearson has also attacked Fernandez Rundle for failing to file any charges against prison officers involved in the hot-shower death of Darren Rainey, a case that spurred the local Democratic party to call for Fernandez Rundle’s resignation two years ago.

Over the weekend, Pearson — and many of her supporters — took to social media to blast the Miami Herald editorial board’s endorsement of Fernandez Rundle. Even The Plantain, a Miami comedy website, chimed in. Pearson’s campaign excerpted the opening line on the candidate’s Facebook page: “The Miami Herald’s endorsement of Katherine Fernandez Rundle is complete trash. They should be embarrassed of themselves.”

On Saturday, a group of Pearson supporters gathered outside Fernandez Rundle’s office to demand her resignation, a symbolic move designed to highlight what they say have been her failings over 27 years in office. The event was billed as one of “Black leaders, victims of police violence” calling on her to resign.

The Miami New Times also published a story about how the State Attorney’s office has divided the Black clergy.

In a statement, Fernandez Rundle’s campaign said Tuesday that the incumbent, who has traditionally garnered strong support among Black Miamians, “continues to have the support of Black clergy and community leaders because of her experience and deep-rooted commitment to the community.”

“She has led with important criminal justice reforms, which is why recent polling continues to show State Attorney Fernandez Rundle with double-digit leads over her opponent, and has the continued support of voters across all demographics,” the campaign said.

This story has been updated to clarify the origin of the quote from The Plantain article.