HOMESTEAD _ The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into a four-minute video posted on YouTube which suggests that Homestead City Councilwoman Judy Waldman is being killed or is committing suicide.
“The video is very disturbing. It doesn’t discuss my political views at all and I take it very seriously as a death threat,” said Waldman, who holds the city council’s seat number 6.
The video, titled, “Judy Waldman, Bye, Bye, Bye,” was posted on YouTube on May 5 by a person using the screen name, “AtashyDL.” It is listed in the satire category.
“I’m concerned for my safety and I just don’t want this to happen to anyone else,’’ said Waldman, who contacted the FBI about the video. “I’m under strict instructions from the FBI about my comings and goings and what precautions to take.”
Waldman said she turned to the FBI and the city’s police department after the video was posted because she was concerned about its contents and because of other ongoing issues, which she would not disclose.
A spokeswoman for the Miami office of the FBI confirmed that the agency is reviewing the matter.
“We are looking into it,” said Special Agent Judy Orihuela, the media representative for the FBI’s Miami office. “She did contact our Homestead office and we are looking into the video.”
Neither Homestead police nor the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office could be reached for comment, but Waldman said the FBI informed her that Homestead police and the State Attorney’s Office have also been contacted.
The person who posted the video did not respond to emails sent through YouTube from the South Florida Times seeking comment. The poster’s true identity is not listed on the site.
With music playing in the background, the video begins with the words, “Farewell, So Long, Sayonara, Adios and Good Riddance To the suicide blonde” flashing across the screen.
Then a photo of a blonde-haired woman holding a revolver to her head appears.
Next, there is a succession of photos of Waldman, who is also blonde, at various official city functions.
Some of the photos show Waldman with other elected officials and people from the community at different events, including some that took place inside city hall.
One of the photos of Waldman shows her standing in between former Homestead Mayor Roscoe Warren, who is black, and another black man, This picture is followed by the words, “Her human OREO period.”
Other official photographs, along with more inflammatory remarks that flash across the screen, follow those pictures.
The video winds down with a scene of cars screeching their tires down a street, followed by a chalk-line drawing like the one police use to outline a dead body in the roadway.
Waldman is not revealing details of her interviews with the FBI, or who she thinks might be behind the video posting.
“I have a few thoughts, but I’m not in a position to confirm anything at this point, and I don’t want compromise the investigation,” she said.
EJones@SFLTimes.com
Pictured above is Homestead City Councilwoman Judy Waldman.
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