Claims PBSO Released False Information. Accuses Deputy Of Excessive Force. Police: Andrew Marc Klein Incited Protestors At Palestinian Rally.
BY: ANDREW COLTON | Editor and Publisher
UPDATE: June 27, 2021: Prosecutors decided to not prosecute any of the charges filed by PBSO in this matter. We have removed Mr. Klein’s booking photo, although it remains a matter of public record and is available on the Palm Beach County booking blotter website.
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2021 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — An attorney arrested at a Boca Raton pro-Palestinian rally in May claimed in a phone call and several emails to BocaNewsNow.com that the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office engaged in misconduct when he was thrown to the ground and handcuffed. He later claimed that PBSO presented misinformation, and pointed to an NPR report about inaccurate police press releases. The NPR report focused on the inaccurate release issued by the Minneapolis Police Department in the hours after officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd.
But PBSO says the arrest of Andrew Marc Klein was by the books and that Klein’s actions were recorded by both a PBSO drone and the bodycam of a nearby Boca Raton Police Officer. While BocaNewsNow.com has not reviewed the video — it’s part of an active investigation — PBSO provided to us a report that had not been publicly released: Klein was found with a gun and knife on his body at the time of his arrest.
Klein, as we reported on May 24th, was arrested by PBSO when he allegedly refused to stop honking the horn of his Audi Q5 — pointed directly at pro-Palestinian protestors engaged in a rally near Glades Road and Florida’s Turnpike. Police say Klein was trying to incite protestors. Klein, however, says he wasn’t inciting anyone — he was trying to get the attention of deputies for an undetermined reason. But even after deputies responded, police reports state that Klein continued to honk the horn of his Q5.
In a phone call with BocaNewsNow.com during which he accused us of being “anti-Israel,” Klein told us that he called PBSO earlier in the day to tell them about the rally, then traveled from his home in Parkland — in Broward County — to the rally location in Boca Raton to “make sure police were doing their jobs.”
Once there, police — who knew about the rally and had a “field force” on the scene — say he refused to comply with their instructions. Klein allegedly pulled out his phone to record a pro-Palestinian protestor. That protestor knocked his phone from his hand and was arrested. But when Klein wouldn’t comply with deputies who ordered him to calm down, Klein was arrested as well. He allegedly resisted and was thrown to the ground where an official report states multiple deputies were needed to control the man.
Klein, according to police, was found with a gun and knife on his body, then demanded special treatment stating that he’s “an attorney.”
But Klein says police were the problem, not him. He accuses Sgt. Andrew Yoder, one of the arresting deputies, of excessive force. The Palm Beach Post reports that Yoder was accused of excessive force a decade ago.
PBSO says nothing was excessive, proven by deputies finding multiple weapons on Klein.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office provided several pages of the police report, not part of the original affidavit, to BocaNewsNow.com. Why were the documents not part of the original report? The answer may be in the charges. PBSO opted to ignore the gun and the knife — only charging Klein with three misdemeanors: two counts of resisting arrest and one count of disorderly conduct. But when we asked police questions that Klein asked us about the arrest, PBSO provided the full, following report:
“KLEIN CONTINUED TO CAUSE A DISTURBANCE AND REFUSED TO CALM DOWN OR LISTEN TO STOP INCITING (PROTESTORS). SINCE KLEIN REFUSED TO COOPERATE AND STOP OBSTRUCTING OUR INVESTIGATIONS, I ADVISED THAT HE WAS UNDER ARREST FOR THE DISORDERLY CONDUCT. I GRABBED KLEIN’S RIGHT WRIST IN ATTEMPT TO MAKE AN ARREST. KLEIN TENSED UP, PUSHED HIS ARMS FORWARD AND STATED THAT HE WAS NOT GOING TO JAIL. I TRIED TO GRAB HIS HAND AND AROUND HIS CHEST TO CONDUCT A TAKE DOWN MANEUVER DUE TO HIS ACTIVE RESISTANCE. DEPUTY DEVRIEND HAD HIS LEFT HAND AND NOTICED THAT KLEIN TENSED AND RESISTED. WE HAD TO SCUFFLE WITH KLEIN SINCE HE REFUSED TO LAY ON THE GROUND OR BE PLACED INTO HANDCUFFS. NUMEROUS OTHER EMERGENCY FIELD FORCE DEPUTIES HAD TO RUSH OVER TO ASSIST US IN DETAINING KLEIN. DUE TO HIS MOVEMENTS I ENDED UP BEAR HUGGING HIS UPPER MID-SECTION AND TRIED TO WRESTLE HIM TO THE GROUND. AS WE ENDED UP ON THE GROUND, KLEIN RECEIVED A SCRATCH TO HIS MOUTH BY UNKNOWN MEANS. KLEIN CONTINUED TO RESIST AS MANY DEPUTIES TRIED TO HANDCUFF HIM. I HAD TO HOLD HIS HEAD TO PREVENT FURTHER INJURY FROM IT TOUCHING THE GROUND AND TO PREVENT HIM FROM SPITTING ON THE DEPUTIES DURING HIS CONTINUED RESISTANCE. I WAS CONCERNED THAT HIS HEAD WOULD STRIKE ONTO THE ASPHALT. KLEIN WAS HANDCUFFED SHORTLY AFTER WITHOUT CAUSING FURTHER INJURY. SEARCH INCIDENT TO ARREST OF HIS PERSON, A SMALL RUGAR LCP PISTOL (SERIAL # 371803130) AND TWO LOADED MAGAZINES CONCEALED ON KLEIN WAS RETRIEVED KLEIN THEN STARTED TO BEG FOR FORGIVENESS AS ONE OF THE EMERGENCY FIELD TRANSPORT … DEPUTIES (TOOK) HIM OFF SCENE TO PREVENT THE CROWD FROM GATHERING AROUND HIM. KLEIN WAS TRANSPORTED TO THE COMMAND POST WHICH WAS LOCATED AT OLYMPIC HEIGHTS SCHOOL ON LYONS RD. (HE) REFUSED ANY MEDICAL ATTENTION AND DID NOT HAVE INJURIES THAT REQUIRED MEDICAL ATTENTION.”
“KLEIN CONTINUED TO OVER TALK ALL THE CORRECTION DEPUTIES REQUESTS AS HE STATED THAT HE WAS AN ATTORNEY, WANTED ALL HIS PAPERWORK IMMEDIATELY DUE TO THE SUNSHINE LAW, AND DEMANDED THAT HE GET SPECIAL PRIVILEGES.”
“[REDACTED], SON OF SUSPECT KLEIN, RESPONDED TO THE COMMAND POST TO RETRIEVE HIS FATHER’S PISTOL, KNIFE, AND PERSONAL PROPERTY THAT HE HAD ON HIM DURING HIS ARREST. DEPUTY RAMSEY MADE CONTACT WITH [THE SON]AND TURNED OVER THE PROPERTY TO HIM ONCE HE SIGNED THE PROPERTY RECEIPT STATING HE WAS TAKING POSSESSION.”
Klein, who told us he’s Jewish even though the arrest report says “no religion,” told BocaNewsNow.com that he’s allowed to carry weapons to protect himself, and that he’s allowed to go to a rally to make sure police are doing their jobs. PBSO says that’s exactly what deputies were doing when they placed Klein — armed and resisting — under arrest.
Klein has entered three “no guilty” pleas. His arraignment is set for June 16th. Read the original police report here. He continues to demand the drone video from PBSO which he says will show “the truth.”
