PRIORITIES: FHP arrest man accused of using spray paint to cover up pro-Palestinian graffiti on I-95.

According to the arrest report, on Jan. 2, Florida Highway Patrol Troopers were dispatched to the scene on Interstate-95, near Marina Mile Boulevard, after receiving reports of “possible vandalism.”

Once at the scene, troopers found Maimon holding a spray paint can. A trooper then pulled out a taser and ordered Maimon to put the can down.

According to Maimon, he told troopers that he is from Israel and was trying to cover up the pro-Palestinian messages.

“I have family in Israel. I don’t like to see it,” he said. “It is a terrorist organization. They kidnap and kill people every day.”

Maimon painted over the words with gray spray paint, which he thought was the same color as the wall.

After FHP arrived, he was then cuffed, book and taken to the Broward County jail were he spent nine hours.

“They put the handcuff on my leg and on my hand,” Maimon said. “Then they asked me questions and I tell them I just covered the ‘Free Palestine,’ like nothing wrong, just ‘Free the Palestine,’ and they took me to the jail.”

Maimon’s boss, Eran Hazan, said that the troopers actions towards his employee were “very unfair” and humiliating. He said they should have given him a warning because Maimon wasn’t causing extra damage and was using the gray spray paint to match the rest of the wall.

Both Maimon and Hazan work at an organization called Yedidim USA, which does charity work in the South Florida Jewish community. The organization fed first responders after the Surfside collapse condo in 2021 and has sent humanitarian aid to Israel during its war with Hamas.

“Yoni has been working at our organization for four and a half years. This guy is an angel,” Hazan said. “He helps out families from the moment he wakes up in the morning until he goes to sleep.”

No arrests seem to have been made for the actual graffiti.