A Miami-Dade County judge on Friday dismissed a stalking complaint against Alexander Otaola, ruling there was no proof the YouTube host and mayoral candidate threatened a man on his show.
“Given the defendant is a social media influencer … I would have expected voluminous evidence,” Judge Yara Lorenzo Klukas said during an afternoon hearing of the civil proceeding brought by a private investigator claiming public harassment by the conservative host and Miami-Dade mayor hopeful. “There is none.”
READ MORE: Running for mayor, Otaola hit with stalking injunction over alleged YouTube threats
The plaintiff, Jose Carrillo, said he felt endangered after Otaola began insulting him on his popular Spanish-language YouTube show, “Hola! Ota-Ola,” in 2023 after Carrillo served court papers at Otaola’s rural compound outside Homestead.
But Carrillo couldn’t point to footage or audio where Otaola mentioned him by name ahead of filing the stalking complaint in February.
Otaola acknowledged naming Carrillo after the suit was filed, which resulted in a restraining order against the host and a forced temporary surrender of his firearms to a Miami police station for the duration of the case.
“I’m pleased with the American justice system,” Otaola, 44, said in Spanish after the verdict. “As always.”
The proceedings highlighted Otaola’s unique role in the 2024 mayoral race, where the Republican is using his niche online standing as a conservative Cuban American influencer to make a run for the top job in county government under a pledge to rid Miami-Dade of alleged communist influences.
He testified that the nearly $300,000 he’s raised to challenge the county’s Democratic mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, comes from his audience.
While he wore a blue suit and a white tee, five people with him wore “Otaola for Mayor” shirts or baseball caps. In all, 15 people were part of the Otaola entourage, including two men in black he identified as security guards.
“I have a lot of death threats done by the Cuban regime,” he said through a translator during a brief interview before the trial. “The Cuban regime considers me a terrorist.”
Carrillo, a recently retired investigator, said he worried for his safety after he drew Otaola’s attention for serving papers in an unrelated court case. The grandfather in his 60s testified that Otaola began making veiled threats by describing him as the bearded bald guy to viewers — at one point claiming Carrillo was a communist.
Carrillo told Judge Klukas it was Otaola’s devoted audience that had him the most worried.
“I don’t necessarily fear he is going to do something to me,” Carrillo testified. “I fear someone out there is going to believe him and do something to me.”
On the stand, Otaola said he didn’t know Carrillo’s name until he filed for a restraining order against Otaola. Otaola said once the case started, he needed to talk about Carrillo on his show.
“I mentioned his name for the purpose of explaining to my followers the legal situation I find myself in,” Otaola said through a translator who joined him at the witness stand. “Let’s keep in mind I’m in the middle of a campaign for mayor. … My voters are my followers.”