Miami Beach Man had 16 Guns and 4,587 rounds of Ammo

MIAMI BEACH — City police confiscated 16 guns and 4,587 rounds of ammunition in an apartment of a Miami Beach man, who allegedly posted threatening comments about officers on social media.

Fifty-four-year-old Ricky Scott Weinberger is being held on charges of harassment, making threats against a law enforcement officer and other offenses, but he has not been charged in connection with the apparent arsenal that police uncovered in his apartment.

Weinberger was arrested on Saturday at the Lombardy Inn, 6300 Collins Ave., where he had been living.

He argued in court on Tuesday that the social media posts were protected under his First Amendment Rights, but Miami-Dade County Circuit Court Judge Veronia A. Diaz disagreed.

"At this stage in the game I am going to find that there is probable cause and I agree with you: Quashing expression, First Amendment rights that's why we are in this country," Diaz told the suspect in court on Tuesday. "However those rights are very curbed when it comes down to threats."

Weinberger is being held without bail at a county jail.

Police said that Weinberger made the posts on a Miami Beach police blog called LEO Affairs, which stands for Law Enforcement Officer. Some of the posts allegedly referenced a detective who arrested the suspect in September 2016 on an unrelated offense.

In December 2016, a judge ordered Weinberger not to have any contact with Miami Beach police officers either directly or indirectly, according to arrest documents. He is accused of making a series of posts between Jan. 25 and Feb. 5 in an apparent violation of the judge's order.

Photo of guns found in the apartment of Ricky Scott Weinberger courtesy of Miami Beach Police Department