A United States Park Police officer says he was simply ordering drinks and minding his own business at E11EVEN Miami when a bouncer told him to leave, an off-duty Miami police officer grabbed his arm, and he ended up in handcuffs facing a trespassing charge that prosecutors later dropped. Now Ibrahima Haidara is suing the nightclub and two of the officers involved, claiming the arrest violated his constitutional rights and has since threatened his career.
Haidara, who is also an Army veteran, had been at the bar for about an hour before a bouncer approached and told him to leave without offering an explanation, according to a lawsuit reported by Miami New Times. He had spent $91.50 on an American Express card at the club that night. When Haidara pushed back on the bouncer's instructions, an unnamed Miami police officer working the venue's off-duty security detail grabbed his arm, telling him he was going to jail and warning him to move along or face arrest, the suit alleges.
Haidara claims he criticized the officers' handling of bar security, telling the officer that he and the venue's security needed retraining — a statement his attorney argues was protected speech under the First Amendment. He was ultimately arrested for trespassing outside E11EVEN Miami, though prosecutors later dropped the charge entirely, per the same account.
Attorney Says Warning Never Came
Benjamin Kurtz, Haidara's attorney, said his client was arrested for trespassing without ever receiving a warning to leave the property first. Kurtz has publicly questioned how officers could arrest someone for trespassing after a warning when no such warning was actually given, a distinction that matters under Florida law. Florida Statute § 810.09 requires that a person willfully remain on a property after receiving direct verbal notice to depart from an authorized person, according to Ilabaca Law. The same statute does give property owners and their agents some legal cover to detain suspected trespassers without civil liability for false arrest, provided police are contacted as soon as practicable, as outlined in a separate breakdown from Ilabaca Law.
The lawsuit alleges that E11EVEN Miami and the two off-duty Miami Police Department officers violated Haidara's rights during the arrest, and that the arrest itself lacked legal cause, according to the lawsuit. Haidara is seeking more than $75,000 in damages, along with recovery of lost income and his legal and court fees. E11EVEN representatives did not respond to an emailed request for comment, per Miami New Times.
A Federal Badge Now in Jeopardy
The stakes go beyond the arrest itself. Haidara works as a federal police officer in Washington, D.C., and United States Park Police officers maintain Secret-level national security clearances that come with rigorous background suitability reviews, according to a USAJOBS posting describing the role. According to the lawsuit, the arrest is now preventing Haidara from advancing in his career, a consequence that underscores how a single state misdemeanor arrest can ripple through a federal officer's professional record even after charges are dropped.
Not the First Time E11EVEN Has Faced This Claim
Haidara's case isn't the club's first brush with allegations of unlawful detention by its security staff. E11EVEN Miami was previously sued in 2025 by patron Pascal Bourgeois, who claimed he was assaulted, unlawfully arrested, and falsely imprisoned by club employees and security personnel, according to the venue's Wikipedia entry. The club, which opened in 2014 at 29 NE 11th Street in Downtown Miami's Park West district as a 24/7 “ultraclub,” has otherwise built a high-profile reputation — the International Nightlife Association named it the best nightclub in the United States and sixth in the world in November 2025.
The case also lands amid broader scrutiny of how Miami police officers conduct themselves while working off-duty security details at bars and nightclubs. A 2019 report from the City of Miami Civilian Investigative Panel found at least 40 alleged misconduct incidents involving off-duty officers on secondary security details between 2017 and 2018, with roughly 30% of complaints originating at alcohol-serving venues and 15% involving claims of excessive force or arrests of patrons who had angered venue owners, as detailed by Miami New Times. In 2023, the Miami City Commission moved to tighten oversight of off-duty work, authorizing a deal with RollKall Technologies to track secondary employment after Police Chief Manuel Morales raised concerns about officer fatigue and shifts exceeding the department's 16-hour daily limit, according to Police1.
Haidara's lawsuit follows another federal civil rights case against Miami police filed in July over an off-duty shooting outside a different venue, which similarly alleged departmental failures in training, supervision, and discipline. It's the latest example of off-duty Miami officers facing legal scrutiny for actions taken while working private security details at nightlife establishments, a pattern that has drawn attention from civilian oversight bodies and now, repeatedly, from federal courts.
