ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Video posted to Facebook by a local radio talk show host shows several contentious moments during and after a St. Johns County Sheriff’s debate on Wednesday night.
The debate was held at the Shriner’s Club in St. Augustine and was among several public events planned ahead of the Republican Primary when the next St. Johns County Sheriff will be elected.
Votes will be cast for either St. Augustine Beach Police Chief Robert Hardwick or career deputy Chris Strickland. Hardwick received an endorsement from current Sheriff David Shoar.
Shoar, who has been in office since 2004, is stepping down this year at the end of his fourth term.
The video of the debate Wednesday night appears to show a physical altercation that broke out among crowd members and more tense moments, including Shoar yelling at crowd members and a reporter.
In the video posted to Facebook, Sheriff Shoar appears to become angry and starts yelling at Strickland supporters.
Minutes later, he allegedly hurled insults at a Ponte Vedra Beach reporter over an article the journalist wrote. Shoar can be heard directing an expletive at the reporter.
Strickland then gathered his team and left the debate.
The Sheriff’s Office is staying out of it, other than telling News4Jax that no reports have been filed and that Shoar was not involved in any physical altercation.
On Thursday, Strickland and Hardwick explained what they believe happened.
“From what I understand now, the sheriff was in the restroom along with a member of my opponents’ family. And from what both people have said, there was nothing going on. They were in the bathroom speaking. They are longtime friends. But they are just rooting for two different people,” Hardwick said.
Hardwick said there wasn’t any yelling and he didn’t see anything physical.
“[Shoar] asked a member of my campaign if he wanted to step into the restroom,” Strickland said. “They did, and there was some loud yelling in there. And they created a disturbance from outside.”
Strickland said members of his team recorded video of Shoar as he left the debate.
“Go **** yourself,” Shoar can be seen saying in the video.
“Yeah, go put it on Facebook,” Shoar then says before showing his middle finger.
Shoar downplayed the incident in an interview with The St. Augustine Record.
“That’s Strickland’s people making (stuff) up,” Shoar told The Record on Thursday. “There was no altercation, no fight. None of that happened. Tempers got a little raw, but there was no fight. Just politics.”
“I have never seen a sheriff’s race in St. Johns County conducted with such aggression disrespect and unprofessionalism coupled by a lack of self-control,” Strickland told News4Jax. “He just weaponized the Sheriff’s Office against my campaign last night and it’s not over.”
Strickland said he plans to report the incident to the state.
Hardwick said it is a personal matter between Strickland and the Sheriff’s Office, and documents show a history of tension.
Documents, first reported by The St. Augustine Record last year, show that when Strickland resigned from the department in 2016, he responded “**** you,” after Shoar accepted his resignation.
Another sheriff’s debate is scheduled for next week but Strickland said he will not be participating.
Strickland also issued a response on social media.
“Sheriff David Shoar let his emotions take over and became more than just a disturbance by cursing and threatening different Strickland supporters...This is the type of behavior that led me to retire under his leadership and look to run for Sheriff of St. John’s County,” the post read.