JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A day after Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters responded to Mayor Donna Deegan‘s controversial comments about former President Donald Trump’s proposed immigration policy, a racist banner flew over downtown taking aim at the sheriff.
Deegan made the comments on a London radio show Wednesday.
News4JAX made the editorial decision not to repeat or show what the banner said to veer away from perpetuating the hateful message.
Waters called the mayor’s comments “shocking and reckless” and other Republicans in the city council backed him up.
Waters shared this statement with News4JAX about the banner, stating: “Today’s banner is a clear reminder that ignorance and hate will always breed more ignorance and hate. Jacksonville is a great city full of good people who care about one another. Let’s focus on putting that on the world’s stage.”
Jacksonville City Councilman Rory Diamond also shared his thoughts on the banner and the continued controversy sparked by Deegan’s comments.
“We’re waiting for Donna Deegan to apologize first for her comments, and then when is she going to say that that banner was wrong, and that’s just woke racism out there. Because you know, our sheriff, who happens to be Black, spoke his mind about a policy issue. This is disgusting,” Diamond told News4JAX.
Despite his stance that the backlash toward the mayor was “fake outrage,” Councilman Jimmy Peluso said he reached out to Waters.
“I think that’s pretty appalling. I didn’t like the response people had against the mayor. I thought that was kind of a fake outrage moment,” Peluso said. “I am outraged when I see someone flying a plane saying that kind of stuff that I thought was racially charged. We’re elected officials, and it’s a campaign year, and this country is facing a pretty divisive moment, but to see it continue over the next couple days, everyone just needs to keep their powder dry. Everyone needs to back off.”
We also reached out to Councilman Matt Carlucci about the matter. He said, in part, “Our mayor would never do anything overtly or purposely to hurt any of our communities in Jacksonville. And our sheriff did not deserve to have a sign flown over Jacksonville putting him down. If you ask me, it’s all about politics and this is what they call the silly season.”
Deegan was traveling when we reached out for comment but her spokesperson said we could receive a response Friday morning.
Councilman Ken Amaro also responded to the banner controversy, saying it is not a reflection of Jacksonville’s character.
“This abhorrently and outright racist attack on Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters is yet another byproduct of the divisive rhetoric that continues to plague our city. I am a strong supporter of Sheriff Waters and believe he has demonstrated his ability to rise above party and politics to serve all residents of Jacksonville, and this attack by a misguided and racist group is only further meant to divide our city and take our focus off making Jacksonville a desirable place to live and do business,” Amaro said. “This does not represent the majority of Jacksonville, who also strongly support Sheriff Waters' accomplishments to date in making our city safer for all.”