Racist comments against sheriff emerge as Jacksonville mayoral race heats up
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (FLV) – Racist comments have emerged against Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters as the race for mayor heats up between Democrat Donna Deegan and Republican Daniel Davis.
“While I condemn these hypocritical and hateful attacks, I remain focused on one thing, and that’s making Jacksonville a safer place for ALL people,” Waters first told Florida’s Voice.
Waters endorsed Davis for Jacksonville mayor.
Jacksonville activist Ben Frazier said “we no longer have to wonder what the T in TK Waters stands for,” a common reference to the letter “T” in “Uncle Tom,” which Merriam-Webster defines as a “Black person who is overeager to win the approval of whites”
Deegan promotes Frazier’s endorsement on her website.
Another Twitter user responded to the tweet and said Waters is “their shiny new object. Just wait until he steps out of line.”
One Twitter user said she found it “EXTREMELY disappointing” that Davis mentioned Waters during the debate. She referred to Waters as Davis’ “token Black man.”
The mayoral candidates debated Thursday as they face off for the May 16 election. Davis mentioned Waters multiple times and expressed his support for the sheriff and for law enforcement.
Crime is a top priority for voters in Duval County. On the subject of crime and safety during the debate, Davis said Waters is “doing everything he can right now to make sure he enforces the law.”
He said if elected mayor, he will be partnering with the sheriff to add 200 new police officers to the streets of Jacksonville over the next four years.
Deegan said she will “fully fund the police” and add more officers to the streets, “regardless of what you may hear on television.” She explained that “we must do more than the same old” to bring crime numbers down by “going underneath the causes of crime.”
Recently, the Davis campaign launched an ad against Deegan that showed clips of what appeared to be violent Black Lives Matter protesters.
The ad repeated throughout with Deegan saying “I went to every one of those Black Lives Matter protests.” It displayed news reports of Black Lives Matter supporting defunding of the police.
During the debate, Davis said the Black Lives Matter movement is about defunding the police and placing “radical activists” in charge of the police department. He said the relationship between the mayor and the sheriff is “critically important.”
“I cannot wait to make sure he [Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters] has every resource he needs to continue driving this crime rate down, and the defund the police movement is not going to come to Jacksonville, Florida,” Davis said.
In the past, the recently elected sheriff has faced racist comments from people including Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville.
This story has been updated to include information about Donna Deegan promoting Frazier’s endorsement.
