Sheriff T.K. Waters: Donna Deegan’s radical policies would make families, officers less safe
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (FLV) – In a new ad for Jacksonville Republican mayoral candidate Daniel Davis, Sheriff T.K. Waters said Donna Deegan’s “radical policies” would make Jacksonville “less safe.”
Waters endorsed Daniel Davis who faces Deegan, a Democrat, for Jacksonville mayor in the May 16 runoff election.
The new ad, released by the Duval County Republican Party showed what appears to be violent Black Lives Matter protests where a group of about 200 people were “confronting police,” throwing water bottles, rocks and trying to “set police cars on fire.”
“We need a mayor who helps improve public safety, not one that takes it backwards,” Waters said in the ad.
“Donna Deegan’s radical policies would make our families and my officers less safe, that’s why I’m supporting Daniel Davis. He’s the only candidate I trust to make public safety the top priority.”
In another ad recently released by the Davis campaign, it 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.
Another quote from Deegan in the ad read, “We have got to have some sort of civilian review board that helps to hold our police officers accountable.”
Deegan released an ad in response to the claims against her and said these “attack ads, those aren’t facts.”
“Dividing us is the only way they know. So here are the facts, I support our police and have a plan to keep our neighborhoods safe and healthy,” Deegan said.
The mayoral candidates debated Thursday. Davis mentioned Waters multiple times and expressed his support for the sheriff and for law enforcement.
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 [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 during the debate.
Deegan tried to respond to some Davis’ comments, but was shot down by the moderators.
She said the ad was a “lie” and she was “never involved in a violent march. She defended the Black Lives Matter movement, saying it is about “racism.”
During the debate, Deegan said she will “fully fund the police” and add more officers to the streets.
