Tampa Bay Young Republicans president ‘threatened’ by man downtown, says mayor lets homeless ‘run rampant’

TAMPA, Fla. – Tampa Bay Young Republicans President Brittany Jean said she was threatened by a man in downtown Tampa Tuesday and believes Mayor Jane Castor has let homeless individuals “run rampant.”

Jean said she was pushing a stroller with her six month old to a coffee shop around 8:00 a.m. when she was approached by a man she believes was on drugs and likely homeless.

She said the man approached her, lunged at her, yelled “I’m going to punch you in the face” and “cocked his arm back to do it.” Jean said she “ducked out of the way” and sprinted across the street with her child. She said the man was wearing a hoodie and jeans.

“You could just tell that he was kind of tweaking out,” Jean said.

Jean said if she was not aware of her surroundings, she believes he would have struck her. She said there is a “homeless crisis” in Tampa and claimed the mayor has “just let them run rampant in the city and control everything.”

“I just like can’t believe that this is happening in downtown Tampa,” Jean said.

She reported that the incident happened near Tampa Street and Twiggs Street, near Curtis Hixon Park. 

Jean told Florida’s Voice that after the encounter, she ran to a coffee shop, called the police to report it, and went back to work. Jean said the dispatcher said they took note and would call back; however, Jean said they never called.

“If you report what’s going on, nothing’s gonna happen because the mayor just – she doesn’t care about the residents, and so it’s obvious when things like this happen,” Jean said. “You know [how] to fix it [but] she never does.”

Florida’s Voice reached out to the Tampa Police Department to inquire if police were dispatched to check out the area. Florida’s Voice also asked if they have received similar reports, along with a question asking if Tampa residents should be concerned at this time.

The Public Information Officer said that a call was received at 8:45 a.m., and when officers arrived, the complainant was not present for a report. The department failed to answer the rest of the questions and referred Florida’s Voice to the public records request website for reports and data.

Jean said she believes in the past few months, homeless people “have gotten way more aggressive” and believes many are on drugs.

She said a few months ago, a homeless person banged on her car window while she was at a traffic light, and has heard of the same thing happening to other people.

“They’re literally everywhere. You can’t walk around without walking past them anymore,” Jean said. 

Castor’s office was asked about Jean’s situation and her claims that the homeless population has “run rampant” in the city. The mayor’s office was also asked what is being done to address the homelessness crisis.

Like most every city in America, Tampa is grappling with a rise in homelessness, which is why Mayor Castor and the Tampa Police Department have invested more resources and energy into trying to help people get off the streets and into productive lives than ever before. It continues to be a top priority.

City of Tampa communications director

The Tampa Hillsborough Homeless Initiative reported an increase in homelessness since 2019, when Castor took office. 

2,040 people experienced homelessness in Tampa in 2023, according to the initiative’s “Point in Time Count,” which is a “thorough count of the homeless population to measure the extent of homelessness.”

The report said since 2019, there has been a 21.8% increase in people over the age of 62 experiencing homelessness.

The mayor has previously celebrated the expansion of shelters through the Tampa HOPE program in April.

“Tampa Hope has provided shelter to 640+ individuals experiencing homelessness. 30% of those were discharged to permanent housing. 11% of those have gained employment during their stay,” Castor said.

Money from outside sources have even poured into the city to help with homelessness.

The initiative received $4.6 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in September to “address youth homelessness.”

In April, Tampa/Hillsborough County received $8 million from a federal grant for helping individuals experiencing homelessness move into permanent housing.

Jean believes Castor “doesn’t care” about the city’s residents because of efforts to increase taxes.

“She’s [Castor] always trying to raise our taxes and she says it’s to fight this homelessness crisis, it’s to fix the roads and help with public transportation, but she does nothing to protect the residents of the city of Tampa,” Jean said.

In the past, the mayor proposed increasing property taxes. The effort was shut down by the Democrat-controlled Tampa City Council.

That was not the first time the council disagreed with the mayor. In January, Florida’s Voice reported that city council members voted to override several of Castor’s vetoes on charter proposals so that they would appear on a ballot, including a vote on term limits for city council members.

Looking ahead

Jean said she believes going forward, residents have to “fight to take our city back.”

“We are such a red state, we have the best governor, and we have all these great laws, but the cities are ran by some crazy liberals who want to push their agenda on everyone else,” Jean said.

“Since they can’t get what they want out of state level, they [Democrats] run their cities into the ground, which we’re now dealing with in Tampa,” she said.

Castor will be mayor until 2027, and Jean said when Castor’s term ends, she thinks “there’s gonna be a referendum on her leadership.”

“The citizens can see right through her [Castor]. She won her reelection, which I was not happy about, we really didn’t have anyone to run against her,” Jean said.

Jean called for Tampa to choose “a strong conservative candidate that can go in and retake the city.”