JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters responded to a hateful banner, targeting his race, that circled the skies in downtown Jacksonville on Thursday.
The small plane touting the message is registered to White Wings Air Inc. The message attached to the plane read, “repugnant-con coward TK Waters turned White.”
“Somebody actually took the time to spend money to fly a silly banner around downtown because they disagree with me about something,” Sheriff TK Waters said. “This is not the first time I’ve been called white.”
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During a one-on-one interview, the sheriff said he’s received similar messages dating back to the campaign trail.
“People found out my political affiliation, which is conservative,” Sheriff Waters said. “The words Koon, bootlicker, white man’s boy-- that’s pretty much a regular thing.”
The Sheriff even talked about a photo that circulated of a racoon in a police officer uniform with the caption “Jacksonville’s new sheriff.”
Read: Jacksonville Sheriff calls banner flown about him ‘hateful;’ councilman says it was ‘racist attack’
“Quite frankly it’s nothing new,” Sheriff Waters said.
The message came on day after the Sheriff spoke out, condemning Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan’s criticism of former President Trump’s immigration policy. In an interview with the Times Radio, in London, she compared his policy to concentration camps.
Read: Jacksonville Mayor gets backlash from local leaders over immigration comments on London radio
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She has since said she regrets if her choice of words caused anyone pain.
“It’s coincidental but I place no blame on the mayor. The mayor—I know she had nothing to do with that,” Sheriff Waters said.
“The racist message aimed at our Sheriff is deplorable and I condemn it. Hate has no place in Jacksonville,” Mayor Donna Deegan wrote in a statement sent to Action News Jax.
Read: ‘Hate has no place in Jacksonville:’ Mayor responds to ‘racist’ banner flown about Sheriff
Action News Jax, Meghan Moriarty, asked Sheriff Waters if he believed this was racist.
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“I think it’s a form of it. I mean it’s kind of soft, but I think it deserves attention,” Sheriff Waters said. “The reason I think it deserves attention is because I don’t think anyone for political thought process should be treated a certain way because you disagree with them.”
We did reach out to the owner associated with the tail number of that plane. We’re waiting to hear back.
Sheriff Waters said the department doesn’t plan on investigating the incident or looking into who did this.
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