‘I don’t even know the guy’: DeSantis detaches from his own pick for Broward sheriff
If Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony was looking for support from Gov. Ron DeSantis after the sheriff came under fire for killing a man with his father’s revolver at his home in Philadelphia when he was 14, he didn’t exactly get it Monday.
Instead, the governor, when questioned about the news at a press conference in Tallahassee Monday, distanced himself from his own appointee and claimed that he “didn’t even know him.”
The killing, which Tony did not disclose when he applied for the Coral Springs Police Department, was recently brought to light by the Florida Bulldog. The website published a story Saturday detailing the May 3, 1993, shooting.
Tony, a retired Coral Springs police sergeant and Democrat, told the Miami Herald the shooting was a “clear self-defense case.”
DeSantis said in a news conference in Tallahassee that he was no political ally of Tony’s.
“It seems like he was in a very rough neighborhood and he was trying to defend his family but it’s not like he’s my sheriff,” he said. “I don’t even know the guy.”
The governor appointed Gregory Tony soon after his inauguration in January 2019 to replace elected Sheriff Scott Israel, whom DeSantis removed from office over BSO’s response to the shooting at Parkland. Andrew Pollack, who lost his daughter Meadow in the horrific school shooting, helped introduce Tony to DeSantis.
“I appreciate the fact that he had come from a tough upbringing, Florida State football ... it seemed like he had the leadership,” DeSantis said. “People have been very pleased.”
DeSantis said the shooting did not come up in a background check, because he was exonerated in juvenile court.
He said at the time, he was just trying to “get someone who had done a good job” but that the decision is ultimately one the people of Broward County will make.
The sheriff is currently running against Israel, who was last elected to the position.
“That’s not something I’m going to be involved in,” DeSantis said.
This story was originally published May 4, 2020 at 7:35 PM.