Politics and pandemic mingle as union leader questions Broward sheriff’s preparations
Managing the worldwide coronavirus pandemic carries major political stakes for federal and state leaders, with a glaring national spotlight on the performance of President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
But the disease is also fast emerging as a potential campaign issue for local politicians, starting with Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony.
Earlier this week, after days of prodding from the president of the largest police union in Broward County, Tony exploded in anger during a hastily called press conference outside the front doors of the Sheriff’s Office Fort Lauderdale headquarters.
Tony was irate about a letter written a few days earlier by Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputies Association President Jeff Bell. It invoked the name of 39-year-old Broward County Deputy Shannon Bennett, the first South Florida law enforcement officer to lose his life to COVID-19, the deadly infection caused by the coronavirus.
The letter mentioned Bennett’s death, then went on to charge that the department lacked enough personal protection equipment, or PPE, and that Tony had not accepted 1,400 N95 masks the union had managed to secure. Tony took the letter as an insinuation that Bennett’s death could somehow be linked to a lack of protective gear. The sheriff spoke up the day after Bell wrote a column in the South Florida Sun Sentinel criticizing the sheriff for “failed” leadership.
“It is the one who has died that has me here today, because they took this thing and politicized it,” Tony said. “We do not have time to play games with politics when we are in a major crisis.”
Then Tony read off a list of equipment purchased since the beginning of February. Among the items were 25,263 N95 masks, 44,773 surgical masks and 4,109 sanitizers that can be refilled.
Some political observers believe Bell’s attacks on the sheriff — which began long before coronavirus and COVID-19 became part of the national lexicon — are politically motivated and intended to damage Tony’s chances as he heads into the much-anticipated August Democratic primary against ousted elected sheriff Scott Israel.
Barry University political science professor and avid election observer, Sean Foreman, said the union president seems to be acting as proxy for the Israel campaign.
“We have to view all of this through the lens of the campaign,” Foreman said. “That campaign was going to be heated anyway. People are looking for a way to gain an electoral advantage. I don’t have any proof that it’s a proxy war — but it makes a lot of sense.”
Bell, who has been at odds with Tony practically since the governor appointed him and ousted Israel in January of 2019, refused to say who he will support in August and denied Foreman’s assessment.
And Israel, reached at home this week, called it “preposterous” for anyone to think that Bell was working for his campaign. Then the former Broward sheriff explained how his past dealings with Bell were always professional, before going into a lengthy diatribe accusing Tony of a lack of integrity and untruthfulness.
Tony campaign adviser Ashley Walker had not returned a call or text for comment for this story by late afternoon Wednesday. During Tuesday’s press conference Tony did not directly address the August election. He just berated Bell repeatedly for politicizing the death of the Broward deputy.
In Bell’s April 4 letter to union members, the union president mentioned the passing of Bennett, then highlighted the need for more PPE. Bell went on to say “The union will continue to be vocal against our sheriff who seems to think posting Instagram photos of himself working out, photo ops and censoring critics on social media by deleting their comments is more important that protecting his employees.”
At his impromptu press conference Tuesday morning, Tony criticized Bell for not contacting Bennett’s family and for spreading false rumors that the sheriff said he was forced to address during the greatest international crisis in our lifetime.
“I have to take 20 minutes of my time to rectify a gross response to this community,” the sheriff said before listing the tens of thousands of PPE’s the department has purchased for deputies in the past few weeks. “It’s despicable.”
In truth, the sniping between Tony and Bell began not long after Gov. Ron DeSantis named Tony to replace Israel, a Democrat who was removed for BSO’s much-criticized response to the 2018 Valentine’s Day mass shooting that left 17 people dead and 17 others injured at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
In the past year, Bell has been critical of several of Tony’s moves, including the firing of several officers who were caught on camera using excessive force that Tony determined was over the line. Bell says his comments are not personal, he just “doesn’t appreciate him terminating people without due process.”
Israel, who has deep ties with the Broward Democratic party, fought to be reinstated by the Florida Senate and in the courts and vowed to run against Tony during the next election cycle.
The faceoff between the two in the Democratic primary in August is one of the most highly anticipated races in the state this year. The winner is almost assured victory against any Republican opponent in November in heavily Democratic Broward County.
This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 3:51 PM.
