Parkland dad, pastor say Broward sheriff candidate Israel misused their images in flyer
A mailer endorsing former Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel is being criticized by some of his opponents, who say it uses their images without consent and misleads the public about who they are backing in a bitterly contested race.
They say they want the other guy, current Sheriff Gregory Tony.
The latest campaign controversy comes in the last weeks leading up to the Aug. 18 Democratic primary, which will likely produce Broward’s next sheriff in the state’s bluest county.
In the mailer, Israel is pictured standing in front of a row of microphones. Over his right shoulder is Pastor Marcus Mcleod. Pictured on the same flier is Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony, also standing before a bank of microphones. Over Tony’s right shoulder and behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is Max Schacter, the father of a student killed during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting.
The statement’s message, “Can you tell which one was hand-picked by the Republicans?” — a message meant to frame Tony as a choice of the GOP. Tony shifted his registration from Republican after DeSantis appointed him following Israel’s ouster.
The flier was released by the political action group Committee for a Stronger Broward, which supports Israel.
This week, Tony’s campaign plans to fire back. In a political ad provided to the Herald, both Schacter and McLeod say the former sheriff used their images in a campaign ad without their consent. The campaign intends to send the ad to Broward voters via an email blast.
“Scott Israel utterly failed to protect our community and children when he was sheriff. And now he’s using my picture to attack Gregory Tony, who I am supporting,” says Schacter, whose 14-year-old son Alex Schacter was killed along with 16 others during the Valentine’s Day 2018 attack at the Parkland high school. “Scott Israel should have the decency to take my photo off his campaign ads and apologize to my family.”
Israel was ousted from office by DeSantis in January 2019, after a state-appointed panel determined that his leadership likely contributed to inaction by several of deputies who failed to enter the school and confront the shooter. The governor replaced him with Tony, a little-known former Coral Springs police officer who was a registered Republican before changing party affiliation and announcing he was running for sheriff.
“I’m deeply offended that Scott Israel used my photo in his political advertisement to make it seem as if I and other Black leaders generally in our community support his candidacy. I do not,” Pastor Mcleod says in the Tony ad.
Israel’s campaign manager Amy Rose wouldn’t address Schacter and McLeod’s concerns, saying “I think it’s pretty ironic that Gregory Tony would act like he’s concerned with the truth,” she said.
Tony has been criticized by Israel’s supporters and others for not disclosing that as a teenager he shot and killed a man 27 years ago. He was cleared of any wrongdoing in a trial before a judge that same year.
Tony and Israel are the two leading candidates heading into the August 18 primary. They have been entangled in a particularly nasty election, with the sides criticizing each other for past deadly shootings.
A mailer sent to Broward County residents by the Political Action Committee representing former Broward Sheriff Scott Israel, is being criticized by some of those pictures
