Jacksonville sheriff shuns multi-faith group for ‘theatrics’ that didn’t happen, video shows

By Charlie McGee, The Tributary

More than 700 people gathered Monday night to call for an end to Jacksonville’s decades-long epidemic of shooting deaths tied to gangs and poverty, but the man with the power to act on their ideas — Sheriff T.K. Waters — was noticeably absent.

For several years, the Interfaith Coalition for Action, Reconciliation and Empowerment, or ICARE, has demanded that the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office pay an out-of-state consultant to reassess one of its key initiatives for gun-violence prevention.

The sheriff has consistently rejected that demand since his election in late 2022. Last week, he escalated his opposition with a letter accusing ICARE of running “a staged display” against him a year ago.

Waters, in his letter, claimed that in his last public engagement with the faith-centric group, “I was systemically booed by the crowd on command by ICARE leaders and not permitted to hold a microphone, seemingly to prevent me from responding beyond one-word replies.”

One issue: A recording of the 2023 event shows almost none of those things happened.

Waters was never booed. In fact, clergy repeatedly instructed the crowd not to boo, and instead, the leaders made the crowd practice responding to things they may disagree with by being silent instead.

“We will not boo or make negative comments when we hear things we do not like,” announced the Rev. Adam Anderson of South Jacksonville Presbyterian Church at the 2023 event. “Instead, our response will be, a protest of silence. So let’s practice that: ‘No.’”

Silence followed. “There’s a pin that I just heard drop,” Anderson said. Other leaders echoed Anderson’s demands that the crowd respond to things they disagree with by remaining silent.

At no point could any booing be heard during the 20 minutes that Waters spent on stage with ICARE at its 2023 Nehemiah Assembly, nor could anyone be seen trying to prompt noise, according to footage reviewed by The Tributary. The only audible crowd responses of any kind were three applauses – two following “yes” answers that Waters gave to ICARE’s first two questions, and a third after his closing comments – and three laughs, each of which the sheriff joined in seemingly lighthearted moments.

The Sheriff’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.

In addition to not actually booing Waters, the group had sent the sheriff its yes-or-no questions in writing ahead of time and had requested meetings with him repeatedly.

Anderson explained the event may cause discomfort for public officials, but that the group would be respectful. It had sent its questions to the sheriff in writing ahead of time. The group, Anderson said, believed in tough face-to-face conversations, not running to social media to criticize those officials. “This evening may feel uncomfortable. But if we feel this discomfort or tension this evening, let it be a reminder that the need is great, the stakes are high, and we gather here with the privilege to sit in this discomfort as representatives of those who cannot.”

Waters’ letter does accurately reflect that an ICARE member held the microphone for him each time he spoke at the event. That is a ground rule that ICARE has applied to every guest speaker at its annual Nehemiah event for years, the organization said. The group explained the rule to Waters and the audience when his appearance at last year’s Nehemiah began.

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