Sheriff is latest target of racist banners over Downtown

Racist banners have made their return to the Jacksonville skies.

Thursday afternoon, a single-engine Piper aircraft flew over Downtown with a sign directed at Jacksonville Sheriff T.K.  Waters.

“REPUGNANT-CON COWARD TK WATERS TURNED WHITE”

Waters, who is Black, responded with a statement to Jacksonville Today news partner News4Jax .

“(Thursday’s) banner is a clear reminder that ignorance and hate will always breed more ignorance and hate. Jacksonville is a great city full of good people who care about one another. Let’s focus on putting that on the world’s stage.”

Waters’ last statement alludes to a controversy that arose this week when Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan decried former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

In an Tuesday in the United Kingdom, Deegan described Trump’s position of deporting thousands of migrants as a “concentration camp-type situation.”

Waters was among the first local politicians who disagreed with Deegan’s phrasing .

Previous banners

This is believed to be the first banner targeted at a public official or contemporary issue since July 2023, when Save Southern Heritage flew a banner over Deegan’s swearing-in ceremony. That banner included a Confederate flag and asked her to engage with them.

Other banners over Downtown throughout 2022 and 2023 were timed to coincide with college and professional football games.

Deegan on Friday excoriated the message targeted at Waters.

“ The racist message aimed at our Sheriff is deplorable and I condemn it,” Deegan stated. “Hate has no place in Jacksonville.”

City Council member Ken Amaro was among the elected officials who defended Waters. He touted his tenure as a journalist to stress the importance of being careful with words. Amaro is the only Afro-Latino who holds elected office in Duval County.

“This abhorrently and outright racist attack on Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters is yet another byproduct of the divisive rhetoric that continues to plague our city,” Amaro said in a statement. “I am a strong supporter of Sheriff Waters and believe he has demonstrated his ability to rise above party and politics to serve all residents of Jacksonville, and this attack by a misguided and racist group is only further meant to divide our city and take our focus on making Jacksonville a desirable place to live and do business.”

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