Was Broward senator asleep during debate on Israel?
Thurston’s posture amid Israel discussion causes online outrage
TALLAHASSEE – Sleeping or listening? State Sen. Perry Thurston’s posture during part of the Thursday’s debate over removing Scott Israel as Broward sheriff has produced a Twitter kerfuffle.
Pictures taken from the Senate public gallery by Hunter Pollack during the debate show Thurston leaning back in his chair — with his eyes closed.
Some context: Pollack’s sister, Meadow, was one of the 17 people killed during the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre. The Senate was debating the removal of Israel, whose leadership was blamed by many for exacerbating what happened at the Parkland School. Thurston is a supporter of the sheriff.
“This is a picture of @SenatorThurston I took during the critical debate in the senate on the fate of former Sheriff Israel. It shows that the Senator doesn’t care about and the future of public safety in Broward County or the interests of his constituents,” Pollack wrote on Twitter.
Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter, Jaime, was killed at Stoneman Douglas, tweeted Pollack’s photo while the Senate was still debating
“What is happening in Tallahassee now is a big deal,” Guttenberg wrote, adding a message to Thurston: “At a minimum you could stay awake for these pro
ceedings. Shameful!!!”
That was retweeted by Ryan Petty, whose daughter, Alaina, was killed at the school. Petty called it “a measure of how much @PerryThurstonJr cares about the safety of the Broward community.”
Thurston said later he was not sleeping. “I was not. I was thinking about my speech,” he told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
That prompted Twitter sleuths to check the time. Thurston’s 20-minute speech was from about 3:20 p.m. until about 3:40 p.m. Pollack said he took the picture at 4:47 p.m.
Thomas Hixon had this message for Thurston on his Twitter account: “stop lying.” Hixon’s father, Chris, the athletic director and wrestling coach, was killed at the school.
Thurston and four other Broward Democrats were among the strongest voices calling for the Senate to overturn Gov. Ron DeSantis’ suspension of Israel and return him to the Sheriff’s Office. Israel is a Democrat, DeSantis is a Republican, and the Senate vote was mostly on party lines.
During the debate, Thurston said he had heard and listened to Parkland parents who wanted Israel gone as sheriff. “I’m not disregarding them. None of us would.”
Later, he added: “I can stand here, and I can tell you how I empathize with the
Parkland parents.” But, he said, “95% of Broward County feels differently about the attempt to remove the sheriff.”
Earlier, during a caucus meeting of Democratic senators, Thurston said he understood the feelings of the Parkland families toward Israel. “If I was a parent, I would want vengeance too.”
He argued that removing Israel wouldn’t help the county. “We may think that we’re helping out, but we are creating more divisiveness for my community.”
And he said the Senate was setting a precedent that could lead to governors removing more sheriffs. If he were a sheriff, Thurston said, “I would be shaking in my boots.”
He said his colleagues needed to think about what they were doing. “We have credibility here in the Senate. We are the Florida Senate. But we are being judged too. The whole world is watching.”