Parkland parents support Sheriff Tony
Sheriff Gregory Tony doesn’t want Broward County voters to forget who was in charge on Feb. 14, 2018, the day a gunman killed 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Tony is taking the offensive ahead of the Aug. 18 Democratic primary, unveiling an endorsement from a group of Parkland families and sending out mailers attacking his opponent and predecessor Scott Israel.
Stand with Parkland, which represents 14 of the 17 Parkland families, announced its endorsement of Tony in a virtual news conference Thursday.
“We are compelled to remind voters that because of Mr. Israel’s incompetent leadership the sheriff’s office failed our community and indeed our families when we needed them most,” said Tony Montalto, president of Stand with Parkland. “Yet, that neglectful leader has the audacity to ask voters for a second chance.”
Montalto’s 14-year-old daughter, Gina, died in the massacre.
“Let’s be clear, the 14 children and three teachers killed in school that day don’t get the benefit of a second chance to come back to us,” he added.
Tony’s campaign sent out mailers attacking Israel’s leadership of Broward Sheriff ’s Office. The ad shows a black-clad gunman peering into a classroom filled with backpacks.
“Broward knows too well the cost of failure ... to protect our schools,” the flyer reads.
Israel said he has empathy for the Parkland families, but he has also earned the support of many people in the community affected by daily gun violence.
“You don’t run for sheriff for one small city and represent a few people in that small city,” Israel said in an interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel editorial board. “It’s not called the sheriff of Parkland. It’s called the sheriff of Broward County.”
The Parkland shooting led to Israel’s political downfall. Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Israel from office in January 2019, citing “incompetence” and “neglect of duty.”
Israel’s agency received criticism for botching tips that could have prevented the shooting and not rushing in to confront the shooter.
DeSantis named Tony sheriff in a news conference at the Broward Sheriff’s Office headquarters. Several Parkland families stood behind him. The Republican-controlled Senate upheld the removal, going against an independent special investigator’s recommendation that Israel be reinstated.
Israel said there were individual failures by deputies who failed to confront the shooter, but there weren’t “systemic failures” by the agency.
Fred Guttenberg, one of the parents who stood with Tony when he became sheriff, said he still has his support. Guttenberg’s 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, died in the shooting.
“[Israel] was removed because my daughter died on his watch,” Guttenberg said. “This proud Democrat stood with Greg Tony on that day, and I stand with Greg Tony today.”
Other candidates in the Democratic race include retired BSO Col. Al Pollock and former BSO deputies Willie Jones, Andrew Smalling and Santiago Vazquez Jr.
A county spokesperson referred a South Florida Sun Sentinel reporter to an FAQ page that explains that residents are in fact responsible for making sure everyone on the property complies with the guidelines in the emergency order, including the facial covering requirements.
Residents who don’t do so are “individually liable and subject to civil and criminal penalties” and “each person present in violation of Broward County Emergency Orders constitutes a separate violation subject to a $1,000 fine,” according to the FAQ page.
Nelson said Broward County’s order violates constitutional Fourth Amendment rights that protect people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government, and said it violates the right to privacy in people’s homes.
“They have gone so overboard with violating the Fourth Amend
Section 4. Responsibility to Ensure Compliance with Applicable Orders. A. Residential Property Residents. All persons who reside on any residential property, whether single family or multifamily, and irrespective of whether they own or rent the property, must ensure that all persons on the residential property, including guests, comply with all applicable guidelines of any Broward County Emergency Order, including the facial covering requirements. Residents who fail to ensure compliance with all applicable Broward County Emergency Orders by such persons shall be subject to the penalties set forth in Section 8-56 of the Broward County Code of Ordinances, with each person present and in violation of an applicable Emergency Order constituting a separate violation.
ment,” Nelson said. “The Constitution is still in play, even though people act like it’s not. How do they plan to enforce this without breaking the Fourth Amendment?”
Rep. Anthony Sabatini, R-Howey-in-the Hills, said he plans to file the lawsuit against the county’s order this week and will represent Nelson’s cause.
“I just think it’s a blatant violation of due process,” Sabatini said. “People have a substantive right of association and reasonable expectation of privacy. This is a radical step in the wrong direction.”
Sabatini said the ordinance would allow a suspicious neighbor to call the police on anyone they suspect has more than 10 people inside their home without masks, and would give police probable cause to get a search warrant.
“It’s such an invasion of privacy,” he said. “The classic case law in privacy is you have the legitimate expectation of privacy inside your own home.”
The suit is the latest pushback against local governments’ efforts to stop or slow the spread of the coronavirus, as Florida continues reporting increases in the number of new coronavirus cases each day.
It is at least the third lawsuit in South Florida over mask requirements.
Groups of residents in both Palm Beach and MiamiDade counties have sued the counties over the orders.
Some lawyers, however, have said the lawsuits have no standing and the government does have the right to pass laws in the interest of public health and safety.
“Any state government, through the 10th Amendment, can make a law for which its constitutionality is questioned if there is a ‘rational relation to a legitimate state interest,’” said Malik Leigh, an attorney and former law teacher. “In this case, the state has an interest in public safety during a pandemic. Bill of Rights freedoms are often denied so long as there exists a legitimate reason.”
Government limitations on freedom in the interest of safety and health already exist, such as the minimum drinking age, fire codes and speed limits.
Leigh said: “A person cannot run a red light because they want to express themselves through speed.”
The lawsuit asks a judge to declare the order unconstitutional, Sabatini said.
Broward County Mayor Dale Holness said the county’s attorney’s office will deal with any lawsuits.