Jacksonville Sheriff calls banner flown about him ‘hateful;’ councilman says it was ‘racist attack’

A plane flying a banner with an unflattering message about Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters was seen flying over downtown Jacksonville on Thursday afternoon.

The message read, “Repugnant-con coward TK Waters turned white.”

FlightAware, a flight tracking website, showed the plane’s path making several circles around downtown Jacksonville.

Action News Jax’s Ben Becker received this statement from Waters:

“Today’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.”

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We have also reached out to the listed owners of the plane and have not yet heard back.

Jacksonville City Council member Ken Amaro released the following statement about the banner, calling it a “racist attack:”

“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 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. This does not represent the majority of Jacksonville who also strongly support Sheriff Water’s accomplishments to date in making our city safer for all. As a long-time reporter for over 40 years, I know fully that words matter, whether it be verbal, print, in the local news or on the international stage, and the choice of words today only exemplify the need for a hard stop to the decisive rhetoric being thrown around.”

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