On January 11, 2019, the votes of 571,044 Broward County citizens were stolen and the results of the 2016 election were overturned when Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis made good on a political promise and installed his own sheriff in Broward. I promised then, and I promise now, to right that wrong, to protect their votes, to finish the job they elected me to do, and to continue the historic progress we were making at the Broward Sheriff’s Office. That’s why I am running.
In my time as your Sheriff we reduced violent crime, ushered in a new era of diversity in our hiring and leadership, and equipped our deputies with body cameras. We focused on keeping kids out of jail, protecting the peace and community service. We ran a tight ship, were accountable to taxpayers and treated the community and our employees with dignity and respect.
I am also running to protect our community from the hand-picked partisan who was installed by a vindictive governor and his enablers in the NRA — Gregory Tony.
Gregory Tony’s first boss, Coral Springs Police Chief Duncan Foster, said, “knowing what we know now, I would not have hired him.” Well, you should not hire him, either.
Tony killed an unarmed teenager, shot him 4 times in the head, and was arrested for murder. He hid that from the governor who appointed him, from police investigators who vetted him and from co-workers who trusted him. He tried to hide that from you.
Gregory Tony lied to get his job and continues lying to try and keep it. He swore under oath to police investigators that he had never used illegal drugs or been arrested, when in fact he had. He claimed he was offered a position in the governor’s cabinet – not true. He claimed credentials and titles that do not exist. He even let stand a media story about serving in the military post 9/11 — Gregory Tony never served in the military.
While in office, Gregory Tony — who was rejected for employment by the Tallahassee Police Department and quit the only other job he had in law enforcement because he could not get along with his supervisor — has prioritized self-promotion over public safety. He publicly berates employees, resorts regularly to temper tantrums and fits of rage, and has given raises to BSO employees who also work for his private company.
On the issue of police brutality, Gregory Tony is part of the problem, not the solution. He insists that the victims of brutality be charged with crimes, trains his deputies in the ways of combat rather than de-escalation, and has used the George Floyd murder as a tool to divide our community rather than unite us.
His response to the COVID-19 crisis has been particularly sad and infuriating. He delayed getting critical protective equipment to our first responders so he could have his name and likeness printed on bottles of hand sanitizer. As the virus spread, Tony downplayed its effect and scolded first responders who dared to question his poor response and lack of support. Today, hundreds of BSO employees are sick and two have died.
Gregory Tony is, right now, under investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and there is little doubt that other investigations into his conduct will follow. Tony will have his reckoning with the truth. He will stand to account for his conduct in office and there will be consequences for his corruption and lies. To spare us all the embarrassment, that reckoning should start on Election Day.
Gregory Tony is dangerous and dishonest. He is a flashing red light of scandal, corruption, and deceit. He was appointed to settle a score — not serve the public. He has proven since day one to be the wrong man, in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
I have a record. Gregory Tony has a political patron.
And if you don’t know, now you know.
