After multiple social media videos showed Jacksonville deputies striking spectators in the stands at the Georgia-Florida football game over the weekend, the sheriff’s office held a news conference late Monday afternoon and shared a detailed breakdown of body-worn camera footage of the two separate incidents.
During the news conference, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said all officers involved acted within the bounds of the law and his agency’s guidelines in each encounter.
“Yes, there was force used by the officers involved, and yes, that force is always ugly,” Waters said. “But the reality is that all force, all violence, is ugly. And just because the force is ugly does not mean it is unlawful or contrary to policy.”
Waters pointed out that eight people were arrested and 35 others were ejected from the game, and that the vast majority of those encounters happened without incident.
“While the use of force can appear intense, our investigation determined that the officers in both incidents acted within policy to protect themselves and nearby fans,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The social media videos were of separate incidents at EverBank Stadium during the rivalry game, and both showed the culmination of longer interactions that escalated after fans refused to be ejected from the stadium. One appears to show a confrontation between a seated man and deputies, during which one of the deputies uses a Taser on the fan. Another clip, depicting a view of the stairs between stadium seating, appears to show deputies repeatedly punching multiple men as bystanders ask why they are being punched.
The first incident began around 4:20 p.m. and involved 39-year-old Walter Brown. According to Commander Jacob Vorpahl, the sheriff’s deputy who explained both incidents, Brown’s children tried to enter a section of the stadium for which they did not have tickets. A stadium employee stopped them and talked with the kids for a few minutes; she told the children to find their parents or to come back with the correct tickets. Brown arrived and pushed the security worker out of the way and accused her of kidnapping his kids, then threatened to kill her, Vorpahl said. Brown took his kids up the steps, Vorpahl said, and the security guard decided to call deputies.
In the extended bodycam video shared by the sheriff’s office, Brown repeatedly refused to comply with the deputies who approached him. One of his first interactions was a threat to “kill a cop,” at which point one of the deputies drew his Taser. As the situation escalated, Brown unleashed multiple racial epithets at the Black deputy trying to remove him.
Vorpahl highlighted an intense moment when Brown grappled with one of the deputies and appeared to be grabbing for the deputy’s gun. Eventually, Brown was removed from the stadium and arrested on multiple charges. He was booked into the Duval County Jail on felony counts of battery of a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence, as well as misdemeanor counts of disorderly intoxication and trespassing, jail records show. He was released Sunday on a bond of about $19,000.
The second altercation took place later in the evening and involved three men who were accused of being aggressive toward other fans, making threats and creating an unsafe environment, Vorpahl said. Two of the men, 58-year-old Michael Wayne Long and 27-year-old Alexander Michael Long, were arrested on multiple charges.
During that incident, the suspects became combative with the officers after being repeatedly told to leave, Vorpahl said. He highlighted the way Michael Long appeared to adopt a fighting stance when the officers started to physically grab the men. Vorpahl also highlighted bodycam clips that showed how Michael Long grabbed the face and utility belt of the deputy trying to arrest him.
Both Michael and Alexander Long were booked into the Duval jail on felony counts of battery of a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, disorderly intoxication and trespassing, jail records show. They were each released Sunday on bonds of a little more than $5,000.
Both fights involved Black deputies and, after cellphone videos of the incidents were widely shared on social media, Waters said his office had received at least one racist death threat.
“I don’t need context, (expletive),” the threat said, according to Waters. “You better hope I don’t learn who you are. I will hunt this (expletive) and kill him. I am coming. Equalizer. I don’t give a (expletive) who they are, I am getting ready to start putting bullets in them.”
Waters also said Brown’s use of racist language did not contribute to the escalation of that incident.
“Contrary to popular belief, we don’t all look alike,” Waters, who is Black, said with a chuckle.
