A consultant has been ousted from the former Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel’s campaign to retake his post.
Terry Scott, a well-known Black activist in Broward County, posted a video on his Facebook that shows him using a racist slur while talking about current Sheriff Gregory Tony. Someone then snipped the video from Facebook and put it on Youtube.
Israel is trying to unseat Tony, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis after the Parkland shooting.
“Tony came in as arrogant, like we owe him something, like he was the house ***** and we’re the field ******. That’s the way he came,” Scott can be seen saying in the video.
Scott has resigned from the Israel campaign.
"Sheriff Israel strongly condemns the language used in a video by Terry Scott, an African American community activist. This language has absolutely no place in our society and Sheriff Israel believes it was an unacceptable choice of words,” the campaign wrote in a statement to NBC 6.
Terry Scott did not apologize when questioned by the Sun Sentinel, saying he was a Black man so “there is nothing racist in what I can say to another Black man.”
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Scott has not returned a request for comment from NBC 6.
“Being Black doesn’t excuse you to support racism. Whether it be Black on Black or Black on white or any type of prejudice of discrimination. It’s always unacceptable,” said Tony in an interview with NBC 6.
Tony says this is the most recent example of a racially charged election. In the 1990s, Tony shot and killed a man as a 14-year-old. Tony claimed self-defense, but did not notify police agencies when applying for the job. It was unknown to most until a report by the Florida Bulldog this spring.
Tony says the Israel campaign is trying to frame him as the Black “criminal” stereotype and this latest video from Scott is another example.
“It should be unacceptable, not just by the individual who’s a candidate. But I most certainly hope that this entire community sees this for what it is,” Tony said.
Israel’s campaign has tapped into the concerns by some that Tony wasn’t elected to the job. Broward County is an overwhelmingly Democratic county. Tony was appointed to the job by DeSantis, a Republican and a staunch ally of President Donald Trump.
That sentiment - along with the racist language - was what spurred Scott to make the video.
Tony says he was and is the best candidate for the job.
“I was one of three people interviewed for a job. And I won’t apologize for excelling in an interview,” Tony said.
NBC 6 reached out to the other major candidate in the race, Al Pollock, who’s also an African American man in the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. He has not returned that request for comment.
