Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels, who is notorious for making viral videos appealing to tough-on-crime politics, released a new clip Tuesday warning he will make “special deputies of every lawful gun owner in this county” if he feels the county is overwhelmed by protesters.
The three-minute clip shows Daniels standing in front of 18 deputies as he derides civil rights protesters as godless disruptors and tells them to stay out of Clay County, a suburb of Jacksonville.
“If we can’t handle you, I’ll exercise the power and authority as the sheriff, and I’ll make special deputies of every lawful gun owner in this county and I’ll deputize them for this one purpose to stand in the gap between lawlessness and civility,” he said.
“That’s what we’re sworn to do. That’s what we’re going to do. You’ve been warned.”
He also warned that “the second you step out from up under protection of the Constitution, we’ll be waiting on you and we’ll give you everything you want, all the publicity, all the pain, all the glamour and glory for all that five minutes will give you.”
Daniels, the county’s first Black sheriff, is himself under investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement related to an affair he had with a fellow officer and a subsequent false arrest of that officer.”
Daniels is up for reelection and said he wants to one day be a congressman. He is being challenged by six opponents. His challengers accused him of inviting chaos to Clay County and insulting the training necessary to become a sheriff’s deputy.
Watch the video below:
