Ku Klux Klan And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

What do Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) have in common? Probably a lot, but, read on…

Politics :
In August, Gov. DeSantis appointed Jeffrey Moore to become Gadsden County Board Commissioner. Moore is White. The county he was appointed to is predominately Black. However, a White man controlling a Black county is not the crime here.

According to POLITICO, Gadsden County Sheriff Morris Young (who is Black) was given photos of Moore dressed in full Ku Klux Klan regalia.

Sheriff Young said the pictures were given to him last Tuesday by an unnamed person. When he approached Moore about the pictures, Moore did not deny it was him.

“He never denied at all. Refuted nothing when I showed him the pictures,” Young said. “I thought he needed to resign, and I told him that.”

When the media found out that DeSantis’ hand-picked commissioner of a Black county might be a member of the Ku Klux Klan, they contacted the governor’s office for answers. Their call was in vain.

“We are in the middle of hurricane prep, I’m not aware of the photo you sent,” said DeSantis communications director Taryn Fenske.

Next, Moore was contacted and given a chance to respond to the photo of him in KKK garb. However, he too blamed the hurricane for not having time to give an ample statement.

Gadsden County is located along the Georgia/rural North Florida border and has one of the highest Black population’s in the state at 55%. Interestingly, Moore was the only non-Black member of the county commission when DeSantis appointed him.

Now, prominent members of the Florida Black community are speaking out.

“It’s a very sad day in our history and a sad time for this county … the blackest county in the state,” Pastor Tracey Stallworth said. “This is not OK.”

“People are upset. I don’t know the history of that photo, but I do know that people depend on us in politics to do better,” current Gadsden County Commissioner Brenda Holt said. “I’m concerned about young people seeing this. It’s just total disrespect.”

“I’m not surprised Gov. DeSantis would appoint someone with this ideology,” said NAACP Tallahassee Chapter President Mutaqee Akbar. “Even if they didn’t know about the picture, it’s the kind of person I can see him picking.”

Jeffery Moore, appointed by Desantis as County Commissioner in July to the only predominantly black county in FL, has resigned after photos surfaced showing him in a Klan outfit. pic.twitter.com/lHdjncihzZ

— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) September 27, 2022

Moore has since secretly resigned as county commissioner and ended his November election campaign. He has also refused to acknowledge his affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan but is instead hinting that perhaps the photo of him wearing a KKK hat and robe “may” have been taken on Halloween.

Hmmm…

OK WASSUP! discusses Politics:
DeSantis appoints presumed Ku Klux Klan member.