A police investigation has been opened over allegations that Democratic Florida Rep. Val Demings’ security wrongfully pushed a man to the ground outside a campaign event earlier in August.
The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office is looking into two videos, first obtained by Florida Politics, capturing the moment security guards confronted a man and tackled him to the ground outside of the Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Memorial Park where Demings was hosting a meet-and-greet August 6, the outlet reported.
The first video shows three men in the first round of footage approaching the camera before shoving him to the ground, appearing to detain him. The man was later hospitalized due to the incident, Republican Florida Marco Rubio’s campaign said in a press release obtained by the Daily Caller.
A second video emerged revealing extended dialogue between the man on the ground and the security guards on top of him.
“In corrections I used to bounce people like you off their head in the jail,” one security member tells the man.
“Except for I don’t do bad things,” the man responded. “I’m not one of those people. I’m just doing my job. That’s it. I’ve been good to you guys.
“I’ve been so good, and y’all are just being ridiculous sometimes, I just want to be even keel,” the man continues.
“Let’s be even keel right now,” one security guard said. “So don’t take it personal, alright … Moving forward, don’t take it personal.”
“Take what personal?” the man said.
“What’s going to happen to you,” the guard responded. (RELATED: Video Shows Dem Congresswoman Val Demings Applauding Notorious Left Wing Conspiracy Theorist)
The man, who appeared to be a video tracker, had been repeatedly told to leave the premises and reportedly charged at the security as Demings’ vehicle approached, Christian Slater, Demings’ campaign communications director, said in a statement sent to the Daily Caller.
“Security officials take potential threats and threatening behavior toward the Chief seriously. In this instance the individual did not respond to multiple requests to leave and charged at security personnel in pursuit of Chief Demings’ approaching vehicle,” Slater said.
Demings launched her campaign in June 2021 in an attempt to unseat incumbent Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Recent polling has found Rubio in the lead against the representative by an average of 5 percentage points, according to RealClearPolitics.