By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
OPINION: Donald C. Hagan, the Chief of the Okeechobee, Florida Police Department, doesn’t appear to be enjoying his time on the national stage.
Hagan had to take some time off, his spokesman said Monday, because he is receiving personal attacks from across the country. As reported Monday, Hagan rocketed to infamy for signing an illegal city ordinance that banned firearm and ammunition sales as well as firearm possession just days before Hurricane Helene made landfall.
“The chief is not in,” a police receptionist said Tuesday morning. She directed calls to Okeechobee Police Major Bettye Taylor, who issued a statement Monday trying to clarify and explain her boss’ actions. Instead, it only muddied the waters.
“The Emergency Ordinance commenced immediately upon the declaration by the Police Chief and was thereafter terminated by the Police Chief on or about 9:51 pm on the same date it was issued. The Emergency Ordinance was terminated for two primary reasons. One is that, fortunately, Hurricane Helene did not have a substantial impact on the City and its residents. Secondly, a provision prohibiting the sale of firearms and ammunition was inadvertently included in the Emergency Ordinance. Upon discovering this, the City and Police Chief acted expeditiously to terminate the Emergency Ordinance,” Major Taylor wrote.
In other words, the part of the ordinance that banned the sale of guns and ammunition and prohibited firearm possession in public by anyone other than law enforcement or members of the military, was “inadvertently included” in the ordinance.
Neither Major Taylor nor her boss returned calls or emails Tuesday seeking to clarify how or why they banned guns and ammo sales inadvertently.
In her statement, Taylor also sought to reassure the town’s residents – as well as the legions of law-abiding gun owners who are following the story across the country – that the ban caused no harm.
“At no time did the City, or the Police Chief, contemplate, nor take any action, to prohibit, confiscate or otherwise regulate firearms or ammunition,” she wrote.
This, however, is not exactly true. The ordinance the chief signed clearly prohibited the “sale of, or offer to sell, with or without compensation, any ammunition or gun or other firearm of any size or description. The intentional display, by or in any store or shop, of any ammunition or gun or other firearm of any size or description. The intentional possession in a public place of a firearm by any person, except a duly authorized law enforcement official or any person in military service acing in the official performance of their duty.”
Those are pretty strong prohibitions, which very clearly didn’t make their way into the ordinance inadvertently. Also, they very clearly regulate arms and ammunition, regardless of how long the ordinance was in effect. What’s also very clear is why the good major now wants to avoid even the appearance of regulating arms. Florida’s powerful preemption statute allows only the state legislature to regulate arms. Any public official who violates the preemption statute can be removed from office and fined up to $5,000, which the statute requires them to pay personally.
Okeechobee Police spokesman, Detective Jarret Romanello, told local media Monday evening that city officials are reviewing the entire incident to determine how the “mistake” occurred, and that he looks forward to “providing more answers as soon as the review is complete.”
Romanello also complained that most of the “noise” directed at his boss was coming from folks who live outside city limits.
Takeaways
What Detective Romanello calls noise, most would call concern. Law-abiding gun owners are concerned – and ever vigilant – about their Second Amendment rights. If a small-town chief of police infringes upon someone’s civil rights, it tends to get their attention and not in a good way.
The police department’s claim that its illegal ban was somehow inadvertent or mistaken is laughable. Chief Hagan signed the ordinance himself. Did he not read it? Did he fail to notice that he was prohibiting gun and ammunition sales and even firearm possession by his 5,432 residents when he signed the document?
The police chief, his major, his spokesman and the entire city council should admit the truth rather than hiding under their beds. There are a few national and statewide groups who may soon have a few questions of their own, which they’ll likely pose under oath.
Despite all the blatant gaslighting, what happened is actually simple and easy to understand: Okeechobee Police Chief Donald C. Hagan banned firearm and ammunition sales as well as firearm possession as a major hurricane approached the state, which is inexcusable.
If Chief Hagan doesn’t like the comments he’s receiving, maybe he shouldn’t have infringed upon his residents’ civil rights. He will always be an example for any other public official who contemplates violating the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution as well as the Constitution of the State of Florida.
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