The department liked and retweeted a post from Trump’s 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale, who shared a video of actor Jon Voight expressing his support for Donald Trump.
At the time of posting, the retweet was removed, and as well as the "like."
Well said sir. History will show this truth. #FourMoreYears https://t.co/PiWNnvLwH7
— Brad Parscale (@parscale) July 10, 2019
We reached out to the City of Tampa and as of now, they’re not really sure who shared the post.
“When we post to Facebook we know who posts it, but with Twitter it’s unclear. We still haven’t got to the bottom of it. My guess is that it was done in error,” said Tampa Police spokesman Stephen Hegarty.
According to Hegarty, more than 25 people have access to the Tampa Police Department Twitter account, and the City of Tampa does in fact have guidelines stating employees "will not conduct political activities or private business" on official social media channels.
But this isn’t the first time the department’s social media account has shown support for Trump. Just last week, on July 4, the department also “liked” a video posted from Donald Trump’s @realdonaldtrump Twitter handle. This particular "like" was removed shortly after speaking with Hegarty.
Obviously, municipalities are supposed to be apolitical, but for some reason this seems to be an ongoing issue with Florida law enforcement.
Last March, Orange County Sheriff's Office faced heavy criticism and a possible policy change after it was learned a deputy named a new K-9 “Trump,” and, as Miami New Times pointed out, police unions are routinely booking events at Trump’s Doral resort.
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This article appears in Jul 4-11, 2019.