Jacksonville deputies under review after videos of violent fracas with fans at Florida-Georgia football game go viral
Category: News & Politics
Via: perrie-halpern • 3 weeks ago • 0 commentsBy: Colin Sheeley and Doha Madani
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The Jacksonville, Florida, Sheriff's Office has opened an administrative review as videos circulating online show violent interactions between deputies and fans at this weekend's University of Florida vs. University of Georgia rivalry football game.
The schools were playing Saturday at Jacksonville's Everbank Stadium, where at least two altercations between fans and law enforcement led deputies to use their stun guns.
One video went viral after it was posted by Tate Moore, a Barstool Sports employee, in which by deputies appeared to repeatedly punch two game spectators.
In Moore's video, one fan is a man with gray hair and a Florida Gators shirt being held bent over as a deputy repeatedly brings his arm down over his upper back. Another angle of the incident shows the man being punched around his neck.
The second video, posted by a man on X named John Phillips, also appears to show the deputy deploying a stun gun on the man in the Gators shirt.
The same incident also involves someone on the ground in a stadium aisle being hit repeatedly by a deputy as a woman in a blue dress cries "no" over and over again.
Someone can be heard in Moore's video yelling, "Why are you punching him?" but it's unclear who is being referred to.
Phillips also posted a separate incident in which a seated man is talking to a deputy alongside a woman in a Georgia Bulldogs shirt. As they speak, the camera pans to a deputy appearing to hold a stun gun a few feet away.
The deputy who appears to have his stun gun out walks over and puts a hand on the man's arm. The man swats it away without making any other movement. It then sounds as if the stun gun is deployed, and the man pulls the cords to the gun off him and stands up yelling.
The situation quickly escalates as the man starts yelling at both deputies and appears to be hit by two different stun guns, pulling at the cords until he falls over the seats below him.
One of the deputies then grabs him, and a physical altercation begins, with a deputy punching the man and the man pushing him off. It appears the man's shirt gets ripped.
It's unclear what prompted either of the altercations. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said in a statement that its Professional Standards Division is aware of the videos.
"Administrative reviews of the incidents are being opened," the statement said. "As such, the agency will not comment until all facts are known and the reviews have been completed."
The statement was posted to the sheriff's office social media accounts Saturday night.
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan wrote on X that the city is awaiting the results of the investigation.
"I'm aware of several disturbing videos circulating from yesterday's game," Deegan said. "I have spoken to Sheriff Waters and the incidents are under investigation."
The city just announced Friday that it had agreed to a deal to continue to host the Florida-Georgia rivalry game from 2028 through 2031, after Everbank undergoes renovations.
According to the release, the games will be hosted in Atlanta and Tampa in 2026 and 2027 while the stadium is under construction. Deegan called the agreement the result of "many months of close collaboration" with the schools.
"We are grateful that this matchup will continue bringing our communities together to celebrate college football and drive economic impact," Deegan said Friday.
The athletic directors of both schools did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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