By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
Ever since the entire country learned that Okeechobee, Florida Police Chief Donald Hagan banned guns and ammunition sales along with the right to keep and bear arms as Hurricane Helene was about to make landfall, city officials and members of Hagan’s police department sought to portray him as a victim.
The good chief, they claimed, was receiving death threats that were directed toward him and his family for signing the illegal ordinance, which Okeechobee’s five-member city council unanimously passed. Most of the “noise” as the threats were called, came from persons living outside city limits. Hagan, officials claimed, needed to take time off to deal with the threats.
The police chief went completely incommunicado. He did not respond to calls, emails or messages left with his staff seeking to understand why he violated his oath of office by signing an illegal ordinance, which violated both the U.S. Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Florida. The Second Amendment Foundation had to file a public records request just to get Hagan’s cell phone number, which he has yet to answer.
To understand whether the threats were real or perhaps a convenient excuse to keep the chief from having to answer uncomfortable and possibly career-ending questions, the Second Amendment Foundation made a second public records request seeking “copies of every police report made in response to threats received by Chief Donald Hagan and/or his family … and copies of any correspondence sent to FDLE (Florida Department of Law Enforcement), the FBI or any other law enforcement agency, asking them to investigate the threats received by Chief Donald Hagan and/or his family.”
On Monday, Okeechobee city clerk, Lane Earnest-Gamiotea, emailed a one-sentence response to SAF’s second public records request: “There are no responsive documents as requested,” she wrote.
Takeaways
Okeechobee officials would have you believe that the threats against Chief Hagan were so serious in nature that they sent the poor man into hiding, but no one even considered documenting the threats in a simple police report, much less turning them over to another law enforcement agency for investigation and eventual prosecution.
Threatening the life of a police chief and/or his family is a serious crime. There are federal and state statutes that could apply, but not a single official thought they should put a pen to paper.
Really?
The mess Okeechobee created is far from over. Hagan could soon be forced to answer uncomfortable questions under oath, along with the five city councilors who passed the ordinance, for violating Florida’s powerful preemption statute, which only allows the state legislature to regulate arms. The preemption statute could remove them all from office and fine each of them $5,000, which they must pay personally.
There are other possible penalties, too. At any moment, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis could decide he’s had enough of their civil rights violations and associated tomfoolery and remove them from office.
In the meantime, Chief Hagan and the Okeechobee City Council will continue to serve as a classic example of what can happen when local government decides to violate the Second Amendment, especially in Florida.
Chief Hagan did not respond to calls or emails seeking his comments for this story.
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