FOP President: Jacksonville officers involved in incident before inmate's death will be exonerated
The Fraternal Order of Police Jacksonville issued a statement on Wednesday expressing confidence that nine Duval County Jail corrections officers involved in an incident that left an inmate dead will be cleared of any wrongdoing.
The death of Charles Faggart nearly one week ago has raised questions about transparency and the treatment of inmates at jail.
An attorney representing his family said Faggart had been brain dead since Monday, April 17, when the incident occurred.
Over the weekend, hundreds of protesters demanded justice, including Faggart's mother and the mother of Faggart's five-year-old son.
FOP, in its statement, also cautioned 'the public against rushing to judgment based on social media speculation.'
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Here is the full statement from FOP President Randy Reeves:
'The FOP joins Sheriff Waters in his desire to pursue an in-depth, speedy, and comprehensive investigation by federal and local agencies to determine the facts leading up to and including the incident involving our nine Corrections Officers and Mr. Faggart.
'We are confident the investigation, based on facts and evidence, will exonerate the nine officers. JSO Corrections Officers are well trained professionals who dutifully follow established policies and procedures established by federal, state, and local authorities.
'We want to caution the public rushing to judgment based on social media speculation concerning the incident involving Mr. Faggart who was incarcerated at the Duval County Jail.
'We share in the community's anticipation and the revelations of pending reports from the Medical Examiner's office as well as other agencies investigating this incident.'
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters issued the following statement in response to Reeves' statement:
'When I brought the Charles Faggart death investigation to the public's attention I sought to be forward facing about this agency's search for answers. This was not a rush to judgment on the correction officers' guilt or innocence. This investigation is active and ongoing. FOP President Randy Reeves appropriately asks that this investigation be completed before the public passes' judgment on the officers' actions. Facts, not feelings, shape the contours of criminal investigations and are the foundation of proof in the American criminal justice system. Our detectives are tirelessly working to complete a thorough and comprehensive investigation. I ask for the public's patience as we seek to give the Faggart family the answers it deserves.'
Monday, April 7, 2025: An incident happens in the Duval County Jail involving eight corrections officers, one corrections sergeant, and inmate Charles Faggart. The incident leads to Faggart being taken to a local hospital.
Tuesday, April 8, 2025: Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters first announced publicly that eight corrections officers and one corrections sergeant are part of the active investigation into an inmate's death and have been stripped of their corrections authority.
Wednesday, April 9, 2025: Action News Jax told you when Waters announced that he had asked the FBI to help investigate. Currently, the FBI said there is no open federal investigation. Also on this day, Attorney Belkis Plata identified Faggart as the inmate who was fighting for his life.
Thursday, April 10, 2025: Plata reveals that Faggart had died.
Read: Statements from Mayor Donna Deegan, Sheriff T.K. Waters, the family's attorney and other local officials on the death of Charles Faggart
Friday, April 11, 2025: Two law enforcement sources told Action News Jax what happened in Duval County Jail before Faggart's death.
Sunday, April 13, 2025: Hundreds turned out for a march and a rally in front of JSO headquarters in downtown Jacksonville. 'I loved Charles and he deserved so much more than this. And that's all I have to say,' said Caitlyn Benz, the mother of Faggart's six-year-old son Lincoln.
Monday, April 14, 2025: JSO releases a redacted incident report of the incident in the Duval County Jail that preceded Faggart's death. JSO also identifies the nine corrections employees under investigation.
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
8 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Indonesia arrests 285 in drug crackdown and seizes over half a ton of narcotics
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities said Monday they arrested 285 people suspected of drug trafficking, including 29 women and seven foreigners, and seized over half a ton of various narcotics during a two-monthlong nationwide crackdown. Indonesia is a major hub for drug trafficking in Southeast Asia despite having strict drug laws, with convicted smugglers sometimes executed by firing squad. The head of the National Narcotic Agency, Marthinus Hukom, said the crackdown, launched between April and June across 20 provinces, also uncovered money laundering schemes by two drug syndicates and confiscated assets worth more than 26 billion rupiah (about $1.5 million). Thirty-six of the suspects, including 21 women, were paraded in front of reporters, along with confiscated drugs, in their orange prison uniforms and hands handcuffed. Hukom said the women arrested were mostly housewives. 'I call on Indonesian women to be more vigilant in establishing friendships both in the real world and in cyberspace,' he said during a joint press conference with officials from the security affairs ministry and the customs office who took part in the operation. One of the agency's deputies, Budi Wibowo, said authorities seized 683,885 grams (0.68 ton) of crystal meth, marijuana, ecstasy, THC, hashish and amphetamines, adding this helped stop them falling into the hands of 'more than 1.3 million people.' The seven foreign nationals were an American, two Kazakhs, two Malaysians, an Indian and an Australian, Wibowo said. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says Indonesia is a major drug-smuggling hub in part because international drug syndicates target its young population. In a separate operation, authorities in the province of Riau Island, exposed in May two cases of drug smuggling in its waters and seized 2.7 tons of crystal methamphetamine and 1.2 tons of ketamine, Hukom said Monday. In 2023, authorities uncovered more than 52,000 of drug cases and confiscated 6.2 tons of crystal meth, 1.1 tons of marijuana and other types of synthetic narcotics, said Mochammad Hasan of the ministry of security affairs during the press conference. Hasan said the number increased in 2024 with more than 56,000 cases and confiscated 7.5 tons of crystal meth and 3.3 tons of marijuana, with a combine value worth 7.5 trillion rupiah ($454.6 million). Authorities have arrested a total of 27,357 drug suspects by November 2024, he said. Early this month, three British nationals accused of smuggling nearly a kilogram (over two pounds) of cocaine into Indonesia were charged in a court on the tourist island of Bali. They face the death penalty under the country's strict drug laws. About 530 people, including 96 foreigners, are on death row in Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections' data showed. Indonesia's last executions, of an Indonesian and three foreigners, were carried out in July 2016.
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
285 arrested after massive drugs haul seized by Indonesian authorities
Indonesian authorities said they arrested 285 people suspected of drug trafficking, including 29 women and seven foreigners, and seized more than half a ton of various substances during a two-month-long nationwide crackdown. Indonesia is a major hub for drug trafficking in Southeast Asia despite having strict drug laws, with convicted smugglers sometimes executed by firing squad. The head of the National Narcotic Agency, Marthinus Hukom, said the crackdown, launched between April and June across 20 provinces, also uncovered money laundering schemes by two drug syndicates and confiscated assets worth more than 26 billion rupiah (about £1.1 million). Thirty-six of the suspects, including 21 women, were paraded in front of reporters, along with confiscated drugs, in their orange prison uniforms and hands handcuffed. Mr Hukom said the women arrested were mostly housewives. 'I call on Indonesian women to be more vigilant in establishing friendships both in the real world and in cyberspace,' he said during a joint press conference with officials from the security affairs ministry and the customs office who took part in the operation. One of the agency's deputies, Budi Wibowo, said authorities seized 683,885 grams (0.68 ton) of crystal meth, marijuana, ecstasy, THC, hashish and amphetamines, adding this helped stop them falling into the hands of 'more than 1.3 million people'. Mr Wibowo also said that drug syndicates have used various methods to distribute narcotics to users via land and sea transportation or mail services. The seven foreign nationals were an American, two Kazakhs, two Malaysians, an Indian and an Australian, Mr Wibowo said. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says Indonesia is a major drug-smuggling hub in part because international drug syndicates target its young population. In a separate operation, authorities in the province of Riau Island, exposed in May two cases of drug smuggling in its waters and seized 2.7 tons of crystal methamphetamine and 1.2 tons of ketamine, Mr Hukom said on Monday. In 2023, authorities uncovered more than 52,000 of drug cases and confiscated 6.2 tons of crystal meth, 1.1 tons of marijuana and other types of synthetic narcotics, said Mochammad Hasan of the ministry of security affairs during the press conference. Mr Hasan said the number increased in 2024 with more than 56,000 cases and confiscated 7.5 tons of crystal meth and 3.3 tons of marijuana, with a combine value worth 7.5 trillion rupiah (£340 million). Authorities have arrested a total of 27,357 drug suspects by November 2024, he said. Early this month, three British nationals accused of smuggling nearly a kilogram of cocaine into Indonesia were charged in a court on the tourist island of Bali. They face the death penalty under the country's strict drug laws. About 530 people, including 96 foreigners, are on death row in Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections' data showed. Indonesia's last executions, of an Indonesian and three foreigners, were carried out in July 2016.
San Francisco Chronicle
4 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Olympic sprint finalist Knighton at sports court for appeals in doping contamination case
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — United States sprinter Erriyon Knighton went to court Monday to defend his claim he was contaminated in a positive doping test case that risks a ban from the next world championships. A two-time Olympic finalist in the 200 meters aged just 21, Knighton was cleared to run at the Paris Summer Games last year only after an American tribunal ruled he was not at fault for the positive test for trenbolone, a steroid used in livestock farming. The World Anti-Doping Agency and track and field's Athletics Integrity Unit have challenged that ruling in combined appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. CAS has scheduled the appeal hearing for two days and said a verdict is likely within several weeks. The U.S. track and field national championships start July 31 in Eugene, Oregon. They are trials to pick the U.S. team for the 2025 worlds that open Sept. 13 in Tokyo. Knighton's attorney Howard Jacobs suggested last year Knighton could be 'collateral damage' in an ongoing feud between WADA and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, fueled by how a case of alleged contamination of Chinese Olympic swimmers was handled by the global watchdog. USADA prosecuted Knighton's original case after he tested positive in March last year and accepted the 'no-fault' ruling based on the explanation the contamination was by oxtail from a bakery in central Florida. The USADA investigation included obtaining the meat and testing it, plus interviews with the manager of the bakery, Knighton, his girlfriend and his mother. They backed up the athlete's claim of contamination. In the Chinese case, an explanation of contamination with a banned heart medication in a hotel kitchen in 2021 was accepted without evidence backing the theory. WADA lawyers and officials decided the agency was unlikely to win any appeals brought to CAS without being able to gather independent evidence in China during the COVID-19 pandemic. Knighton is the sixth-fastest 200 runner in track history with a personal best time of 19.49 seconds set in 2022. Usain Bolt's world record is 19.19. He placed fourth in the 200 at past two Olympic Games, and took one silver medal and one bronze from the past two editions of worlds.
