JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan is speaking out after three people were arrested during Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday night that “Council leadership requested that JSO officers remove a group of individuals who were disrupting the proceedings.”
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Deegan said in a statement Wednesday that while public comment is a time to exercise free speech, “the words we choose matter.”
The three who ended up being arrested, JSO said, “refused to leave and resisted, becoming combative with officers. Officers discovered a knife on one of the individuals who was arrested.”
Here are the people who were arrested and the charges they are facing:
Conor Cauley, 29 - Facing charges of carrying a concealed weapon. Police said he was carrying a knife.
Leah Grady, 24 - Grady is facing charges of misdemeanor resisting an officer without violence.
Teagan Belloit, aka Dragon, 25 - Belloit is facing charges of misdemeanor resisting an officer without violence.
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In a statement, Deegan gave insight into the knife that Cauley was reportedly carrying, saying it was “a small ‘credit card’ knife.”
Deegan said that there will be a “full security review” of City Hall and that security guards will be trained to look for “this style of concealed weapon.”
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Here is Deegan’s full statement on the arrests:
“We all have freedom of speech. The time to exercise that right is during the public comment period of City Council meetings. The words we choose matter. Civil discourse should be just that. Civil. If we truly want to solve problems, we have to find a way to speak respectfully to each other.
“A small ‘credit card’ knife went undetected in a wallet during the standard security screening process for last night’s City Council meeting. Moving forward, we have directed First Coast Security to train their officers on this style of concealed weapon, and to conduct extra inspections of all personal items going into the Council Chambers.
“We are also conducting a full security review for City Hall – including potential equipment upgrades, staffing changes, and vendor options – as we get closer to the current security vendor contract expiring in September 2025.”
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