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The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said one of the people arrested had a knife in his possession.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Security at Jacksonville City Hall is under review after police said a protester managed to bring a credit card-style knife into the council chambers during Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.
Wednesday morning, two of the three people arrested by JSO appeared before a judge after Tuesday night’s disruption at Jacksonville’s City Council meeting.
Tuesday night, JSO arrested Connor Cauley, Teagan Belloit and Leah Grady at the meeting, saying they caused a disturbance.
The meeting paused as all three were escorted out of the building
Cauley is accused of bringing a credit card-style knife into the chamber. The weapon went undetected by security and was only discovered after the man’s arrest, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
Among those speaking out is community activist Ryan Delaney, who witnessed the arrests.
“Community members, completely unprovoked—they brutalized him, grabbed him by the neck, threw him across an aisle, tackled him to the ground,” said Delaney. “It is completely uncalled for.”
Delaney says the protesters were simply trying to speak out and called for the immediate dropping of all charges.
“We have to support each other. We’re going to continue fighting—not just until they’re released, but until these ridiculous charges are dropped,” Delaney said.
In response, Mayor Donna Deegan issued a statement on Wednesday saying the city is conducting a full review of City Hall security protocols and retraining security guards to identify unconventional weapons like the one used.
“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,” Deegan said.
She added that the city may consider new security equipment, staffing changes, and even vendor changes, with the current contract expiring in September 2025.
JSO said the arrests were made at the request of city council leadership after the individuals were deemed to be “disrupting the proceedings.”
But Delaney pushes back on that characterization.
“The fact of the matter is that a strike against one of us is a strike against all of us,” Delaney said.
City officials say the security review is ongoing, and protesters are still calling for all charges to be dropped.
