U.S. Attorney, Pearson spar in letters over St. Lucie sheriff's viral social media posts

Wicker Perlis, Treasure Coast Newspapers
Updated ·5 min read

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — The controversial viral social media posts from Sheriff Keith Pearson and his office have drawn the attention of United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Markenzy Lapointe, according to letters between the two officials, obtained by TCPalm.

Lapointe urged Pearson to reconsider his posts — one of which the federal prosecutor called "disturbing." For his part, Pearson responded, telling Lapointe he disagreed and indicating the posts are unlikely to stop.

Phone call led to letters

The back-and-forth began with an April 8 phone call from Lapointe to Pearson. The two had first met just months prior, at a Jan. 4 Law Enforcement Coordination Meeting in Fort Pierce. That meeting came about a month after Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Pearson as sheriff of St. Lucie County.

In Lapointe's later letter, he said the April 8 call was him reaching out "discreetly, to Sheriff Pearson via telephone about certain events." On April 10, Sheriff's Office General Counsel J.D. Small emailed Lapointe, referencing the call, writing Lapointe had voiced concerns about social media posts and asking for specific recommendations.

"We would be interested in your recommendations in writing as to whether we need to change any policies or procedures from within our agency," Small wrote.

U.S. attorney said posts are disturbing and unproductive

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe, Southern District of Florida
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe, Southern District of Florida

Lapointe's office responded May 6 with a five-page letter detailing the U.S. attorney's concerns with Pearson's posts and their potential impacts on police-community trust.

First, Lapointe cited a February Facebook post where Pearson spoke about arresting a suspect accused of reaching speeds of over 160 mph in a stolen vehicle. The video shows the handcuffed suspect unmoving and leaning against the vehicle as Pearson talks to the camera.

The video was later posted on TikTok, where it has received more than 5.7 million views.

Lapointe's letter included a link to the Facebook post and a picture of Pearson squatting down to take a selfie with the handcuffed suspect.

Multiple people in the community voiced concerns about the post, Lapointe wrote, including members of his staff.

"Although I am not sure if the arrestee was conscious or not, his overall appearance was one of total submission. This disturbing image comes across as if the sheriff is posing with an antelope that he just shot on a safari," Lapointe wrote. "An arrest is not the appropriate time for an unauthorized selfie with an arrestee."

Lapointe said he did not reach out to Pearson following the post, only doing so after a subsequent "concerning" post.

The letter includes a screenshot of that second post, which focuses on two deputies standing in front of a television screen that reads “HIDTA," an acronym for High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, a federally funded program in which the Sheriff's Office participates.

Background music, added to the video before it was posted to the Sheriff's Office official account, included what Lapointe called "inappropriate language, including the use of racially insensitive references." The song was off the 2011 album Watch the Throne by Jay Z and Kanye West.

In a section of the letter connecting the impacts of the two posts, Lapointe wrote "these posts make law enforcement’s job more difficult and can tarnish our credibility."

"Taking that picture and putting it on social media and the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office website cannot possibly help our efforts to build and maintain credibility with all of the communities we police and serve," Lapointe wrote of the first post.

In response to Small's request for recommendations, Lapointe declined to give specifics.

"As I mentioned to the sheriff during our call, it is not my lane to tell any other agency how to run their affairs. That was never the purpose of my call," Lapointe wrote. "Rather, the purpose of my call was to remind the sheriff that none of us wants our actions to unintentionally antagonize and/or alienate segments of the community."

Pearson said he uses social media for transparency, deterrence

St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson speaks during a press conference following the death of Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Zachary Fink, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, in Port St. Lucie at Christ Fellowship Church. Fink was in pursuit of a fleeing felon, when he collided with a semi-truck on I-95, FHP officials said. The truck driver died at the scene. Fink, 26, was taken to HCA Lawnwood Hospital in Fort Pierce, where he died.

On May 10, Pearson sent a one-page response, via Small. It largely brushed aside Lapointe's concerns.

"As sheriff of St. Lucie County I felt it appropriate to officially respond to your letter dated May 6, 2024," Pearson's letter began. "This sheriff and this Sheriff's Office will keep arresting criminals. We will continue to enforce state and federal laws."

Pearson, echoing something Small said in the initial email, said his social media use is an example of transparency with the community.

"We will engage the public, as we always have, to educate them on our efforts, techniques and operations — to build on the decades-old foundation of trust already established here, in St. Lucie County," Pearson wrote. "And, in an effort to be fully transparent, we will continue to highlight criminals and crimes in an effort to dissuade those thinking about breaking our laws from doing so, in our community."

In direct response to Lapointe's claim that the first post "cannot possibly help our efforts to build and maintain credibility," Pearson made his views clear.

"I wholeheartedly disagree with your statement," Pearson wrote. "Taking and posting videos of criminals caught will dissuade others, in real time, from engaging in illegal activity and show those who question our credibility that we mean business."

Pearson closed with further hard-on-crime language, after thanking Lapointe.

"My only request of you and your office is once we arrest them, prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law," Pearson wrote.

More: Timeline shows events that led to Keith Pearson's appointment to sheriff, fallout after

More: In historic move, St. Lucie deputies' union endorsed Chief Del Toro over Sheriff Pearson

State prosecutor also critical of posts

Tom Bakkedahl (center), State Attorney for the 19th Judicial Circuit, talks with the family of Richard Brighton on Monday, Aug. 11, 2021, at the St. Lucie County Courthouse in Fort Pierce. Richard Brighton was shot to death, along with his wife Penny, by their son Jacob Brighton in Aug. 2007, at their home in Fort Pierce. Jacob Brighton was resentenced, by Circuit Judge William Roby, to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility for parole, for the murder of both his parents when he was 16.

The letter from the area's chief federal prosecutor came after its chief state prosecutor, State Attorney Tom Bakkedahl, endorsed Pearson's top primary-election opponent, interim Port St. Lucie Police Chief Richard Del Toro. In a guest column for TCPalm, Bakkedahl referred to Pearson's social media use.

"When an agency is perceived to be run like a frat house replete with gang signs, shameless self-promotion and the constant search for clickbait, it fails to show respect for the awesome power and responsibilities with which we have entrusted that organization," Bakkedahl wrote.

It was Bakkedahl's first time endorsing a candidate for sheriff.

Wicker Perlis is TCPalm's Watchdog Reporter for St. Lucie County. You can reach him at wicker.perlis@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Two viral posts by St. Lucie County Sheriff draw federal attention