Sheriff Mike Chitwood throws News-Journal reporter under the social media bus - again

Back in early August, Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood got upset with a veteran reporter at The News-Journal. Rather than call his editor to vent, Chitwood opted to air his grievance on social media.

Frank Fernandez ticked him off not because of something he wrote, but for a question he'd asked before anything was published. It was regarding the case of the 11-year-old girl who was cuffed and charged with a felony for texting false reports to 911. She wrote that her friend had been kidnapped. It caused a huge ruckus, a full-on response from the sheriff's office, and made national news.

Frank wrote that a defense attorney questioned whether the arrest, which was caught on video, might cause trauma in her life. Chitwood posted Frank's question on his Facebook page with the following note to his many followers:

"My office got this email from a reporter this morning. The 11-year-old is the one who called 911 with an elaborate report of a fake kidnapping because she thought it would be funny. I think I know how I want to answer this question but how would YOU respond?"

He also said Frank was "working as the mouthpiece of some defense attorney who thinks he should run the Sheriff’s Office," and cited two other examples of Frank's reporting that he didn't appreciate.

First, I can assure everyone, Frank is not working as a mouthpiece for any defense attorneys. Second, good journalists ask lots of questions. This is a requirement for the job, not to mention a First Amendment right. Second, the defense attorney raised a valid point. Was this overkill? (The felony charge was later reduced to a misdemeanor.)

More social media drama

Regardless, I called his spokesman Andrew Gant and said I thought the sheriff's comment was basically defamatory, and figured it would be useful to meet him in person. We had a pleasant visit. He and I briefly discussed it and moved on to other topics and that was that. Or so I thought.

Flash forward to the trial of cop-killer Othal Wallace.

The sheriff had been critical of the jury in that case for handing down a verdict of manslaughter rather than first-degree murder saying: "My faith in the American jury has been shaken before. I have seen juries ignore video evidence and disregard victims. I have never been more disgusted by a verdict than I am today."

He also took exception to a post by Suzerain, a nonprofit with lawyers who defend indigent defendants facing possible death sentences. The post read:

"Two weeks ago @allisonferbermiller picked a jury for a trial in which the defendant, Othal Wallace, was charged with the first degree murder of a police officer in Clay County, Florida. The prosecution was seeking the death penalty. Today the jury convicted Mr. Wallace of the lesser offense of manslaughter, which prevents the prosecution from even trying to give him the death penalty."

Chitwood posted on his Facebook page: “They’re really bragging on Facebook about picking a jury that let a cop killer off on a lesser charge.”

Frank seeing that post, decided to contact Miller to get her reaction. Miller, who sits on the board of directors of Suzerain, said she did not have anything to do with the post.

Unamerican?

"I did not know Suzerain was posting anything about the case. Suzerain also did not represent anything in a positive or negative light – to be accused of bragging – again, only an accurate recounting of what transpired in the case," Miller wrote.

“Sheriff Chitwood is certainly free to disagree with the jury’s verdict, but to disparage the work of the jurors and the jurors themselves, frankly, to me, is un-American.”

We ran a story. The sheriff was upset and opted again to air his ire on social media with this post:

"Now it’s 'un-American' to criticize a jury and the slimeball defense attorney who picked it. I guess we’re supposed to sit back, shut up, and just accept the murder of a police officer. Or in the words of the defense team, his 'passing.'"

Further down he wrote: "I really don’t care what Allison Ferber Miller has to say in the latest BS report by the Daytona Beach News-Journal defense attorney mouthpiece Frank Fernandez." He closed by saying: "I don't take Frank Fernandez's calls or give him quotes for his BS stories anymore, but feel free to let him know what you think."

Thrown under the social media bus, again

Once again, his fury was directed not at the lawyer who said what offended him, but at the reporter who quoted her.

The sheriff's reaction is disturbing for a number of reasons.

First, he's falsely accusing an enormously dedicated and hard-working reporter of being one-sided and unprofessional. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Second, his bullying behavior can lead to a chilling effect on anyone who dares to write something he doesn't like.

And third, he's creating a scapegoat and invoking his followers to tell him "what they think." What happens if they respond with more than words?

Not surprisingly, the commenters on his post were overwhelmingly supportive. But even a few of his backers seem to be getting a bit put off by eruptions.

"Nothing wrong with being critical of a jury," wrote Kevin Scannell in the comments to his post. "This one definitely got it wrong. Once again though, I am disappointed that you feel you must lash out at anyone who is critical of you. You're better than this."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

John Dunbar is the executive editor of the Daytona Beach News-Journal

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Chitwood feeds reporter to the social media wolves for doing his job