Police say officers who struck fans at Georgia-Florida game ‘acted within policy’

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office says officers “acted within policy to protect themselves and nearby fans” in two altercations that captured on camera during Saturday’s Georgia-Florida game at EverBank Stadium.

Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters has released body camera footage and details about two fights that resulted in viral videos of the rivalry game nicknamed “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.” The video showed officers stabbing fans.

One video shows officers struggling with two spectators in the stands. Surrounding fans could be heard yelling at officers to stop. A second video shows an argument between a man and two JSO officers escalating into a fight that left the man with his face bloodied and handcuffed after being shot repeatedly with a stun gun. Neither video showed circumstances leading to the confrontations.

“In the first incident, the suspect was asked to leave multiple times and threatened officers who attempted to remove him,” the sheriff’s office said Monday after an investigation. “The suspect later grabbed an officer’s firearm. In the second incident, three suspects were asked to leave due to aggressive behavior towards other fans. They then became combative with officers, with one individual grabbing an officer’s face and holding his duty belt.”

Waters said that in the first incident, the suspect made a racist comment to one of the officers, who is black. He added that footage of the second incident appeared to have been cut to make it “deliberately misleading”.

Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan called the videos “disturbing.”

“Although the use of force may appear intense, our investigation determined that the officers in both incidents acted within policy to protect themselves and nearby fans,” the sheriff’s office said.

The Georgia-Florida game is known for its rowdiness, and Waters said the crowd was particularly fervent this weekend. “This was a different game,” Waters said. “They’re not always like that. We got a horse hit in the face.”

He added that six police officers were injured during the match, eight people were arrested and 35 fans were ejected.