Sarasota Sheriff Explains Photo With QAnon Follower, Blames Media

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — A photo from new Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt Hoffman’s time campaigning shows him posing with a QAnon conspiracy theory supporter at an October 2019 event.

The photo was published by the Herald-Tribune Tuesday and the newspaper’s editorial board criticized the image in an editorial piece Thursday.

In the photo, Hoffman, then a colonel for the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Department, is standing next to a woman wearing a “We Are Q” T-shirt at a booth selling similar T-shirts and other former President Donald Trump and QAnon items.

The sheriff told the Herald-Tribune that he hadn’t heard of QAnon when the photo was taken.

“It’s puzzling that Hoffman would pose in a law enforcement uniform under such circumstances. It’s alarming that Hoffman hasn’t been able to offer a convincing reason why he was doing so,” the Herald-Tribune editorial read.

On Friday, Hoffman shared an open letter to social media explaining how the photo came to exist. While campaigning to become sheriff, he attended more than 400 events in 439 days, he said.

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“Somewhere along the campaign trail, I was approached by a citizen and business owner who asked for guidance after her air conditioning business provided services that went unpaid,” Hoffman wrote.

He learned her business was in the city of Sarasota and put her in touch with the Sarasota Police Department. SPD investigated the case, filing charges against the suspect, he said.

When he saw her again in October 2019 at another campaign event, she thanked him for the help and asked to take a photo with him.

In his letter, Hoffman accused the Herald-Tribune of “attacking conservative leaders.” He also blamed the media, in general, for divisiveness in the United States.

“After three decades of law enforcement service, I would never support any theory that propagates or condones acts of violence or extremism, whether on the right, left or somewhere in between,” he wrote. “I do not believe in the theory known as ‘QAnon,’ nor do I believe in the continued divisiveness of this country caused in large part by the news media. What I do believe in is serving citizens regardless of their political affiliations or belief systems. I believe in protecting the rights and freedoms afforded by our Constitution, and I will not back down from that, even if it makes me a target of the media.”