A Florida Republican has stepped down from his position after a photo of him allegedly wearing a Ku Klux Klan costume circulated online.
On Friday (September 23), Jeffery Moore, who Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed as the Gadsden County Commissioner, resigned from the five-person county board of commissioners, per the Tallahassee Democrat.
According to the outlet, a photo shows Moore wearing a KKK hood and robe at a Halloween party.
Before resigning, Moore was the only white person on the board with four Black commissioners in Gadsden County, where 55 percent of the residents are Black, according to the U.S. Census.
Tracey Stallworth, a Gadsden County pastor, told the Tallahassee Democrat that a news conference will be held Wednesday (September 28) to urge Moore and DeSantis to address the photo.
“It’s a very sad day in our history and a sad time for this county ... the blackest county in the state, this is not OK,” Stallworth said.
Moore sent a letter of resignation to DeSantis' office but did not specify the reason why he was stepping down from his position, according to reports.
“Thank you for the opportunity to have served in the position, however for personal reasons I am no longer able to continue,” Moore wrote.
The former county commissioner also stated in the letter that he was “in the middle of hurricane preparations” and would follow up with the DeSantis administration on Tuesday (September 27) or Wednesday as Hurricane Ian barrels towards Florida.
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