Hold Chief Revell Responsible Press Conference

On Thursday, October 28, 2021 at 11:00 am EDT in front of Tallahassee City Hall the Tallahassee Community Action Committee, Florida Coalition for Transgender Liberation (FC4TL), Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society, Tallahassee National Organization for Women, Florida Council of Churches, Planned Parenthood of North, South and East Florida, Gender Odyssey at FSU, Islamic Center of Tallahassee and other allied partner organizations are hosting a press conference to demand that the Tallahassee City Commission and Mayor John Dailey speak up about Chief of Police Lawrence Revell’s participation and speech at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) Law Enforcement Conference this past September.

Chief of Police Lawrence Revell spoke as the Chief of Police of the Tallahassee Police Department at an all expenses paid speaking event from September 28th-30th, 2021 at one of the nation’s most notorious anti-LGBTQ+ Christian right groups.  In his speech, Chief Revell stated that he “wasn’t the City’s first choice” but was “God’s first choice” and that the number one priority of police chiefs was to spread Christianity in the ranks of their police departments. In the same speech he asked the audience, comprised of law enforcement officers and leaders around the country,  “What is your agenda to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to your officers?”

Chief Revell’s public leadership as Chief of Police at such an event furthers an atmosphere of discrimination, intimidation and harassment against the LGBTQIA+ and non-Christian population in Talllahassee  His legacy of transphobia, present in his defense of Tallahassee Police Department officers in the gunning down and misgendering of Tony McDade, a black transgender man, continues in this public display of hatred and repression.  As a leader of police his sole mission should be public safety for all of the residents of Tallahassee.  This egregious attack on the legal and moral values upheld in the separation of church and state should NOT go unnoticed or undisciplined by elected leadership in the City of Tallahassee.

As a coalition of concerned residents we call on Mayor Dailey and the Tallahassee City Commission to denounce Chief Revell’s actions and use the power of the their offices to move City Manager Reese Goad to remove Chief Revell from leadership.