Florida Secretary of State Michael Ertel resigns after Halloween blackface photos emerge

[Jose Garcia]

Source: Tallahassee Democrat

Michael Ertel, the newly appointed Secretary of State of Gov. Ron DeSantis, has resigned after photos emerged of him posing as a Hurricane Katrina victim in blackface at a private Halloween party 14 years ago.

The photos obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat were shown to the Governor's Office on Thursday morning. Hours later it issued a statement.

"The governor accepted Secretary Ertel's resignation," the Governor's Office said.

The photo was taken in 2005, eight months after Ertel was appointed Seminole County supervisor of elections and two months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.

Read more: https://amp.tallahassee.com/amp/2649161002?__twitter_impression=true

[Midnight Writer]

1. He certainly "monkeyed that up".

[Leghorn21]

3. D'oh!!

Well done, MW!!

[Leghorn21]

2. Finally, there's a "Katrina victim" I have no feeling for

None whatsoever

Fuck you

[brooklynite]

4. Photo

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. There should be about 7.53 billion people who find that offensive.

https://www.google.com/search?q=population+of+earth

[brooklynite]

11. 'Before the Governor appoints you, is there anything in your past that we should know about?"

[brooklynite]

5. Sec State in Florida is an appointed position

Ron DeSantis is off to a rip-roaring start

[NCjack]

6. Another fine, very fine, Gopper goes down in flames. (That was fast!) nt

[BamaRefugee]

8. BUT BUT BUT blackface Covington boys get to go to the White House! DISCRIMINATION!

[LisaM]

9. Who does this?

I can't believe all these photos of blackface are emerging. To my knowledge, no one I know has ever put on blackface. I wouldn't even have thought it was a thing! I thought it had gone the way of the dodo, and died out with acts like Amos'n'Andy as people realized how offensive it was. Even Spike Lee's movie back in 2000 was received negatively for its offensiveness.

And yet photo after photo of people wearing it come out. Yeah, I'm shocked.

[murielm99]

13. When my kids were in middle school,

there was a boy who wanted to dress up as Michael Jordan for the Halloween party. It was an all-school party. Some of the kids went all out with the costumes.

The kid had the basketball part of his outfit. He wanted to do the blackface thing. Fortunately, his parents would not let him. He had to be a white Michael Jordan. He had just as good a time as everyone else.

[LisaM]

15. My nephew went as Barry Bonds one year when he was about five.

He was a blond-haired, blue-eyed Barry Bonds, no problem!

[SunSeeker]

10. OMG. What the fuck is wrong with these people?

How can they be so tone deaf and racist?

[ffr]

12. So not welcomed to the White House by Trump and H. Sanders?

[msongs]

14. great a new job opening for another closet kkk type nt

[NurseJackie]

16. Bad dentures.

[Grokenstein]

17. But the Kovington Katholic Kids say

It's just, like, school spirit or somethin', right?

[bullwinkle428]

18. "THE BEST PEOPLE..."

[Stand and Fight]

19. Here's the link for those who aren't on a mobile device:

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2019/01/24/new-secretary-state-ertel-dressed-blackface-halloween-2005/2649161002/

[rockfordfile]

20. That guy is a pos

He tried to mess with my vote in 2016. Didn't work nice try.

[UpInArms]

21. Why would anyone do this?

I just cannot, for the life of me, get into a mindset that could conceive of something this .... nasty magnitude.

[Jose Garcia]

23. Yep

[GulfCoast66]

22. Someone will be along shortly to tell us it was just a blackout

Like at Covington school.

Should not be necessary, but

[truthisfreedom]

24. "I like beer..."