TAMPA, Fla. — Adam Hattersley did not call for the removal of Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan at a campaign event on Saturday in Tampa.

However, a spokesperson for his campaign for U.S. Congress says that he does support an investigation into whether Dugan’s department has acted responsibly during the protests that have taken place over the past six weeks in Tampa.

The confusion came after Hattersley, a Hillsborough county Democratic state representative running for Congress in Florida’s 15^th District this summer, had an ambiguous question and answer exchange on Saturday at a candidate forum event hosted by Tampa community organizer and entrepreneur Candy Lowe.

“Given the police brutality administered to protesters in Tampa nearly every week since the murder of George Floyd, will you stand in solidarity with us and Mayor Jane Castor in calling out Chief Dugan?” Hattersley was asked by Divina Ward, one of the panelists who queried candidates who appeared on stage at Al’s Finger Licking Good Soul Food restaurant in Ybor City.

“Yes,” Hattersley responded.

That prompted some cheering from the audience, who seemed to believe that Hattersley was supporting Dugan’s removal. But that wasn’t the case.

“He fully supports Mayor Castor’s investigation into the police chief, and if the allegations against him are true, then he supports his removal,” said Amy Bolick, Hattersley’s campaign manager, when contacted hours after the event.

There has not been any publicly announced investigation against Dugan, who has been sharply criticized by some protesters for his department’s response to protests and accusations of excessive force. However, the mayor has not indicated any lack of support for the chief. 

“Mayor Castor has no intention of firing Chief Dugan,” a spokeswoman for the mayor told the Tampa Bay Times earlier this month when asked to comment on his status.

The confusion regarding Hattersley’s response at the event on Saturday was amplified a few minutes later when a variation of the same question about Dugan was posed to two Democrats running for sheriff this year.  This time, the word “firing” was explicitly stated in the questions.

“Are you standing in solidarity in calling on Mayor Jane Castor to fire Chief Dugan?” Ward asked Ron McMullen, a retired Tampa police major running for sheriff this year.

And then a few minutes later:

“So given the police brutality administered to the protesters in Tampa that’s been going on since George Floyd, do you stand with us in solidarity in calling out Mayor Jane Castor to fire Dugan?” Ward asked Gary Pruitt, a former Tampa police corporal who ran and lost to Sheriff Chad Chronister in 2018.

For the record, McMullen does not support firing Dugan. Pruitt said he does. 

Hattersley is one of three Democrats running in Florida’s 15^thCongressional District this summer in the seat held by Republican incumbent Ross Spano. He’s running against former television news anchor/reporter Alan Cohn and retired marine Jesse Philippe, neither of whom attended the event on Saturday.

Congressional District 15 encompasses parts of eastern Hillsborough county, as well as parts of Polk and Lake counties.