Protesters rally Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in support of three people arrested at a City Council meeting the day before. | Mike Mendenhall, Jacksonville Today
Published on May 28, 2025 at 6:36 pm
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City officials say there will be a full security review of City Hall after police confiscated a concealed “credit card” knife from one of the three people arrested following a disturbance in City Council chambers during a meeting Tuesday night.
The review will include potential equipment upgrades, staffing changes and security vendor options, as the contract for First Coast Security, the current provider, is set to expire in September, according to a statement from Mayor Donna Deegan’s administration.
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Arrest reports show that 29-year-old Conor Cauley faces a felony charge from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for carrying the concealed weapon in a government building during a governing body meeting.
The short knife folded into a case about the size of a credit card. It was found after Cauley was arrested and accused of disrupting proceedings and refusing to comply with officers’ request to leave the chambers.
At a court appearance Wednesday, a judge ruled there was insufficient probable cause to detain Cauley on the felony charge of resisting with violence and ordered him released on his own recognizance, a State Attorney’s Office spokesperson told Jacksonville Today.
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“The felony charge was not dismissed as the presiding judge has no authority to do so in First Appearance. The State Attorney’s Office is investigating and will ultimately make a filing decision,” the spokesperson said.
Leah Grady, 24, and Teagan Beloit, 25, also were arrested Tuesday and both charged with resisting an officer.
In a statement Wednesday, Deegan said, “We all have freedom of speech. The time to exercise that right is during the public comment period of City Council meetings.
“The words we choose matter. Civil discourse should be just that: civil. If we truly want to solve problems, we have to find a way to speak respectfully to each other.”
As to how the “credit card” knife went undetected during City Hall’s standard security screening, Deegan said she has directed First Coast Security, which has had the security contract at City Hall since October 2022, to “train their officers on this style of concealed weapon, and to conduct extra inspections of all personal items going into the Council Chambers.”
Weapons in City Hall
The Florida Legislature changed state law in 2023 to allow permitless carry of a concealed weapon or firearm without a license as long as the person is also carrying a government-issued ID. The law includes a list of prohibited locations which includes any meeting of the governing body of a county, public school district, municipality or special district.
In response, the Deegan administration, then-council President Ron Salem, the Sheriff’s Office and the city’s Office of General Counsel made a joint decision to add an extra layer of security — which includes bag searches and metal detecting wands — outside the chamber on council meeting nights, adding to the metal detectors and X-ray device situated at City Hall’s front entrance.
The knife, shown in a photo released by the Sheriff’s Office on the social media platform X, appears to be designed and sold by Indeline, an activist art collective known recently in part for its calls for an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“Given that it was inside a wallet, it was missed in the secondary screening process going into the Council Chambers,” Phil Perry, the Deegan administration’s chief communications officer, told Jacksonville Today in an email. “It is predominately plastic with a small metal blade. The thin blade and small amount of metal is what makes it more difficult (for) metal detectors to identify.”
The incident
The issue occurred shortly after 90 minutes of open public comment where much of the discussion focused on protesting the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, community organizing and the council’s 13-5 decision earlier in the evening to deny former Duval County School Board Chair Elizabeth Andersen’s nomination to a library board Tuesday.
There were multiple verbal protests Tuesday, which prompted council President Randy White to warn the public that demonstrations for and against actions were against council rules and he would have those responsible removed.
About two hours into the meeting, as council member Chris Miller began announcing bills slated for public hearings, a voice is heard in the video recording of the meeting yelling “Get away from me.”
“Back up, now,” the voice says again.
As louder voices are heard, White tells everyone that “we will be on pause for five minutes,” then the video feed goes to a city insignia for nine minutes.
Grady was asked to leave for “loudly clapping,” her arrest report states. She refused to leave despite an officer asking her to do so, and she “refused to be handcuffed” as she was being arrested, hiding her hands and pulling them away, the report said.
As she was being escorted out, Cauley stood in the way and prevented the officer from escorting her out, his arrest report said. Cauley made an unclear action after he was told to move, and the officer “grabbed him with my left hand and pulled him over the row of seats and onto the ground,” the report said. Cauley was handcuffed and the folding credit card knife was found in his wallet, the report said.
Beloit’s arrest report said she impeded the arrest of the others “by physically getting in the way” and refused to move, grasping the metal rail in an attempt to avoid arrest. She was escorted out by two officers and arrested as well.
Reaction and response
Community groups as well as city and state elected leaders were quick Tuesday and Wednesday to add commentary to the incident.
The Jacksonville Community Action Committee sent out a text alert calling for people to gather at 5 p.m. Wednesday at 500 E. Bay St. across the street from the Sheriff’s Office headquarters “to show support and demand justice.”
Republican council member Rory Diamond posted on X Wednesday calling on State Attorney Melissa Nelson to pursue felony charges against Cauley and “seek maximum jail time.” Hours earlier, he also posted a screenshot of the weapon type to his X profile askingm “Why would you sneak this into a Jax Council meeting and then put your hands on a police officer?”
State Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, put out this statement on X: “This is a time of deep disgust, as residents were met with violence in our own city chambers simply for demanding that their voices be heard. I stand with Conor Cauley, Leah Grady, and Teagan (Dragaon) Belloit and call for their immediate release and for all charges to be dropped. We must hold our leadership accountable for this outrageous abuse of power.”
Council President-designate Kevin Carrico provided the following statement to Jacksonville Today: “We take the safety and order of our City Council meetings very seriously. Last night’s disturbance was unfortunate, but I am incredibly grateful to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for their swift and professional response. Their presence ensured the safety of all in attendance and allowed us to continue the important work of the people. As incoming Council President, I remain committed to ensuring that our meetings remain a place of respectful public discourse and transparent government.”
