Florida sheriff says he will deputize every 'lawful gun owner' in his county to help confront 'lawlessness' from violent protests that his deputies can't handle alone

A Florida sheriff says he will 'deputize' every lawful gun owner in his county to put down any violent protests his deputies can't handle alone - despite no demonstrations being planned in his county.

Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels released a three-minute video Wednesday warning protesters away from his suburban Jacksonville county. 

Violence has followed some demonstrations in the US over the police-related slaying of George Floyd, but many protests have been peaceful and none are currently planned for Clay County.

Daniels also said he would protect any peaceful protests, but added that if anyone starts 'tearing up Clay County, that is not going to be acceptable.'

'If we can't handle you, I'll exercise the power and authority as the sheriff and I'll make special deputies of every lawful gun owner in the county and I'll deputize them to this one purpose: to stand in the gap between lawlessness and civility,' said Daniels, sporting a white cowboy hat as he stood in front of 18 deputies.  

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Putting violent protesters on notice: Darryl Daniels (center), the sheriff in Clay County, Florida, is pictured in a video warning he will 'deputize' every lawful gun owner in his county to put down violent protests his deputies can't handle, in response to George Floyd demonstrations

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Daniels (pictured from an image posted on Facebook) said he would deputized lawful gun owners for 'one purpose: to stand in the gap between lawlessness and civility'

The sheriff's warning follows protests which erupted across the nation after the police-related slaying of Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.

Floyd, a 46-year-old Black father-of-five, died after white police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on the man's neck for almost nine minutes during an arrest.

Video footage of the incident taken by a bystander shows the slaying, which triggered Black Lives Matter protests calling for an end to police brutality and systematic racism. 

Clay County has a population of about of more than 215,000 people and is a suburb of Jacksonville, which has experienced violence during some demonstrations, which prompted a city-wide curfew earlier this month. 

A sheriff's office assistant chief told News4Jax that Clay County has experienced a 'very slight increase' in threats from outsiders who want to come into the community to protest or to damage public property.

Assistant Chief Keith Smith, who spoke to the news outlet, had helped paint over graffiti from a wall near a church that appeared related to the Black Lives Matter movement.

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An assistant chief said Clay County has experienced a 'very slight increase' in threats from outsiders who want to come into the community to protest or to damage public property. Offensive graffiti (pictured) linked to Black Lives Matter was painted over recently

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The offensive graffiti was found on a wall near a church, says Assistant Chief Keith Smith

'We don't want this to get out of hand,' Smith said News4Jax. 'We want people to know you have every right to protest, and we will protect that, but Clay County will not tolerate outside instigators.' 

Daniels, who is also Black, said in the video that his department has a 'great relationship' with its residents, but 'if you come to Clay County and think for one second we'll bend our backs for you, you're sadly mistaken.'

'The second you step out from up under the protection of the Constitution, we'll be waiting on you and give you everything you want: all the publicity, all the pain, all the glamour and glory for all that five minutes will give you.' 

Daniels, a Republican finishing his first term, is being challenged by six opponents in the upcoming election, including some who accused him of shooting the video for publicity. 

His challengers include former Atlantic Beach Police Chief Michelle Cook, former Clay County Sheriff's Office Emergency Management Director Ben Carroll and Mike Taylor, a former Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent and state attorney's investigator who has earned the endorsement of former Gov. Jeb Bush, reports USA Today.

'We train under intense situations to control the adrenaline dump,' Taylor said, 'and we don't do a perfect job at it, but we train to be prepared to make decisions under pressure. That's necessary to be effective.' 

'To think we can put anyone in that role and it'll be OK, we're asking for a much bigger problem and inviting chaos and anarchy in the streets. The citizens of Clay County deserve better than that,' Taylor told the national newspaper. 

Eugene O'Donnell, a professor at John Jay Criminal College in New York, agreed there was liability concern with the use of deputized gun owners, because they would lack the proper training and background checks needed for the job.

'It sounds like a posse type of thing,' O'Donnell told DailyMail.com. 'It's very ill-advised. It would be an enormous challenge.'

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Daniels (left), who is running for re-election, was criticized by his rivals over the video, accusing the sheriff of staging a publicity stunt. He has declined to comment on the remarks

Cook said that Daniels may have sounded 'tough and macho,' on the video footage, but accused him of calling 'for vigilantism.'

She also said the video footage was a sign Daniels was not fit for leadership and keeping the community 'safe.'

A spokesperson for the sheriff's office told DailyMail.com that Daniels was declining to comment on his rivals' remarks. 

Daniels also is under investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, or FDLE, after his former employer, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, announced last year that he'd had an affair with a co-worker when he was running its jails. 

Daniels, who is married, was accused of later having the woman falsely arrested. He issued an apology, but said he wouldn't discuss specifics.