Latest Headlines
- Over 500 Student Athletes Compete In 18th Annual Special Olympics At Tate High
- Local Hero’s Homecoming: Cantonment Veteran Injured In Operation Epic Fury To Be Honored On Saturday
- Century Council Members Split On Strategy To Nearly Double Water Rates
- Escambia Fire Rescue To Train At Ascend Performance Materials Under New Agreement
- Escambia Man Pleads Guilty To Selling Machine Gun Conversion Devices On Facebook
- McAnally, Womack Pitch Northview Shutout Of Miller; NHS JV Wins; Tate Drops Two To Navarre
- FDLE Charges Escambia Felon With Attempted Firearm Purchase
- Tate High School Students Earn Top Honors At Florida French Competition
- Tate Varsity Slips To WFHS; Tate Freshmen With Big Win
- Tate Boys And Girls Tennis Beat Escambia
Racist Comments Get Man Kicked Out Of Escambia Commission Meeting
February 20, 2026
An Escambia County man was kicked out of Thursday’s Escambia County Commission meeting after he made what was deemed to be racist comments toward District 1 Commissioner Lumon May.
Andrew Blewer signed up to address the BOCC about a $359,670 grant for the Pensacola Bay Living Shoreline Project, a multipart, large-scale living shoreline to be constructed within the Lower Pensacola Bay System.
The video is below, or click here.
During his allotted time, Blewer said, “Lumon May, you might like this, that we got some people that moved into our neighborhood that has a skin pigment similar to yours’ so you are look out to them or whatever.” Blewer, who is white, lives in Bellview, and May is black.
He was immediately interrupted by Board Chair Ashlee Hofberger.
“Okay, sir, we’re not going to allow racist comments here, so you can try again or you can exit,” Hofberger said. “I’m not sure why the color of your neighbor’s skin matters.”
“It shouldn’t,” Blewer exclaimed.
“Then why did you tell us?” asked Hofberger.
As Blewer continued, May said, “Andrew, I’m going to try to get staff to write a DEI grant (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) so you can have a DEI neighborhood. Then you’ll be happy.”
“Let me help you with one more thing because your time’s running. I don’t care how you address this board but keep my name out of your mouth, alright? And then we’ll be OK, alright?
Blewer replied, “You want me to take you to another chicken dinner so I can talk to you one-on-one.” His comment elicited a strong response from the audience, and prompted Hofberger to have him removed by deputies.
“Get him out and whatever we can do to suspend him from coming back, I want that done, too, so check that out,” she said to applause.
““Thank you, Madam Chair,” said Commissioner Steven Barry. “We don’t have to listen to sexist or racist comments.”
May then joked about the exchange.
“Thank you for your leadership, Madam Chair, but I think we are going to be done by 11 a.m. and chicken sounds pretty good to me,” May quipped.
Comments
17 Responses to “Racist Comments Get Man Kicked Out Of Escambia Commission Meeting”
Peace to all the People and to this Land under one God through our Lord and Savior. May freedom of speech always be protected and not taken whole heartedly and us the people (humans above all else), God’s creation work together and not against each other so that the land we not just tourism in but live in prosper in Jesus name I pray amen.
Fried chicken ; free parking on the beach ( somebody elses beach ) etc like ngo criminal organizations – all distractions for the five failures we call county commissioners . Heard of improvement on South Navy Blvd ; must have hit our commissioners in the head while they were sleeping while spending . We deserve better !
This Board fails as a whole !
Just for the sake of clarity, I’m not the other Tyler W.
So what was racist about it? Was it the chicken comment or the skin color because neither one of them came off racist as me unless your perceived it as such. Which is was most male Karen’s do
He’s protected under the constitution. In that essence it don’t matter what he says. He could tellemto eff off and there’s nothing the can do. He’s protected.
” The man has a right to say what he wants, sorry if it hurts your feelings. What he said was not appropriate but he has the right to say it”
And I have the right to go up to the podium and recite as much of the Bee Movie as I can in my allotted time, but we aren’t really there for that, are we? Lol
And then imagine -everybody- does this! Nothing would get accomplished. I’d rather my tax money not support deranged ramblings, but maybe I’m woke
This wasn’t a case of “political correctness gone wild” or an innocent comment taken the wrong way. It was a textbook example of why public comment rules exist—and why they were correctly enforced here.
Andrew Blewer wasn’t discussing the merits of the Pensacola Bay Living Shoreline Project. He chose instead to single out Lumon May by referencing “skin pigment,” a detail that was not only irrelevant but clearly racialized. When asked directly why skin color mattered, Blewer admitted it shouldn’t—which only underscored that there was no legitimate reason to raise it in the first place.
That’s the key point:
If race is irrelevant, bringing it up is a choice. And in a public, governmental setting, that choice has consequences.
The situation escalated further when Blewer followed up with a “chicken dinner” remark—an unmistakable racial trope. At that moment, the issue moved beyond inappropriate commentary into overtly racist signaling. The reaction from them where it has no relevance. The commission handled this audience and the board wasn’t hysteria; it was a collective recognition of a line being crossed.
Ashlee Hofberger acted exactly as a chair is supposed to act: she enforced decorum, protected a fellow commissioner from targeted abuse, and maintained the integrity of the meeting. Public comment is not a free pass to demean elected officials or inject racial stereotypes under the guise of civic engagement.
Commissioner Steven Barry was also correct: no one is obligated to sit silently through racist or sexist remarks simply because they’re delivered at a microphone.
Finally, Commissioner May’s decision to respond with humor afterward shouldn’t be misconstrued as minimizing what happened. If anything, it demonstrated composure and restraint in the face of disrespect—something Blewer himself failed to show.
Bottom line:
This wasn’t censorship. It was accountability. Free speech does not mean freedom from consequences, especially when speech is used to single out someone’s race in a public foruappropriately, professionally, and within its authority.
@President
You are right. He has the right to say whatever he wants no matter how stupid and ignorant. That does not mean there are no consequences to saying what you want.
Go curse your boss out and call them racial slurs. See if you get to keep your job, but I agree you have the “right” to say it.
Inappropriate comments . His sweatshirt says it all . Colorado a state that went fron thriving in community values , job creation , peacefull living to awoke community like California . Well sir you are in Florida and we dont want that kind of nonsense here . Feel free to relocate to the Northwest or Northeast where they thrive on nonsense devising culture .
And now his neighbors will be upset with him and lumon if that neighborhood came to be.
The board was fake and arrogant. The man has a right to say what he wants, sorry if it hurts your feelings. What he said was not appropriate but he has the right to say it. Remember when lumen got a ticket and said racist remarks and accused the cop of racism.
I applaud the chair person’s actions and it was the right choice to remove him. Beside the fact he presented his case in an ineffective manner the fact is there is evidently a problem there and it should not be left unaddressed by Mr. May. This gentleman used an errant approach but he is a constituent none the less. Too many things are left to fester until something far worse happens down the line. People have far more respect for our officials when problems are tackled for everyone’s benefit.
I support him
Ignorance on display.
Wow! If he would have stopped at the first comment I can see it being misinterpreted. But some of the rest of the words and demeanor was not called for no matter what color he is or anyone else.
This man should have been put out after his first comment.