His name is Sheriff Santiago Barrera Jr.. “Blowout Barrera,” if I may, has nothing to learn from the mastermind behind “Landslide Lyndon.” If anything, he’s worse than the original Duke himself, the legendary George Parr:
For 20 years, Sheriff Santiago Barrera Jr. had done what he pleased. He decided who sat in his jail and when they were released. Sometimes it was before a judge got involved and other times it was after.
Here’s the latest thing to get Barrera’s nose out of joint:
Christopher Maher wrote a front-page story about the arrest of the sheriff’s 42-year-old son, Miguel Barrera, on charges of public intoxication and resisting arrest. According to the newspaper, when Maher interviewed the sheriff at the jail about another story, Barrera said, “If you guys keep interfering with my business, I’m going to have you arrested.”
Nicole Perez, managing editor of the Echo-News Journal and The Freer Press, alerted the county attorney.
And, that’s not all the problems associated with Barrera. Shock me that election corruption and vote intimidation allegations would be brought up in Duval County:
Barrera’s tough tactics extended to politics. The sheriff arranged the demotion of the commander of a tri-county drug task force to patrol officer in December after the commander, Romeo Ramirez, announced his primary campaign against Barrera for sheriff in the county of about 12,000 people.
Ramirez won last Tuesday’s primary, but Barrera has made allegations about irregularities with mail-in ballots. So far, only one incorrectly addressed ballot has been brought to the district attorney.
Instead of “Landslide Lyndon,” do we now have “Blowout Barrera” threatening a comeback?
