Sheriff Issues Cease and Desist to Ed Danko Over Unauthorized Use of Images and ‘Endorsement’ Reference

The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office today issued a sternly worded letter to Ed Danko, the Palm Coast City Council member and a candidate for the County Commission, immediately to remove images of and references to Sheriff Rick Staly from a campaign video Oliver North recorded for the Danko campaign.

Reading a script to the side of the camera, North at one point says, in reference to Danko, that “he’s endorsed my friend Sheriff Rick Staly,” a phrase so constructed and spoken so fast that it is easy to mishear it as Danko endorsed by Staly. Either way, Staly said Danko never endorsed him, and Staly himself is not doing any local endorsements, since he has to work with city and county officials.




The letter from John T. LeMaster, the Sheriff’s Office’s general counsel, on behalf of Staly, notes North’s easily confused message as he tells Danko that the video is “making a statement which either indicates you had endorsed Sheriff Staly’s campaign, or Sheriff Staly has endorsed you for your election to County Commissioner.” That led to Chief of Staff Mark Strobridge receiving calls seeking clarification, among them one from FlaglerLive. In an interview Thursday, Staly said his counsel was reviewing the matter, but that from his own interpretation of the video, Staly found it “misleading.”

The video flashes two pictures of Danko with Staly, both times with Danko in the foreground. The images are a way to telegraph support without being explicit about it. As Le Master put it, the images “imply [Staly] is supporting and/or endorsing your candidacy.”

“As you are aware, both the statements and the implications are inaccurate; you did not endorse Sheriff Staly’s campaign, nor has he endorsed you,” the letter states before citing Florida law about endorsements.




“While you indicate you did not write the script for the advertisement,” the letter states, “you and/or your campaign have promoted it, providing a false narrative and misleading the voters of Flagler County. We demand both you and your campaign immediately cease and desist all uses and references to Sheriff Staly, the Flagler County Sheriffs Office, and/or any likeness of either in all mediums including, but not limited to, social media, mailers and commercials.”

Danko, who is in a race for District 5 of the County Commission against Pam Richardson, said on Thursday that he has always supported the sheriff and stood with him. He equates support with endorsement. Contacted by text today, Danko said he had not seen the letter, which had been emailed to Danko’s campaign email account as listed at the Supervisor of Elections’ website. He said he was knocking on doors and would check the account this evening.

In 2022, the sheriff issued a less direct warning to candidates after Alan Lowe, then as now running for a City Council seat (he’s running for mayor), had similarly insinuated support from Staly in another North video. That year Danko used City Hall’s council chamber to bring in Lowe during off hours one weekend so the pair could shoot a campaign video there for Lowe. Danko had not gotten permission to do so, or to use the city’s seal as part of the imagery, nor are government chambers usually lent to campaigns for campaign materials. (See: “Ed Danko Swipes Alan Lowe Into City Hall Over Weekend to Film Campaign Video, Skirting Policy.”)

The video in question remains on Youtube. As if this writing in late afternoon Friday, the video had received 109 views.