‘I did not share it with the public’: Tony Ricardo’s response after school board meeting chaos

Duval County School Board member Tony Ricardo is staying silent after his controversial shared post on social media led to chaos during Monday night’s board meeting. Action News Jax has been telling you for days that he shared a Facebook post that called Islam an invasive political cult.

Since then, there have been days of rebuke, calls for his resignation, and an explosive school board meeting, and Ricardo doesn’t have much to say.

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After Monday night’s meeting, Action News Jax was hoping to get some kind of response. But when Action News Jax caught up with him Tuesday, the only thing we learned is that the post was never meant for everyone to see.

Ricardo’s Facebook post about Islam came to a head during Monday night’s school board meeting. It was the first public meeting since Action News Jax first broke the story about the post Ricardo shared.

“Muslim cockroaches have invaded the halls of our liberty,” a speaker said.

Far-right activist and U.S. Capitol attacker Jake Lang showed up in counter protest to community members who called on Ricardo to resign. “We need to stand up and defend our women,” Lang said.

That inflammatory language sent the meeting into chaos, yielded an abrupt recess and forced board members to clear the auditorium before the public could return.

Outgoing board members Darryl Willie and April Carney addressed the outburst toward the end of the meeting. “That is not how we should show up as a community,” Willie said.

“Tonight we became one of those other school boards that is now going to be all over the internet for God knows how long,” Carney said. As for the man at the center of the controversy, he largely remained silent.

Action News Jax went to ask Ricardo itself, asking, “Do you regret it at all, this response that’s come after your Facebook comments?” The board member had little to say as he left a board workshop.

“I did not share it with the public, and I have no comment,” Ricardo said.

Action News Jax then asked, “So because it’s not shared to the public it shouldn’t matter?” But the conversation was cut short.

Although Ricardo faces repeated calls for his resignation, it is not clear if he has plans to step aside. He has been tight-lipped, but Action News Jax will let you know if it learns anything new from him.

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