On the evening of February 27, 2009, a man broke into former Orlando Police Chief Val Demings’ vehicle and stole her agency-issued 9 mm handgun as well as ammunition and several other items which were stored in a duffle bag, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
“Although the vehicle’s remote was used to lock the vehicle, the doors were not physically [checked] to ensure the locks [had] engaged,” internal-affairs manager Dwain L. Rivers wrote in the four-page report. “Chief Demings accepts full responsibility and does not wish to contest the sustained finding.”
Demings was given a “written censure” that would “remain in her personnel file for three years.”
Fast-forward to 2017 — Demings is now the Representative for Florida’s 10th congressional district. On May 3, Demings posted the following to her official Facebook page:
When a commenter asked Demings if they ever found her stolen handgun and suggested that she be more responsible with her own firearms before talking about gun control for others, Demings offered a peculiar reply:
It’s unclear exactly what Demings meant when she said “My First Amendment right is different from yours.” Regardless, several Facebook users responded to her comment:
The Daily Wire reached out to Demings via Twitter, Facebook, and her Washington D.C. office. While we were never able to speak with Demings herself, we did speak with her communications director, Caroline Rowland.
When asked if Demings could speak about the remarks she made on Facebook, Rowland simply stated: “No, she will have no comment on that. Thank you,” before quickly hanging up the phone.