Dale Engle ex-wife says he's 'a horrible' man

Image via YouTube

THE Florida police chief, above, allegedly said Broward Sherfif’s Office Deputy Shannon Bennett contracted and died from the virus because he was ‘a homosexual who attended homosexual events‘ according to a complaint from the Florida State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council Committee.

Image via Broward County Sheriff’s Office

Bennett, 39, above, died on April 3.  At a patrol meeting on April 7, Engle allegedly berated several officers who raised concerns about protection from Covid-19 while on duty.

In response to those concerns, Engel allegedly yelled a backstory claiming Bennett was a victim of the virus due to his sexual orientation.

The complaint said:

He intimated that it was because of the homosexual lifestyle that Deputy Bennett first contracted a serious underlying disease which aggravated the Covid-19 virus and lead to his death.

Davie Town Administrator Richard Lemack issued a statement on Saturday saying Chief Engle was placed on administrative leave pending further review of the allegations.

The police chief’s ex-wife described him as “a horrible person” in a lengthy message posted on Facebook on April 13. She wrote:

I can agree with the entire country when I say the words of my ex husband Chief Dale Engle are irresponsible, demonstrable, unfathomable, disgusting, and have no place coming out of a leaders mouth! …

Yes this news is a hot topic right now and everyone is talking about how horrible of a man he is. I know how horrible of a man he is! What about my children? Has anyone thought about how they are doing? The humiliation they must feel? They think their father is a superhero who could do no wrong. They were proud when he became Chief. Now, they have to see and witness this!!

I haven’t slept in days worrying about my girls! … My focus here is not Dale, I had a funeral for him in my head a long time ago! My focus is my girls and that is it. I need to know my girls are safe and being taken care of  …

Lemack said in his statement.

The allegations will be investigated in accordance with the Town’s Equal Employment Opportunity compliance policy by outside counsel.

The Town will have no further comment until the investigation is completed to protect the integrity of all involved.

Florida’s Fraternal Order of Police Chief of Staff Mike Tucker told The Independent in a statement that they support Engle’s right to due process and a full investigation.

We hope that at the end of the day a full investigation would reveal and determine that maybe this was perhaps a huge and terrible misunderstanding or some sort of terrible miscommunication.

But, if true and remarks were made to somehow correlate the sexual orientation of deputy Bennett to his passing from Covid-19, it’s something that remains confusing for us and frankly would be inappropriate at best and at worst discriminatory and absolutely unacceptable, and obviously warrants an investigation so we can get clarity as to why the chief thought that was relevant to brief his members on.

The complaint alleges that Mr Engle sent an email after the incident in an attempt to walk back the comments, saying they were “taken out of context” and were an attempt to:

Provide as much information as possible.

The National Fraternal Order of Police said in a statement on Twitter that Mr Engle should be stripped of his rank if the allegations are proven true.

If these allegations are true, the disgusting insinuation made by Chief Engle is not becoming of the badge he wears He should be stripped of his rank for making such divisive comments that do not reflect the inclusive values of America’s law enforcement.

According to this report, Bennett, a veteran of 13 years with the Sheriff’s Office, did not have any underlying health conditions. This was revealed by partner Jonathan Frey. The two were engaged and planning to get married in December.

Frey said :

The Chief’s alleged comments are completely false, homophobic, and slanderousI look forward to the fair and impartial investigation initiated by the Town Manager, and I hope that appropriate action will be taken at its conclusion.

Bennett was described by Sheriff Gregory Tony as a “fine deputy, consummate professional” who worked:

To  bridge the gap between the LGBTQ community and law enforcement.

Equality Florida, Florida’s largest LGBTQ civil rights group, has called for Engle:

To be removed from his position for the anti-LGBTQ remarks he allegedly made in describing Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputy Shannon Bennett’s death from COVID-19. It’s vile, it’s unacceptable