At first, it almost seemed surreal – a tweet by outspoken conservative Candice Owens that Florida’s almost-governor and CNN’s new contributor, Andrew Gillum, was caught in a Miami hotel room where a substance suspected to be crystal meth was also present. But a police report offers a vivid account of the prominent Florida Democrat at the scene.
Could this be another Andrew Gillum, we wondered? Are we certain? Is the home address on the report the one for the man who gave Gov. Ron DeSantis a run for his money and almost replaced him as head of the Sunshine State? Indeed, all the facts available at this time show that the man they found inebriated and vomiting in a Miami hotel room as another man in the room was in cardiac arrest is the same Tallahassee Democrat.
The police report begins by setting the scene: “Clear plastic baggies containing suspected crystal meth on both the bed and floor of the hotel room. Mr. Gillum left the hotel room and returned to his residence without incident.”
But what happened in between? Here are the ugly details from a photo of the report:
“Upon arrival, Miami Beach Fire Rescue was on scene providing treatment to Travis Dyson (patient). Miami Beach Fire Rescue advised officers that Mr. Dyson was being treated for a possible drug overdose. He was in stable condition, but as a precaution was going to be transported to Mount Sinai for further Medical treatment.”
Officers then made contact with two other males who were inside the hotel room: Aldo Mejias (complainant) and Andrew Gillum (involved other). Mr. Mejias stated the following to officers: Mr. Mejias provided his credit card information to Travis Dyson to rent a hotel room for the night. Mr. Mejias was to meet Mr. Dyson later in day. Travis Dyson rented the room at approximately 1600 hours on 3.12.2020. Mr. Mejias arrived at the hotel at approximately 2307 hours where he discovered Travis Dyson and Andrew Gillum inside the room under the influence of an unknown substance. Per Mr. Mejias, Mr. Dyson opened the hotel room door and immediately walked over to the bed and collapsed in a prone position. Mr. Mejias observed Mr. Gillum inside of the bathroom vomiting.”
The report goes on to say that officers “then attempted to speak to Mr. Gillum but that he was unable to communicate due to his inebriated state.” Today, after the story began to circulate in the local Florida press, Gillum released this statement:
“I was in Miami last night for a wedding celebration when first responders were called to assist one of my friends. While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamines. I apologize to the people of Florida for the distraction this has caused our movement.”
There is nothing to suggest that Gillum underwent a toxicology test, and it is interesting he simply left a visible drug scene without hindrance from Miami authorities. Mr. Gillum has promoted a political image of being a family man. His Twitter profile states, “Father of three. Husband to R. Jai. Proud Floridian.” It may be difficult for the Tallahassee Dem to continue to promote that persona in light of this recent event.
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Read more from Leesa K. Donner.
