Elvis Piggott, a pastor and former Tampa City Council candidate who witnesses said pulled a gun at a candidate forum last week,has been arrested in connection to the incident, police said.
Piggott, 37, turned himself in at Orient Road Jail Tuesday afternoon in response to a warrant. He faces charges of improper exhibition of a dangerous weapon or firearm and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
“I believe wholeheartedly you should stand your ground,” Piggott said in a video posted to Facebook Tuesday afternoon.
Piggott pulled the firearm during a tense interaction Thursday evening after a forum for the District 5 special municipal runoff election, hosted by the Tampa Heights Civic Association. Candidates Thomas Scott and Naya Young, the top two vote-getters in last month’s special election, had been on stage minutes before the altercation.
In a since-deleted Facebook post after the incident Thursday, Piggott said he pulled the gun in self-defense after he was approached by a number of men.
Jason Marlow, who said he witnessed the incident, told the Tampa Bay Times on Friday that a conversation between Piggott and another man “clearly escalates as they come closer to each other.” He said he heard Piggott “screaming and yelling” at the other man.
“Whatever recounting Elvis is providing in which … he had a right to fear for his life, I can say he had no such provocation,” Marlow said.
Marlow said he saw Piggott withdraw the firearm from the right side of his waistband and aim it “chest-height, out into the space in front of him.”
Piggott said in the deleted Facebook video that he pointed the gun at the ground.
In a statement Tuesday, the Tampa Police Department said officers responded just before 8 p.m. on Thursday “to a reported altercation involving an armed man.” Officers detained Piggott that evening and later released him.
“After gathering evidence and additional witness statements, detectives then consulted with the State Attorney’s Office and a court-authorized warrant was issued for Piggott’s arrest,” read the statement.
In a statement Friday morning, candidate Naya Young said, “My heart goes out to those who experienced this shocking and unprovoked act of violence and intimidation in the course of their civic participation. The sanctity of our electoral process must always be held in the highest regard.”
Piggott won less than 5% of the vote in last month’s special election for the District 5 seat, which opened after the sudden death of former council member Gwen Henderson in June. The district spans downtown, East Tampa, Ybor City and parts of West Tampa.
Times staff writers Dan Sullivan and Tony Marrero contributed to this report.