Former Deputy Alfred Montgomery Kicks Off Campaign Against Sheriff Betts

It’s the 28-year-old’s second run for St. Louis sheriff

By Ryan Krull

Oct 13, 2023 at 7:55 am

RYAN KRULL

Alfred Montgomery addresses supporters at his campaign kick off last night at the Vine.

Alfred Montgomery is running for St. Louis sheriff again — and he formally kicked off his campaign last night at the Vine restaurant on South Grand.

After a lively jazz group warmed up the crowd, Montgomery, 28, made brief remarks in which he didn’t name incumbent Vernon Betts but alluded heavily to recent controversies during Betts’ tenure as sheriff.

Montgomery began his remarks saying that, on his watch, the city Sheriff’s Office would have no place for racial discrimination or racial slurs. The comment was a reference to an RFT story in February that included audio of Betts on a phone call repeatedly referring to one of his deputies using the n-word, which had led to a lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Office.

“No more will we have to go to court for lawsuits and litigation with our own sheriff’s office,” Montgomery said.

Betts has been in court on other matters as of late. In August, he successfully defended himself against a suit brought by a deputy alleging retaliation, specifically that Betts had forced the deputy to shave despite his having a skin condition (the deputy claimed the orders came because he'd refused to testify in favor of Betts in a separate discrimination suit). Also in August, a judge took Betts to task for improperly hiring new deputies. Last month, Betts fired a deputy after learning the deputy had several years ago posted a photo of his bare butt on Grindr.

Montgomery himself was a deputy in the Sheriff’s Office until Betts fired him. He ran against Betts and lost in 2020. Montgomery now works as the lead recruiter for a nonprofit.

The second-time candidate has significant campaign infrastructure in place, including people in fundraising, communications and senior outreach positions. He's also won endorsement from Local 74, a union of casino, hotel and food service workers.

“Boots have been on the ground since May,” Montgomery told the crowd last night. “This is only the beginning and I’m so excited.”

File photo of St. Louis City Sheriff Vernon Betts.

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Ryan Krull

Ryan Krull is a staff writer for the Riverfront Times. Find him on Twitter @ryanwkrull

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