PALM BAY, Fla. — Dozens of Palm Bay residents gathered at City Hall on Tuesday night to demand action against Councilman Chandler Langevin for his controversial social media posts.
Langevin is facing backlash for posts calling for the deportation of all Indians and a halt to migration from India, which many have condemned as ‘racist.’
“It’s an absolute embarrassment. What he has done is an embarrassment,” said one attendee said.
The sole purpose of the special-called council meeting was to discuss Langevin’s conduct. However, council didn’t have a quorum. Three council members were absent, including Langevin who told Eyewitness News before the meeting he wouldn’t attend.
Instead, the mayor turned the meeting into a town hall. One-by-one, people spoke to the room of dozens about how they felt about Langevin’s post.
“He made a comment about Indians now. Who will be next? We don’t know. That’s the problem. We need to stop this man. We need to do it now. We need to do it immediately,” an attendee said.
His posts include calling to “deport every Indian.” One post saying, “Indians don’t assimilate.” In another post, Langevin says “There’s not a single Indian that cares about the United States. They are here to exploit us financially and enrich India and Indians.”
“They’re taking over a community and then they’re pushing out the Americans. And they really do that. They start a business. Only Indians come and work at the business. They’re not creating American jobs,” Langevin told Channel 9. “They’re exploiting the H1B system. They’re exploring our immigration system in other ways. And then they rise up in the ranks and then Americans get fired and Indians get taken in. And in a lot of cases, these are visa holders that aren’t even American citizens that are coming over taking the jobs of American citizens”
Several local and state leaders condemned Langevin’s remarks.
Palm Bay’s mayor wrote an open letter ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, saying Langevin’s remarks caused “pain” for many in the community. “While each person is entitled to their own views, we must be clear: words that demean or devalue others have no place in the Palm Bay we aspire to be,” Mayor Rob Medina wrote.
Congressman Randy Fine, who originally endorsed Langevin, posted on Facebook, “I am very troubled by some the racist rhetoric I have heard targeted [the Indian-American community]. It is disgusting and I reject it completely.”
“There’s been several that have come out to say that the comments were racist and hateful. What would you say about that?,” Webb asked Langevin.
“If preventing Palm Bay from looking like Dallas or Dearborn is racist, I don’t really care,” Langevin said.
Langevin says his posts were “logical comments” to what he’s observed.
“A lot of people have come out and said that this rhetoric is painful for them to hear. Do you want to apologize to anybody for it?,” Webb asked.
“No,” Langevin replied. “My job as a public servant isn’t to pander to people’s feelings. It’s to protect my city and protect the republic. And sometimes doing your job and being a leader means you got to make hard decisions, make hard statements, go in hard directions. And that’s what I’m doing and I’m gonna double down and I’m not gonna apologize.”
Councilman Kenny Johnson asked that Thursday’s council meeting include discussion on whether to request Governor Ron DeSantis suspend Langevin.
Langevin said he doesn’t believe his remarks warrant suspension and doubts DeSantis will act.
As of 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, an online petition condemning Langevin’s remarks received more than 1,300 signatures.
The Palm Bay City Council will hold its next regular meeting on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall.
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