PALMETTO BAY, Fla. (WSVN) -- Village of Palmetto Bay officials are calling on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to investigate and possibly remove an embattled councilman from his post over a controversial comment following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Councilman Steve Cody has faced pressure to resign over the past week for posting a now-deleted post on social media.
In the post, Cody wrote, "Charlie Kirk is a fitting sacrifice to our lords: Smith and Wesson. Hallowed be their names."
Following the backlash from the public and his fellow councilmembers, Cody deleted the post and apologized.
Earlier this week, Palmetto Bay officials held a meeting, with hours of public comment, where they voted to censure Cody and ask DeSantis to investigate whether Cody's post is grounds for removal. On Wednesday, the resolution arrived to the governor's office.
"I transmitted the resolution to the governor's office. I have someone making contact with the governor this afternoon," said Palmetto Bay Mayor Karyn Cunningham.
Due to the council not being able to remove Cody, they want the governor and the state attorney general to see whether Cody should go.
"We're kind of in a wait-and-see mode. We've done our part," said Cunningham.
Also on Wednesday, Florida State Rep. Omar Blanco sent a letter to the governor asking him to investigate Cody for his post.
Community members gathered outside Village Hall to begin the steps to recall Cody.
"He has no right to be here anymore. He's lost that right," said resident John Waters.
However, before a recall can occur, Cody needs to serve a quarter of his term, which isn't until December.
"It also makes me question if he's going to have a conflict of interest going forward with so many residents voicing their opinion against him, and now he makes decisions for us. It's just a really bad situation," said resident Alan John Farquharson.
Despite the pressure, Cody has said he's not going anywhere.
"It's not going to happen. I wrote something that was very stupid, but if every time a politician did something that was stupid, we'd never have anybody who'd ever be able to serve in office," he said
DeSantis, while not explicitly mentioning Cody, commented on the recent wave of firings over comments about Kirk's murder on Wednesday.
"When you're in these positions of trust -- when you're in education, when you're in government service, when you're in healthcare, where other people are impacted by what you are doing -- there is a higher standard of conduct that we have a right to insist upon," he said.
As of Wednesday evening, Cody remains in office.
Community members told 7News they have formed a committee to launch a recall effort against him.