UPDATE: 10/07/2008
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA - "Let's leave Barack Hussein Obama wondering what happened," It's the line spoken by Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott that's stirring up a lot of opinions in Southwest Florida and even has some groups turning against the Sheriff.

Sheriff Scott was speaking during a rally for Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Governor Sarah Palin on Monday. At issue, the Sheriff's use of Barack's middle name, Hussein.

"It's his middle name isn't it?" asked one voter in Fort Myers on Tuesday, not seeing what all the fuss is about.

Another voter chimed in, "I'm not ashamed of my name, are you?"

But, then other voters told us, "Well, I think he shouldn't have used it anyway."

"I was embarrassed," another voter told us.

Sheriff Scott says despite what the people are saying, he meant no malice by using his full legal name. He told WINK News on Monday night, "I used his middle name, you will not find me apologizing for that, you're not finding me making excuses for that."

By early Tuesday afternoon, more than 600 phone calls flooded the Lee County Sheriff's Office Public Information Office. WINK cameras were there as each call was tracked, and it appeared the callers were divided about equally in their opinions.

One caller said, "I don't see he did anything wrong, he only used the middle name."

"I don't think he should have been there in uniform yesterday saying what he said," said another caller.

On Tuesday night, The Fort Myers Coalition for Justice, Inc. announced it will no longer support Sheriff Mike Scott during the November election. Instead, it's putting its support behind another candidate for sheriff... Independent, Christian Meister. The group tells us, had the Sheriff not worn his uniform, opinions would be different.

The Coalition's CEO James Muwakkil explained, "What Sheriff Scott needs to understand is with that uniform on, he does not have a free hand to say what he wants. He is the representative of all people and needs to be considerate of all people."

The group tells us, it wants an apology.

Within the next couple of weeks, Muwakkil said they will decide whether to file a complaint against the Sheriff to the US Attorney's Office, citing the misuse of office.

The US Office of Special Counsel tells WINK News it is "looking into" Sheriff Scott to see if his office falls under any area covered by the Hatch Act. The Hatch Act restricts the political activity of employees in the executive branch of the federal government.

Sheriff Scott tells WINK News he is "unequivocally certain there was no wrong doing at any level." He says the Sheriff's Office as a department falls under the Hatch Act, the office of the Sheriff...does not.

Scott told us it is what it is, a name, "That's his name and I'm not going to apologize for using it."

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10/06/2008
Sheriff Scott says he makes no apologies for comment
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA - Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin spoke to a packed house at Germain Arena Monday afternoon. Republican Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott was one of the introductory speakers at the rally. But when Scott referred to Senator Barack Obama using his middle name "Hussein", the crowd let out a roar and the controversy exploded.

"Ladies and gentleman, there are three types of people in our country today. There are people that make things happen, there are people that watch things happen, and there are people that wonder what happened. On November 4th, on November 4th, let's leave Barack Hussein Obama wondering what happened," said Scott during the rally.

WINK News spoke with Sheriff Scott, and he said he makes no apologies for the comment. “Now, If there is a problem with the middle name, and if apparently some people, I’m assuming it’s the Obama camp, are so offended, then perhaps he should have considered changing his name. He is a Harvard lawyer by the way. You know, people change their name every day. But I'm not going to make apologies for it. Certainly. I simply said Barack Hussein Obama,” said Scott.

The controversy surrounding Senator Obama’s middle name made national news back in February when Cincinnati radio show host Bill Cunningham referenced Obama's full name 3 times during a McCain rally. Senator McCain immediately distanced himself from Cunningham saying Senator Obama should not be referred to that way.