Andrew Gillum, the former mayor of
Tallahassee and the 2018 Democratic nominee for governor of Florida,
was found early Friday in a hotel room with a man who was suspected
to have overdosed on drugs.
According to a Miami Beach police
report, Aldo Mejias had arranged to meet up in the room with Travis
Dyson, a 30-year-old Miami resident who maintains a profile as a gay
male escort on Rent Men.
Mejias told police that he had given
his credit card to Dyson to rent a room at the Mondrian South Beach
Hotel.
When he arrived at roughly 11 PM on
Thursday, Majias found Dyson and Gillum, 40, alone in the room. The
men were vomiting and Dyson collapsed. Majias performed chest
compressions on Dyson and called 911.
Officers responding to the call said
that they found three clear plastic bags with a white substance they
suspected was crystal meth in the room.
One officer reported that Gillum was
“unable to communicate” because of his “inebriated state.”
Gillum was allowed to return to his
hotel, while Dyson was treated at a nearby hospital.
In a statement, Gillum, who was
traveling without his wife, denied using drugs.
“I was in Miami last night for a
wedding celebration,” he
said. “While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I
have never used methamphetamines.”
Dyson told the Miami
New Times that he was unaware that Gillum was in town for a
wedding and added that he and Gillum have been “friends for a
while.”
None of the three men were arrested.