Wait, was that two state attorneys throwing beads at Tampa’s MLK Day parade?

Tampa’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. parade is a must-attend event for people in public office and those who hope to get there.

This year’s parade, which wound through East Tampa on a sunny Monday, was no exception: Council members, commissioners, constitutional officers and candidates glad-handed, bestowed beads, posed for pictures and tossed candy to the crowds.

But this year’s event had an unusual political spectacle: Not one but two Hillsborough County state attorneys in the parade.

Paradegoers could blame their double vision on a legal showdown that has yet to be resolved.

Toward the front of the parade was Andrew Warren, Hillsborough’s twice-elected state attorney, suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year and now suing to get his job back. He walked the streets in a navy T-shirt proclaiming “Andrew Warren, State Attorney” with no mention of his employment status. A pickup truck ferrying supporters carried a similar banner.

“I’m the elected state attorney and we’re celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day,” he told a reporter. King fought for things including democracy, Warren said, and “that’s what we’re fighting for as well. And it’s a beautiful day.”

DeSantis removed Warren from office in August, accusing him of neglect of duty because Warren signed pledges against prosecuting abortion and transgender health care cases. DeSantis also took issue with Warren’s policies against prosecuting certain nonviolent misdemeanors — including charges stemming from a police officer stopping a bicyclist, known locally as Biking While Black.

Warren sued. A three-day trial ended in early December, and now interested parties await a decision from U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle.

DeSantis replaced Warren with Susan Lopez, whom he had previously appointed to a judgeship. Monday, Lopez walked the parade sporting a state attorney’s office visor, and her supporters carried a banner.

Asked later through a spokesperson what she thought of Warren’s participation, Lopez replied via email: “Martin Luther King Jr. stood for inclusion and equality. I believe any citizen who shares those principles and wants to participate in the celebration, including the parade and leadership breakfast, should do so. I was proud and humbled to be a part of the commemoration of his amazing life and legacy.”

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Parade organizer Barbara Scott said that when Warren inquired about participating, “I said ‘Yes, you’re still an elected official,’” she said. “He holds that same title unless the judge takes it away from him.”

At Monday’s Tampa Organization of Black Affairs Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Breakfast — another key event — Lopez and Warren were both introduced to the crowd of hundreds, as is the custom for public officials.