SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the who-feels-safe-in-Florida-now? dept.
Armed police raid home of Florida scientist fired over Covid-19 data
Rebekah Jones, the Florida data scientist embroiled in a dispute with the state's Republican governor over the handling of coronavirus figures, had her home raided on Monday by armed police who confiscated her computers.
In a stream of posts on Twitter, Jones posted a video of the raid that showed state police carrying handguns escorting her out of her Tallahassee home. She can be heard saying: "He just pointed a gun at my children," with her husband and two children apparently upstairs at the time.
Jones claimed in her tweets that the raid was the work of Ron DeSantis, the governor with whom she has clashed repeatedly since she was fired by the state's department of health in May in a row over Covid-19 data. She compared the incident to sending "the gestapo", adding: "This is what happens to scientists who do their job honestly. This is what happens to people who speak truth to power."
The Florida department of law enforcement confirmed they had entered Jones's house on a search warrant. But in a statement the department said the action was related to a recent computer hack of the health department website, in which emergency response coordinators were sent an unauthorised message.
Also at CNN, The Verge, and The Hill.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday December 09 2020, @03:13AM (17 children)
Mistake number one. Maybe she has an iphone with good protections? Except, the FBI has demonstrated that they CAN get into an iphone . . .
The hack? Not sure what to think about that. Sometimes, violating a TOS is deemed a "hack" FFS, I'd need to know a lot more before I could have an opinion.
The raid? Stupid broad - she opens her door before looking to see who the hell is out there? That's why they make doors with peep holes, windows, and chains, and deadbolts. I don't open MY door, until I have decided whether I even want to talk to the person on the porch.
Sounds like heavy handed bullshit, unless the state has some real reason to think that Jones "hacked" their computer system.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 3, Informative) by c0lo on Wednesday December 09 2020, @03:25AM (2 children)
Costs them a fair bit, tho'. But, yeah, what are those taxes good for if not to contributing to the a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellebrite">Israeli economy?
---
CNN link in TFS
You were saying...?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 3, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday December 09 2020, @04:38AM
OK, I didn't click all the links. I'm accustomed to several sites running the same story, so I didn't click the rest to see how the story might be different.
So, Jones is one stupid broad. She's lucky the door wasn't kicked in, and SWAT come storming in. I guess if you're a higher profile near-celebrity, the rules are different.
The Verge supplies a juicy detail about the "hack":
If that is true, then anyone with the will to set Jones up could have parked outside her house for a few moments to send the messages. Nice, easy setup, huh?
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 09 2020, @07:01PM
Except, the FBI has demonstrated that they CAN PAY SOMEONE to get into an iphone . . .
(Score: 2, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Wednesday December 09 2020, @03:41AM
She's 31: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebekah_Jones [wikipedia.org] and so it is possible she's hopelessly addicted to her phone. If everything important and potentially bad enough for criminal charges is on there, that makes it close to a certainty. Smartphones are the new crack in every way -- from addiction to conviction.
(Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 09 2020, @08:06AM
Runaway 1956, cuck security expert to the stars, I assume? Given Runaway's experience with law enforcement, and his knowledge of the law, well, shut the fuck up, Runaway!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by PiMuNu on Wednesday December 09 2020, @09:24AM (3 children)
> Stupid broad
Why the sexist slur? That's beneath you.
> she opens her door before looking to see who the hell is out there?
Maybe that's an American thing? Here in the free world we don't expect armed attackers every time we open our door.
(Score: 2, Flamebait) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday December 09 2020, @01:20PM (2 children)
She's not a stupid kid. She's not a stupid dude. She's not a stupid animal. She's not a stupid kitchen range. She's a stupid broad.
The video seemed to show her walking to the door, and opening it wide without looking to see who it is. In retrospect, she's stupider than I thought, for having denied the police entry for several minutes after learning that they had a valid search warrant.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday December 09 2020, @04:50PM (1 child)
Right, so I guess her "stupidly" opening the door makes it OK for them to send the Gestaop out to round up inconvenient scientists.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday December 09 2020, @06:11PM
I didn't say anything like that. However, in the USA, if law enforcement can get a judge to sign off on a warrant, we have to respect that warrant. Refusing entry to a cop with a warrant in his hand often results in SWAT forcing entry, and killing every living thing as they come in. Refer to Breonna Taylor, in which case the warrant wasn't exactly properly served - "no knock".
You almost never win when resisting the cops, you certainly won't win if the cop has a valid warrant in hand.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 09 2020, @09:30AM
Stupid flat, Runaway! Where I live, we are not all in bunkers, scared of antifa knocking on our doors! And we expect the police to announce themselves, and produce a warrent, just like in the Fourth Amendment. Why do you hate the Fourth Amendment, Runaway?
(Score: 2) by epitaxial on Wednesday December 09 2020, @01:34PM (6 children)
Don't open your door and the police can't raid you? Brilliant! Any other gems of wisdom you can dish out?
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday December 09 2020, @02:43PM (5 children)
"gems of wisdom"
Watch the video, without full context. When I watched the video, I hadn't read the article from The Verge, which explained that she already knew who was outside, and knew why they wanted in. And, I responded above, already, explaining that I didn't click all the links.
Want to try again?
But, yes, if you hear a knock on your door, and open the door without looking outside, you ain't real bright. Cops, robbers, just some asshole who wants to kick your teeth in, you check to see who is on the other side of the door before opening it.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by epitaxial on Wednesday December 09 2020, @04:31PM (2 children)
What do you think the cops and swat team will do if you refuse to let them in? Go "aww shucks you got us there" and go home? You'll be buying a new door for sure. Maybe those things happen where you live but I don't have a fear of opening my door if someone knocks.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday December 09 2020, @06:15PM
It all depends on who, what, when, where, why and how. I have refused entry to police in the past. You pick your fights, and you accept the consequences if you've misjudged the situation. Always remember, shit happens, and sometimes the dragon wins.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 09 2020, @08:21PM
American men derive their sense of masculinity in barbaric terms, because they are barbaric people. These are the same people who promote routine male infant genital mutilation then attempt to blame the Jewish peoples when it goes wrong.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday December 09 2020, @08:58PM (1 child)
Wow, you must live in a war zone or something! I can't imagine being that frightened all the time.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 10 2020, @05:45PM
I haven't locked my front door in years, except while out of town for plural days in a row.
I live in the 'bad' part of town - highest % of PoC, a lot of elderly garbage pickers, fair bit of opiate addiction, not so much upper abuse (that's in the 'worst' part of town, about a km away).
I've had lots of folks go through my garbage bin, but since we set it just outside the fence, the worst has been having to shovel it back in when someone tips it instead of digging.
So far we've had zero theft, zero violence, zero police.
Now, some places, people are harder because there's no food. Here, we have a food bank. I've visited those harder places. Glass shards cemented onto walltops makes sense when there are starving people - when someone's that hungry they act illogically.