By Matt
Agorist
Tallahassee, FL — Earlier this year in May, Rebekah Jones, the
data scientist working for Florida, who put together that state’s
COVID-19 database, made national headlines when she was fired by
the state over a disagreement in reporting the numbers. Jones says
she was fired for refusing to manipulate data that showed a higher
number of deaths while the state claimed she was fired for
insubordination. Fast-forward to this month, and what started as a
firing ended with armed agents of the state allegedly pointing guns
at an entire family, during a raid on their Florida home.
After she was fired in May, Jones
made the following claim:
I was asked by DOH leadership to manually change numbers. This
was a week before the reopening plan officially kicked off into
phase one. I was asked to do the analysis and present the findings
about which counties met the criteria for reopening. The criteria
followed more or less the White House panel’s recommendations,
but our epidemiology team also contributed to that as well. As soon
as I presented the results, they were essentially the opposite of
what they had anticipated. The whole day while we’re having this
kind of back and forth changing this, not showing that, the plan
was being printed and stapled right in front of me. So it was very
clear at that point that the science behind the supposedly
science-driven plan didn’t matter because the plan was already
made.
After she was fired, Jones continued her work reporting the
numbers by starting the website Florida COVID Action, which
is a dashboard of Florida COVID information, like the one she used
to run for the state. Since then, she’s been running this site
without much resistance from the state — until now.
On Monday, multiple armed officers entered her
home, pulled her out, before she says they began pointing guns at
her children and husband.
1/
There will be no update today.At 8:30 am this morning, state police came into my house and
took all my hardware and tech.They were serving a warrant on my computer after DOH filed a
complaint.They pointed a gun in my face. They pointed guns at my kids..
pic.twitter.com/DE2QfOmtPU— Rebekah Jones (@GeoRebekah)
December 7, 2020
Jones claims that she was raided for simply reporting the data
and “speaking truth to power,” but the state says someone
hacked their emergency alert system and it was traced back to
Jones’ IP address.
In a statement, FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen confirmed
hardware was seized at Jones’ home, and an investigation was
underway into a potential computer system hacking.
“Our investigation began last month following a complaint by
Florida Department of Health that a person illegally hacked into
their emergency alert system,” the statement reads, in part.
“As part of our investigation, FDLE agents served a search
warrant this morning at the Centerville Court residence where Ms.
Jones lives after determining the home was the location that the
unauthorized message was sent from.”
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This is what happens to
scientists who do their job honestly.This is what happens to people who speak truth to power.
I tell them my husband and my two children are upstairs… and
THEN one of them draws his gun.On my children.
This is Desantis’ Florida.
— Rebekah Jones (@GeoRebekah)
December 7, 2020
Jones has�vehemently
denied she had anything to do with this:
“I’m not a hacker,†Jones said. She added that the
language in the message that authorities said was sent was “not
the way I talk,†and contained errors she would not make.“The number of deaths that the person used wasn’t even
right,†Jones said. “They were actually under by about 430
deaths. I would never round down 430 deaths.â€
Monday evening, the state released the text of the warrant and
claimed that they gave Jones ample time to come out — 20 minutes
— but she refused.
“Agents knocked and called Ms. Jones both announcing the
search warrant and encouraging her to cooperate. Ms. Jones refused
to come to the door for 20 minutes and hung-up on agents,†the
FDLE statement reads, in part. “After several attempts, Ms. Jones
allowed agents inside. Agents entered the home in accordance with
normal protocols and seized several devices that will be
forensically analyzed.
“At no time were weapons pointed at anyone in the home.â€
Despite this claim, the video shows officers pointing guns
upstairs where Jones’ family was. Also, despite the state’s
claim that this is over an alleged hack, Jones’ lawyer, Larry
Walters,
said “this is retaliation for pursuing a discrimination claim
against the state.â€
“It is highly unusual for your adversary in litigation to
seize all of your client’s confidential communications,â€
Walters said. “We are concerned that this is retaliation for
pursuing a discrimination claim against the state and criticizing
the Governor’s COVID 19 response.â€
If authorities are retaliating against Jones for criticizing the
governor, this is indeed chilling.
What this shows, however, is that no matter which “side†of
the COVID-19 debate you are on, you
are still subject to police officers coming onto your private
property and detaining or arresting you. Regardless of how you
feel about COVID-19, this notion is worrisome.
Source:
The Free Thought Project
Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and
former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior
experience gives him unique insight into the world of government
corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an
independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on
mainstream networks around the world. Agorist is also the Editor at
Large at the Free Thought Project. Follow @MattAgorist on
Twitter, Steemit, and now on Minds.
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Controversial COVID-19 Data Scientist’s Home Raided, Guns Pointed
at Family, Computers Seized
