After the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) was forced to release the footage on two body cameras worn by state law enforcement officers that executed the search warrant of fired state worker Rebekah Jones’ home earlier this week, it was clear that police acted professionally and that Jones lied.
The FDLE was serving the search warrant as part of an ongoing investigation into whether Jones illegally accessed a state messaging system in hopes to urge other state employees to speak out against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' response to the COVID pandemic.
According to the videos, the “coronavirus data scientist” was caught in one of at least two lies after taking 23 minutes to answer the door. Jones previously stated that police waited 13 minutes while she put on clothes, but the video shows that she was not telling the truth.
The second lie, and undoubtedly the most egregious, was when Jones screamed that one of the police officers pointed a gun at her face and at her children.
The video that jones release from a camera she propped up prior to opening the door for police, catches her claims that the officers pointed the gun at her kids, but not the entire verbal interaction with police.
“Do not point that gun at my children,” stated Jones. “He just pointed a gun at my children. He just pointed a gun at my children. “
In the police bodycam video, what really happened was not what Jones claimed. Police did not point guns at her children, they pointed them at the staircase where no one was standing. Her children were in an upstairs bedroom with their father.
But unlike in her video, the police video catches Jones saying, “He’s pointing a gun at the stairs, there are children up there.”
Wait, didn’t she say police pointed guns at their children?
Jones herself said that they had a cat upstairs, but wouldn't also be accurate to say that police pointed their guns at the cat and her husband, who were both upstairs?
Jones also admitted to one officer that she was instructed not to answer the door for them.
"We were told not to answer the door for you,” said Jones. "That’s what our lawyer told us, not to answer the door to you guys."
Florida legislators and many other Republicans have chastised the media outlets and reporters for calling the serving of the search warrant as being a "raid" aimed at possibly intimidating anyone else thinking about speaking out against Gov. DeSantis.
Incoming Republican House Speaker Chris Sprowls called out Tallahassee reporter Mary Ellen Klas, questioning her use of the word "raid."
“Calling this a raid is ridiculous and inaccurate,” said Speaker Chris Sprowls (R). “Raids don’t start with the police calling first. They don’t knock on your door. They don’t wait around for you to answer. This is exactly why the public has trust issues w/ the press.”
Calling this a raid is ridiculous and inaccurate. Raids don’t start with the police calling first. They don’t knock on your door. They don’t wait around for you to answer. This is exactly why the public has trust issues w/ the press. https://t.co/McTOYyiuu3
— Chris Sprowls (@ChrisSprowls) December 11, 2020
“Our law enforcement officers are heroes,” said Rep. Chris Latvala (R). “People who are not include Rebekah Jones. I'm over the lazy media and those on the left treating her as such. Maybe they should ask her stalking victim what kind of hero she is.
The FDLE put out this press release in response to countless media outlets frowning on the law enforcement agency and calling the execution of the search warrant as being a “raid.”
The actions of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) agents have been vilified over the past few days regarding the legal search warrant executed at the residence of Ms. Rebekah Jones. Because of inaccurate and incomplete statements given by certain individuals, the body camera video taken from outside the home is being made available. FDLE is comfortable with the release of this video because it will not interfere with the cybercrime investigation.
Commissioner Swearingen stated, “This video demonstrates that FDLE agents exercised extreme patience. Search warrants are one of the most dangerous events a law enforcement officer will engage in and many officers are killed each year during the execution of search warrants. No search warrant is routine or without potential officer safety issues regardless of the underlying crime. Agents afforded Ms. Jones ample time to come to the door and resolve this matter in a civil and professional manner. As this video will demonstrate, any risk or danger to Ms. Jones or her family was the result of her actions.
“I am proud of the way these FDLE agents performed. I can only hope those same individuals who criticized these public safety heroes will now apologize and condemn the actions of Ms. Jones. The media should also demand Ms. Jones release the entirety of the video she recorded while agents were present in her home.”
The interaction with Jones can be found at 15.20 of one of the body cameras:
