Angry Florida governor defends police raid on COVID data whistleblower

Angry Florida governor defends police raid on COVID data whistleblower 2WASHINGTON — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis angrily defended the handling of a search warrant at the Tallahassee home of Rebekah Jones, the data scientist who ran the state’s coronavirus dashboard until she was fired in May.State police officers entered her home with guns drawn on Monday, and Jones can be heard on body camera footage loudly pleading, “Do not point a gun at my children!” She later likened the officers to agents of the Gestapo, the secret police in Nazi Germany.Jones has alleged in a whistleblower lawsuit that her firing was in retaliation for her refusal to manipulate data to make the state’s COVID-19 outbreak last spring appear less severe.Speaking at a symposium on mental health in Tampa, DeSantis disparaged Jones. “Obviously, she has issues,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. Later, when another reporter asked about Monday’s incident — a recording of which was made by Jones and went viral on social media, drawing widespread outrage — DeSantis grew visibly irritated.“It was not a raid,” the governor said, at one point thrusting a finger and raising his voice at the reporter who asked about the Jones case. “They went, they followed protocol.” He said the Gestapo comparison was especially offensive.

Source: Angry Florida governor defends police raid on COVID data whistleblower


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