The Florida data analyst who says she was fired because she did not handle state coronavirus data tweeted on Saturday that she was becoming the police – although it is unclear exactly why.
“To protect my family from ongoing police violence and to show that I am ready to fight whatever they play against me, I am becoming a police officer in Florida on Sunday night.” Rebekah Jones said in a tweet. “The governor will not win his war against science and freedom of expression. He will not silence those who speak ”.
The Florida Police Department has confirmed that it has an active arrest warrant for Jones. Spokesperson Jessica Cary was unable to provide details of the charges against Jones before she was sued.
Jones lost his job in May after creating a widely praised state panel that tracks cases, deaths, tests and other data from COVID-19. She claimed she was fired because she refused to manipulate data to support the state’s plans to ease blocking restrictions.
In December, Florida authorities issued a search warrant for her home – in an operation she claims includes pointing a gun at her children.
At the time of the operation, authorities said Jones was being investigated for hacking a government messaging system after a strange alert was sent. It is not clear whether this is the load with which it will be hit.
“It is time to speak before another 17,000 people die. You know this is wrong. You don’t have to be a part of this. Be a hero. Speak before it’s too late, ”said the alert.
Jones insisted in his tweets that the police “found no evidence of a message sent last November [sic] to the DOH team telling them to ‘talk’ about any of the devices they took out of their home. She previously claimed that she never had access to the alert system.
She said she was surrendering because the invasion discovered some documents she received or downloaded.
“It is not clear at this point what exactly they are saying that I had and shouldn’t, but an agent confirmed that it has nothing to do with the issue of the warrant,” she tweeted, adding that the invasion was “based on a lie. “
An arrest warrant was issued the day after a judge told police to return his equipment if no crime was being investigated, Jones said. “They found no evidence of anything related to the warrant, so they invented something new to come after me in retaliation.”
She said an agent said there would be an indictment, but if she spoke, she could see more added. “All of this just to silence a critic of a governor who failed to do his job and killed thousands as a result.”
“Saying goodbye to my family now is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” said Jones in the last tweet she posted.