TALLAHASSEE, Florida – An arrest warrant was issued for former Florida Department of Health analyst Rebekah Jones and Florida Police Department agents worked with her attorney to surrender.
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. The governor will not win his war against science and freedom of expression. He will not silence those who speak.
– Rebekah Jones (@GeoRebekah) January 16, 2021
Jones was fired from her post in May after questioning Florida’s COVID-19 data.
She has openly criticized Governor Ron DeSantis and his state social media agencies since she was fired.
Florida officials investigating an alleged invasion of the state’s emergency response system broke into her house December 8th.
The officers carried out the search warrant at their home in Tallahassee following a complaint from the Department of Health about unauthorized access to the emergency alert system.
“The agents believe that someone at the Centerville Court residence illegally accessed the system,” said FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger.
“The agent told my lawyer that there would be only one charge, but he emphasized that speaking out or going to the media can result in the police ‘piling up’ additional charges,” Jones said on Saturday. “All of this is just to silence a critic of a governor who failed to do his job and killed thousands as a result.”
She continued: “A potential condition for my release may be lack of access to computers, the internet or electronic devices. False accusations designed to silence and now arrest me for being a critical government scientist. That is the definition of #censorship.”
Her tweet at 2:33 pm on Saturday seemed to indicate that she would surrender.
“Saying goodbye to my family now is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” she tweeted.
Saying goodbye to my family now is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.
– Rebekah Jones (@GeoRebekah) January 16, 2021