# Florida police raid home of former state Covid-19 data scientist **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 8, 2020, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-police-raid-home-of-former-state-covid-19-data-scientist/927543 "2020-12-08T05:07:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-police-raid-home-of-former-state-covid-19-data-scientist/927543/1 "2020-12-08T05:07:53Z")
This could go in the Virus forum, but it is a mite political. _The Florida Department of Law Enforcement executed a search warrant Monday morning at the home of data scientist Rebekah Jones, [who was fired](https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/20/us/florida-georgia-covid-19-test-data/)by the state Department of Health in May. The agency is investigating whether Jones accessed a state government messaging system without authorization to urge employees to speak out about coronavirus deaths, according to an affidavit by an agent working on the case._ OK, they need to check up on that, i can see that. Maybe. _About 10 officers with guns drawn showed up to her Tallahassee home around 8:30 a.m., Jones said. A video taken from a camera in her house, which she posted… on social media, showed an officer pointing a gun up a stairwell as Jones told him her two children were upstairs. Jones said that the officer was pointing his gun at her 2-year-old daughter, 11-year-old son and her husband, who she said were in the stairwell, although the video doesn’t make that clear._ Why the holy fuck does a minor white collar crime need _ten_, count 'em 10, armed police? She isnt being investigated for a violent crime or anything. This is simply bullying. _Jones said she believed the raid on her home was orchestrated by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who she’s publicly accused of mishandling the pandemic._ _“This is what happens when you challenge powerful and corrupt people,” Jones said. “If he thinks this is going to scare me into silence, he’s wrong.”_ Right. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-police-raid-home-of-former-state-covid-19-data-scientist/927543/2 "2020-12-08T05:48:09Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Jones said that the officer was pointing his gun at her 2-year-old daughter You gotta watch out for those 2 year olds… ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-police-raid-home-of-former-state-covid-19-data-scientist/927543/3 "2020-12-08T05:50:29Z")
They are tricky, might have flung poo. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-police-raid-home-of-former-state-covid-19-data-scientist/927543/4 "2020-12-08T17:14:03Z")
Is there a link about the actual raid? Are their charges against Jones yet? I hope a great lawyer agrees to represent her pro bono. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-police-raid-home-of-former-state-covid-19-data-scientist/927543/5 "2020-12-08T17:18:03Z")
> **[Florida police raid home of former state Covid-19 data scientist | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/07/us/florida-search-warrant-raid-rebekah-jones-invs/index.html)** > > Florida police raided the home of a former state coronavirus data scientist on Monday, escalating a feud between the state government and a data expert who has accused officials of trying to cover up the extent of the pandemic. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-police-raid-home-of-former-state-covid-19-data-scientist/927543/6 "2020-12-08T17:22:23Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/07/us/florida-search-warrant-raid-rebekah-jones-invs/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/07/us/florida-search-warrant-raid-rebekah-jones-invs/index.html) Thanks! It sure sounds like this was more a threat to shut up than an actual investigation. Bet she’s never even charged. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-police-raid-home-of-former-state-covid-19-data-scientist/927543/7 "2020-12-08T19:06:46Z")
I thought I put a link in my OP, my apologies. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-police-raid-home-of-former-state-covid-19-data-scientist/927543/8 "2020-12-08T19:12:18Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > > [@DrDeth](#): > > > > Jones said that the officer was pointing his gun at her 2-year-old daughter > > You gotta watch out for those 2 year olds… - They actually can cause a lot of damage when swung with sufficient force. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-police-raid-home-of-former-state-covid-19-data-scientist/927543/9 "2020-12-09T16:44:08Z")
> This makes things look much better for the government. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-police-raid-home-of-former-state-covid-19-data-scientist/927543/10 "2020-12-10T02:09:34Z")
That appears to be the opinion of one of the lawyers appointed by the Governor: > [@Florida agents raid home of fired public health agent who refused to manipulate COVID data](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-agents-raid-home-of-fired-public-health-agent-who-refused-to-manipulate-covid-data/927523/60): > > [GOP lawyer appointed by Florida governor resigns in protest over raid on ousted data scientist’s home](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/09/florida-republican-resigns-raid/). Paywalled, but here’s the first three paragraphs. A Republican lawyer resigned Tuesday from a Florida judicial panel in objection to [police raiding the home](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/07/rebekah-jones-covid-19-dashboard-florida-desantis/?itid=lk_inline_manual_138&itid=lk_inline_manual_2) of a data scientist. That scientist was previously ousted from the state health department in what she has characterized as retribution for objecting to unethical requests during the pandemic. Ron Filipkowski, who served on a nominating… ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-police-raid-home-of-former-state-covid-19-data-scientist/927543/11 "2020-12-10T03:35:48Z")
Here’s a link that contains the tweet which shows the resignation letter. No paywall. > **[Sarasota attorney resigns state job to protest Rebekah Jones raid](https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/09/rebekah-jones-raid-ron-filipkowski-attorney-resigns-protest/3873516001/)** > > Sarasota Republican Ron Filipkowski resigned from a position Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed him to in protest of a raid on a former DOH employee’s home. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-police-raid-home-of-former-state-covid-19-data-scientist/927543/12 "2020-12-10T07:55:38Z")
Another angle I haven’t seen mentioned yet in either this thread or the Pit thread: After she was fired, she continued, or may have continued, to be in contact with employees at the agency, who may have been feeding information to her. Jones and Filipkowski suggest that the cops seized all her equipment in order to do forensic study to determine who at the agency has been talking to her. They will come for those people next. From the [WaPo article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/09/florida-republican-resigns-raid/): > [@](#): > > But the raid on Jones’s home was the last straw for Filipkowski, who said he thought it was an aggressive response to the alleged breach and that its broad sweep was a thinly veiled attempt to determine which state employees were in touch with Jones and intimidate them into silence. > > [. . .] > > Jones has continued to speak out on her own behalf since the raid, telling CNN on Wednesday that she was concerned officials would use the electronic devices they seized from her to identify state employees leaking information to her as whistleblowers. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-police-raid-home-of-former-state-covid-19-data-scientist/927543/13 "2020-12-10T19:45:50Z")
Worth reading [this AP article](https://archive.is/fE7iH) as to why she was originally fired. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2020, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-police-raid-home-of-former-state-covid-19-data-scientist/927543/14 "2020-12-13T06:21:53Z")
IP addresses are more or less worthless and the Judge either was biased or doesnt know much computer science: > **[Experts: evidence to support search warrant on Rebekah Jones' home flimsy](https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2020/12/10/evidence-warrant-raid-rebekah-jones-cybersecurity-digital-rights-civil-liberties-whistleblower/3867058001/)** > > Cybersecurity, law enforcement and internet civil liberties experts described evidence as 'thin' and lacking probable cause to raid Jones' home. _“It is well known that IP addresses can be spoofed. In other words, I can make an IP or I can make it look as though Internet traffic is coming from somewhere else,” said Kevin Butler, associate director of the Florida Institute for Cybersecurity Research and a professor of computer science at the University of Florida. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the country’s leading internet civil liberties and data privacy advocacy group, in 2016 published a[22-page white paper](https://www.eff.org/files/2016/09/22/2016.09.20_final_formatted_ip_address_white_paper_0.pdf)_ _laying out why IP addresses on their own are unreliable personal identifiers, and are commonly misused or misunderstood by police and the courts. A key reason is that information can often relay through multiple IP addresses._ \*“It’s a thin read to just use the IP address, and it’s one that we really, really discourage,” said Cindy Cohn, the EFF’s executive director. "An IP address is nothing, is not even remotely like a fingerprint… the reason that we worry about IP addresses is the cops will often pretend like they’re a fingerprint."Butler, at the University of Florida, said making an IP address that appears to come from elsewhere isn’t that complicated. \* _“These types of attacks are things that, you know, my students in my undergraduate security class are aware of how to do,” he said. …Lewis, the former cybercrimes investigator, also questioned why authorities seized thumb drives and memory cards to investigate accessing an online messaging system. “The only things I think that you would have had probable causes to seize would be the router and the computers” as well as the modem. Jones’ router and modem weren’t seized._ ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-police-raid-home-of-former-state-covid-19-data-scientist/927543/15 "2021-05-30T13:03:50Z")
Cross-posting this because IMO it seems important: Hey; guess what just happened? > **[Fired Florida employee receives whistleblower status](https://apnews.com/article/florida-coronavirus-pandemic-health-04d20114301ebcd1d7494a9a061eb3e7)** > > TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A former Florida Department of Health employee has received whistleblower status a year after being fired for repeatedly violating the agency’s policy about communicating with the media. It seems kind of odd that today’s article doesn’t even mention the armed raid to seize her laptop that took place just 6 months ago. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-police-raid-home-of-former-state-covid-19-data-scientist/927543/16 "2021-05-30T13:09:52Z")
From the article above: “Whistleblower status doesn’t substantiate any claims. It simply provides confidentiality, and means someone made a complaint,” the governor’s spokesperson, Taryn Fenske, told the Herald. So far, not one of her claims has been substantiated.