‘DeSantis sent the Gestapo’: Fired Florida Covid data scientist films home being raided by police

Rebekah Jones says officers pointed guns at her children during operation

The data scientist fired for refusing to ‘manipulate’ Florida’s Covid figures filmed her home being raided by state police who seized her computer equipment. 

Rebekah Jones posted the shocking footage on Twitter and claimed that Florida governor Ron DeSantis had “sent the gestapo” for her.

Ms Jones, who created Florida’s Covid-19 portal,  has claimed she was fired from her job because she refused  a request to censor data to support the state’s plan to re-open.

Jones said that armed police raided her home on Monday morning and showed her a warrant based on a complaint from the Florida Department of Health. 

“There will be no update today. At 8:30 am this morning, state police came into my house and took all my hardware and tech,” she tweeted.

“They were serving a warrant on my computer after DOH filed a complaint. They pointed a gun in my face. They pointed guns at my kids.

"They took my phone and the computer I use every day to post the case numbers in Florida, and school cases for the entire country. They took evidence of corruption at the state level.

“They claimed it was about a security breach.  This was DeSantis. He sent the gestapo.”

Video posted by Ms Jones shows agents in vest entering her home with their guns drawn and asking her husband to come down stairs.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger confirmed the seizure of computer equipment at the home in the city of Tallahassee and said agents were investigating.

“FDLE began an investigation November 10, 2020 after receiving a complaint from the Department of Health regarding unauthorised access to a Department of Health messaging system which is part of an emergency alert system, to be used for emergencies only,” said Ms Plessinger.

“As in all cases, our role is to determine the facts of what happened and a State Attorney determines whether or not charges are filed.”