Tag: florida

Three charged for shouting slurs at praying Muslim students while waving bacon in Florida

Three men stormed a University of South Florida parking garage and harassed Muslim students during dawn prayer on Tuesday — an incident captured in videos that showed the group shouting slurs, waving bacon and crowding worshipers as they bowed, reports said.

Police identified the men as Christopher Svochak of Waco, Texas; Richard Penskoski of Canyon, Okla., and Ricardo Yepez of Tampa, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

All three face a felony count of disturbing schools and religious assemblies under Florida’s hate-crime enhancement statute, along with misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and disrupting a school or lawful assembly.

None have ties to the university, police said.

The charges followed a multi-day investigation sparked by footage showing the men approaching students during fajr prayer on the roof of the Collins Boulevard Parking Garage.

One man carried a cardboard box reading “Kaaba 2.0 Jesus is Lord,” while another wore a thobe emblazoned with “Jesus is God.”

Students said the group stood inches away as they prayed, shouted insults including “Bow down to lord Jesus Christ” and “Your prophet married a 6 year old,” and taunted them with bacon immediately after the prayer ended, according to a Reddit post.

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UK woman said she wanted to be tortured and killed on fetish site — her body was found in shallow grave in the US

The boyfriend of a woman who allegedly paid someone to torture and kill her said that she had been suffering from mental illness before the shocking events, according to Florida authorities.

Sonia Exelby was reported missing in October before police were able to trace her to an Airbnb in Reddick and found her remains nearby.

Exelby boarded a flight to Florida and arrived on Oct. 10, according to an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The FDLE said that Exelby posted on a fetish website that she was willing to pay someone to torture and kill her.

A week after she arrived in Florida, her remains were found in a shallow grave.

Investigators linked her to a man named Dwain Hall, who had used her bank card and tried to use her credit cards.

When they interviewed him, he gave conflicting accounts of how they met.

Police said they gathered evidence pointing to Hall as Exelby’s alleged killer.

Authorities said Hall purchased rope and gun cleaner among other items at a Walmart in Gainesville on Oct. 10. After that purchase, he made a second purchase of a shovel. He then allegedly went to pick up Exelby at the airport, and they both went to an Airbnb that he had rented.

The next day, he charged $1,200 to Exelby’s bank card.

Authorities said he recorded a video of Exelby showing her with cuts and bruises, and asking her to say that she consented to being stabbed.

Exelby sent a message to a friend via the Discord app expressing regret.

“I’m so, so scared. I’m so broken and in so much pain. … I thought he’d do it quick and not give my mind time to stew,” she wrote.

On Oct. 14, Hall allegedly sent a package to a friend that authorities said contained a knife that had traces of Exelby’s blood. It also had a bracelet with DNA from both Exelby and Hall.

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Florida Probes JPMorgan Over Truth Social Debanking

Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier has opened a major investigation into JPMorgan Chase after disclosures that the bank severed ties with Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the company behind the free speech social media platform Truth Social, and may have shared sensitive data with the Biden administration’s Justice Department as part of the “Arctic Frost” investigation.

In a formal notice, Uthmeier stated that JPMorgan’s conduct “may implicate numerous Florida criminal and civil antifraud laws and de-banking prohibitions,” and directed the bank to preserve all documents and communications related to the matter.

We obtained a copy of the letter for you here.

The Arctic Frost probe was initially presented as a limited inquiry into President Donald Trump’s activities following the 2020 election.

It has since expanded into a wide-reaching operation involving numerous Republican lawmakers, conservative groups, and individuals.

Reports indicate that federal agents issued secret subpoenas to financial institutions and technology companies, demanding extensive amounts of private and financial information.

JPMorgan’s involvement came to light when Devin Nunes, CEO of Truth Social and Chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, appeared on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo on November 9. During the interview, Nunes revealed that JPMorgan had “inexplicably debanked” TMTG as the company was preparing to go public in early 2024.

He suggested that the timing was connected to the Justice Department’s broad subpoena requests and criticized both the bank and federal officials for what he described as politically motivated actions that may have violated the law.

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Florida GOP Lawmaker Files Bill To Ban Public Marijuana Smoking As Campaign Works To Put Legalization On 2026 Ballot

A pro-legalization Florida lawmaker has filed a bill to amend state law to codify that the public use of marijuana is prohibited.

Rep. Alex Andrade (R)—who has voiced support for removing cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and earned an “A” grade from NORML—introduced the public smoking and vaping legislation on Thursday.

Under the proposal, state statute on the use of tobacco in public would be revised to incorporate cannabis, making it unlawful to smoke or vape in any public space.

A public space would be defined as place “to which the public has access, including, but not limited to, streets; sidewalks; highways; public parks; public beaches; and the common areas, both inside and outside, of schools, hospitals, government buildings, apartment buildings, office buildings, lodging establishments, restaurants, transportation facilities, and retail shops.”

The legislation specifies that the prohibition on public smoking “does not apply to the smoking of unfiltered cigars.”

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Florida Wins Court Battle on Law Limiting Homes, Land Purchases by Chinese Citizens

A U.S. appeals court ruled on Tuesday that Florida can restrict home and land purchases by Chinese citizens, dismissing claims that the 2023 law is discriminatory.

It comes after a court dismissed a challenge to a similar law in Texas that restricts the ownership of properties by Chinese individuals or entities.

The 2–1 ruling by the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cleared the way for Florida to enforce SB 264, or the Interests of Foreign Countries Act, which bans individuals who are domiciled in China from buying property in the state unless they already owned all or part of a property before July 1, 2023.

The ruling could also encourage other states to adopt so-called alien land laws, which were once common but fell out of favor a century ago.

The court said the plaintiffs lack standing to challenge the law’s purchasing restriction because they failed to show an imminent injury.

According to court documents, three of the individual plaintiffs are domiciled in Florida, and the fourth, who’s “at least arguably domiciled in China,” already has a home in Florida and has no plans to buy another. The last plaintiff, a real estate brokerage firm primarily serving Chinese and Chinese American clients, also failed to establish an imminent injury, circuit judges said.

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‘Most prolific pedophile priest.’ New suit resurfaces notorious Florida case

A new lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Miami has revived a notorious case involving a former Catholic priest convicted of a string of sex offenses more than a decade ago.

The most recent lawsuit, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court in June, is only the latest accusing the Catholic Church of failing to protect multiple underage boys from Neil Doherty, a serial sexual abuser who was employed by the archdiocese as a priest from 1969 until 2002, when he was removed.

“He is probably the most prolific pedophile priest in U.S. history. He sexually abused, we think, thousands of kids over the course of about 40 years,” said Daniel Ellis, senior lead attorney at Herman Law, the firm representing a victim identified only as John Doe 8 to protect his privacy.

According to the lawsuit, Doherty groomed and raped the victim around 1995, when he was around 16 years old. The alleged abuse happened multiple times in Doherty’s residence in the mid-1990s.

The lawsuit comes decades after the abuse took place and after Doherty was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in Florida prison in 2013.

At least four other civil lawsuits naming seven plaintiffs (John Doe 1-7) have been filed against the archdiocese in the past five years, naming Doherty as the primary abuser and seeking “compensatory damages” for the years of inflicted “emotional distress.” The more recent cases against Doherty appear to have been settled, though the law firm would not discuss details of those settlements.

In 2006, the Miami Herald reported that the church settled six civil suits, including two against Doherty, for $750,000.

In a statement to the Miami Herald, the archdiocese said it is “in the process of responding to a lawsuit involving allegations of sexual abuse of a minor by a former priest that occurred over twenty-nine years ago.”

“As always, the Catholic Church’s concerns are for the victims and a prevailing sense of justice and healing,” the statement said.

The archdiocese said that Doherty was “permanently removed from active ministry within the Archdiocese and the universal Catholic Church in April 2002,” and since the disgraced and defrocked priest has been named in multiple lawsuits.

“As is the Archdiocese’s practice, any allegation of sexual abuse of a minor by a priest is immediately reported to the appropriate State Attorney’s Office in Monroe, Miami-Dade, or Broward County,” the statement said.

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Florida Man Arrested for Demanding Violence and Posting Death Threats Against ICE Agents on Liberal Social Media App BlueSky

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents in Fort Myers, Florida, have arrested a deranged individual who spewed repeated death threats against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on social media.

Joseph Giancola, posting under the pseudonym “Cain Delon” on Bluesky, unleashed a barrage of violent rhetoric, including calls to “Shoot the ICE Nazis down like the rabid dogs they are,” “Just get a gun and shoot the ICE Nazis down,” and “Shoot those ice thugs dead.”

Giancola’s catfishing profile featured a fake image of a blonde, blue-eyed young man.

“They come near me, and I shoot to kill. Be warned,” Giancola wrote in another post.

These threats, made over several months, likened ICE officials to Nazis and urged others to arm themselves and kill.

According to a press release from DHS, “ICE officers are now facing a more than 1,000% increase in assaults and an 8,000% increase in death threats against them.”

“For months, the Department of Homeland Security has warned politicians and the media to tone down their rhetoric about ICE law enforcement,” the press release continued.

“Comparing ICE day-in and day-out to the Nazi Gestapo, the Secret Police, and slave patrols has consequences. The men and women of ICE are fathers and mothers, sons, and daughters. They get up every morning to try and make our communities safer. Like everyone else, America’s ICE and CBP agents are hardworking men and women who have families and are real people. The violence and dehumanization of these men and women who are simply enforcing the law must stop.”

Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Giancola will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

“This cowardly individual made repeated disgusting death threats against ICE law enforcement officers. He is now in federal custody and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said McLaughlin.

McLaughlin continued, “Our ICE law enforcement officers are now facing an 8,000% increase in death threats against them while they risk their lives every single day to remove the worst of the worst including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists, and gang members. From bounties placed on their heads for their murders, threats to their families, stalking, and doxxing online, our officers are experiencing an unprecedented level of violence and threats against them and their families. Threaten violence or death to our law enforcement? You’ll end up behind bars like this guy.”

Giancola is now in federal custody as HSI continues its crackdown on those endangering federal law enforcement.

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Florida Officials Are Revoking Medical Marijuana IDs From Patients And Caregivers With Drug Convictions Under Law Signed By DeSantis

Florida medical marijuana officials are actively revoking the registrations of patients and caregivers with drug-related criminal records.

The policy is part of broad budget legislation signed into law earlier this year by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). The provisions in question direct the state Department of Health (DOH) to cancel registrations of medical marijuana patients and caregivers if they’re convicted of—or plead guilty or no contest to—criminal drug charges.

The measure says a patient or caregiver will have their registration immediately suspended upon being charged with a covered state drug crime, and the suspension will remain in place until the criminal case reaches a final disposition. DOH officials have authority to reinstate the registration, revoke it entirely or extend the suspension if needed.

Bobbie Smith, director of the Florida Office of Medical Marijuana Use (OMMU), told lawmakers on Wednesday that regulators are already banning people from the medical cannabis program under the new policy.

OMMU has “identified 20 individuals that meet the new requirement for revocation, and there’s roughly 140 that we’re still monitoring as they wait make their way through the criminal justice system,” she said at a hearing of the House Health Professions & Programs Subcommittee in comments first reported by Florida Politics.

Under the law, authorities are required to revoke a person’s registration if the patient or caregiver “was convicted of, or pled guilty or nolo contendre to, regardless of adjudication, a violation [of state drug law] if such violation was for trafficking in, the sale, manufacture, or delivery of, or possession with intent to sell, manufacture, or deliver a controlled substance.”

The enacted version of the legislation focuses specifically on production and distribution. It does not contain an earlier restriction from prior versions that would have also revoked registrations for people who merely purchased illegal drugs, including more than 10 grams of marijuana for their own use.

It also clarifies that patients and caregivers have a process to request their registrations be reinstated. That involves submitting a new application “accompanied by a notarized attestation by the applicant that he or she has completed all the terms of incarceration, probation, community control, or supervision related to the offense.”

It’s not clear from the plain language of the revised bill whether it will impact only future criminal cases involving medical marijuana patients and caregivers or whether DOH would need to review the records of existing program registrants and revoke registrations of an untold number of Floridians with past drug convictions.

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Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier Files Supreme Court Lawsuit Against Gavin Newsom and California Over “Sanctuary” Policies for Illegal Aliens

Florida is taking the fight straight to the top.

Attorney General James Uthmeier announced late Wednesday night that Florida has filed a landmark lawsuit against California in the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that Governor Gavin Newsom’s “sanctuary” state policies are putting American lives at risk and violating the Constitution.

“Tonight, we filed a lawsuit against Gavin Newsom and California in the U.S. Supreme Court because their so-called ‘sanctuary’ policies for illegal aliens are harming states like Florida,” Uthmeier announced.

“California must pay for the carnage of their open border policies and unlawful CDL programs.”

The lawsuit comes after a deadly crash in Florida involving an illegal immigrant from India, identified as Harjinder Singh, who had obtained a commercial driver’s license (CDL) from California and later Washington State despite being unable to read road signs or speak English.

The crash killed three Haitian nationals living legally in the U.S. under temporary protected status.

It was revealed that Singh received a work permit from the Biden regime in June 2021 after the Trump administration denied him one in September 2020.

While he illegally crossed in 2018, it was Biden who gave him permission to live and work in the United States, and it was California that illegally granted him a driver’s license.

As Fox News’ Sean Hannity reminded viewers Wednesday night, the illegal driver “was only behind the wheel because California gives out regular driver’s licenses  even commercial ones to illegals.”

Once an illegal immigrant secures a standard license, upgrading to a CDL becomes easy, despite federal law requiring English proficiency and road safety knowledge.

In the wake of the tragedy, the Department of Transportation, under Sean Duffy, announced it will withhold $40 million in federal grant money from California for failing to enforce English language requirements for truck drivers.

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Grand Jury reportedly meeting this week in Hope Florida investigation

Florida’s Hope Florida program, once celebrated by the governor and First Lady as a compassionate outreach effort, is now under a grand jury’s microscope. Prosecutors in the capital are reportedly meeting this week to decide whether criminal charges are warranted in a growing scandal that’s shaken the state’s political establishment.

The proceedings are happening behind closed doors inside Leon County’s 2nd Judicial Circuit courthouse, where prosecutors are taking evidence in the Hope Florida investigation.

At issue: whether anyone broke the law after $10 million from a state Medicaid settlement moved through the Hope Florida Foundation to other nonprofits, and then to a political committee once controlled by now–Attorney General James Uthmeier. That committee later helped defeat a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana.

State Attorney Jack Campbell, who is overseeing the process, declined to provide details.

“No, there’s no comment on that at all. Everything that the grand jury does is, in fact, confidential,” Campbell said when asked about the case last week.

Legal experts say the secrecy is standard procedure. Mario Gallucci of the Gallucci Law Firm is a former New York assistant district attorney and was a principal attorney in its major felony unit. He said these proceedings can take weeks to complete.

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