Tag: florida

With Intent To Deceive

These fake voter guides are being sent to voters in six Florida counties, to date. They list the candidates who are supposedly endorsed by Trump and DeSantis, and they are advocating for candidates who are NOT real MAGA supporters.

Those who ARE legitimately MAGA, have been attacked by the legal team of the RPOF, as you remember, and disallowed from membership and even meeting attendance at the county RECS. Is that why April Culbreth, above, has closed the Manatee REC until after the primary, August 20th? Too many MAGA people wanted to help?

The guides come from “ MAGA PC”, with an address of Venice, FL, NOT the real MAGA PAC in Alexandria VA. Search MAGA PC, and you are led to a “MEGA PC” desktop app. Nothing “MAGA PC” is found. The address in Venice belongs to State Sen. Joe Grueters’ accounting firm. Why would any high-ranking member of the RPOF send a widely distributed list of people to vote for, which contains the disclaimer that it has nothing to do with the RPOF?? And, why are none of these real MAGA candidates?

These voter “guides” are being sent to voters in Manatee, Hillsborough, St. Lucie, Brevard, Lake, and Sarasota Counties. So far. They contain full lists of the people whom the RPOF – NOT Donald Trump. – wants elected. Guaranteed.

BUT, WHAT OF THE INNOCENT VOTER who receives this in the mail?? They glance at a picture of Trump, see the word, “MAGA”, and start marking their ballot, without noticing the subtle deception on the guides.

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Florida Police Groups Oppose Marijuana Legalization Ballot Initiative, Claiming Reform Would Cause ‘Violent Assaults And Death’ Like Alcohol

Two major Florida law enforcement associations are calling on voters to reject a marijuana legalization initiative on the ballot this November, with one claiming it would pose a public safety risk because cannabis use is associated with “violent assaults and deaths” just like alcohol.

The Florida Police Chiefs Association (FPCA) and the Florida Sheriffs Association (FSA) both came out against the marijuana measure, Amendment 3, on Tuesday. They argued that the reform would cause increases in youth use, impaired driving, illicit operations and tax costs for residents, citing dubious evidence.

The chief of FPCA, representing over 1,300 law enforcement officials, said in a press release that passing the cannabis proposal “will hurt public safety and ultimately cost Floridians tax dollars and lives. Among these impacts will be the growth of illegal markets and criminal cartels, impaired driving and traffic fatalities, homelessness and hospitalization as a result of marijuana use.”

“The use of marijuana, just like with alcohol, is also a major risk factor for victimization, violent assaults, and deaths,” Tampa International Airport Police Department Chief Charles Vazquez, the organization’s leader, said.

“Studies have shown alcohol and marijuana in similar percentages of homicide victims (37.5 percent and 31 percent respectively), with the prevalence of marijuana highest in younger victims (15-20 years, 46.8 percent),” he said. “In addition, Black homicide victims had a considerably higher prevalence of marijuana (38 percent) than white victims (23.4 percent).”

The statement did not include citations, but a growing body of research has drawn clear distinctions challenging the idea that rates of violence associated with cannabis use are comparable to alcohol. For example, an analysis of violence between intimate partners that was published recently found that legalizing marijuana for adult use “results in a substantial decrease in rates of intimate partner violence.”

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Jupiter, Florida Man Arrested Friday After Making Deadly Threats Against President Trump, J.D. Vance and Their Daughters

68-year-old Jupiter, Florida resident Michael Wiseman was arrested this week for making threats against President Trump, Senator J.D. Vance, and their children on Facebook.

Wiseman was arrested on Saturday morning.

Wiseman called on cancer patients to off the Republican ticket before they die. What a disgusting lunatic.

Newsweek reported:

Police in Jupiter, Florida, arrested one individual on Friday who was accused of making threats online toward former President Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance.

According to a release from the Jupiter Police Department (JPD), the suspect, Michael M. Wiseman, was taken into custody without incident on charges of Written Threats to Kill for threats he allegedly made on social media. Police said that their department received “multiple” tips about the suspect’s comments through online crime tips and from “residents who expressed their concern in person.”

Detectives at the JPD said that they found Wiseman had made “multiple threats” against Trump and Vance on his Facebook account. The suspect is also accused of making threats “concerning bodily harm to members of the Trump and Vance families.”

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DeSantis Rails Against Florida Marijuana Ballot Measure In Republican National Convention Speech

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) on Wednesday again lashed out against Amendment 3, a marijuana legalization initiative that’s set to appear on his state’s November ballot, making hyperbolic claims about what the reform would allow.

Speaking to the Florida Republican delegation at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, DeSantis called the proposed constitutional amendment “limitless,” arguing that it would establish a right to marijuana that would be more fundamental than First Amendment or Second Amendment protections for free speech and guns, respectively.

“It gives you limitless constitutional right to possess and smoke,” DeSantis asserted before turning to the proposal’s three-ounce limit on marijuana possession.

“I think it’s up to like, what, 40 joints? Is that the what the three ounces would be, 40—more than that? Eighty joints, something like that,” the governor said. “It will be bad for quality of life, and it will make Florida more blue.”

DeSantis urged the assembled Florida Republicans to oppose the marijuana measure and a separate constitutional amendment that would expand legal access to abortion. “We’ve got to be united as Republicans and do what’s right,” he said at the event, first reported by Florida Politics.

The Florida Republican Party formally came out against Amendment 3 in May.

DeSantis claimed the marijuana legalization measure would establish “a broader constitutional right than your First Amendment rights to speech, free exercise of religion and assembly, broader than the Second Amendment, broader than any other constitutional right.”

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SATANISTS to volunteer in Florida schools following signing of new law that allows religious personnel to be employed in public schools

Public schools in Florida might soon be swarmed with members of the Satanic Temple as Gov. Ron DeSantis has put the call out for more school counselors following the signing of a state law allowing religious chaplains into public schools amid staffing shortages.

House Bill 931, which came into effect this July, permits outside organizations to provide “additional counseling and support to students.” DeSantis has made it clear that the law is intended as a means to legally reintroduce Christian values into public education.

However, the bill has left the implementation of chaplaincy programs to individual school districts and only requires schools to list a volunteer’s religion “if any.” (Related: Satanic temple in Texas files lawsuit demanding “religious right” to sacrifice babies through abortion.)

The Satanic Temple sees this as an opportunity to challenge the unconstitutional favoritism toward Christianity. Satanic Temple co-founder and spokesperson Lucien Greaves argued that if Christian chaplains are granted access to students, then so should their members, to maintain the separation of church and state.

“You have theocrats pushing further and further, signing unconstitutional bills into law, and they realize there’s no consequence,” Greaves said. “They’re giving everybody the impression that these types of things are legal, this is just the environment we’re living in. And in that way, they’re really numbing people to when these things actually do take effect, or when they are upheld by a corrupt judge who’s just playing partisan politics.”

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Florida stripper sues state over law raising age requirement

A 19-year-old is suing over a Florida law that raises the age requirements to work in adult entertainment establishments, saying it violated her constitutional rights and made her lose her job as a stripper.

In a lawsuit filed Monday, Serenity Michelle Bushey said she and at least eight other performers were fired from Café Risque, a strip club near Gainesville, because of the state law that increased the minimum age to 21.

The lawsuit, which also includes Café Risque and two adult businesses in Jacksonville as plaintiffs, seeks a permanent injunction stopping enforcement of the law.

“As with similar performers around the state, Bushey earned her living through her art while providing entertainment for the benefit and enjoyment of her audience,” the complaint said. “Plaintiffs have a clear legal right to engage in protected speech of this nature.”

The complaint, which was first reported by the Tallahassee Democrat, names Florida’s attorney general and two local prosecutors as defendants. It was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 7063in May, saying it would deter human trafficking.

But the companies in the complaint disputed that, saying they’ve longemployed adult entertainers, cooks, waitresses and security guards younger than 21 with no instances of human trafficking.

The clubs said they hire performers under 21 to increase the talent pool and attract young adult audiences. Many young entertainers use the job to support themselves through college, they said.

The plaintiffs, represented by Gainesville attorney Gary Scott Edinger, saidthe law violates their First Amendment right to free speech.

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Palm Beach judge releases grand jury records from 2008 Jeffrey Epstein case

On Monday afternoon, a Florida judge released transcripts from a grand jury investigation into allegations of sex trafficking and rape involving Jeffrey Epstein, the late millionaire financier.

In his order, Judge Delgado referred to Epstein as “the most infamous pedophile in American history.” “For almost 20 years, the story of how Jeffrey Epstein victimized some of Palm Beach County’s most vulnerable has been the subject of much anger and has at times diminished the public’s perception of the criminal justice system,” Delgado said.

The judge had initially planned a hearing for next week to determine the timing and method of release. Governor Ron DeSantis had previously signed a bill in February authorizing the release on Monday or at any time designated by Circuit Judge Luis Delgado, US News reported.

The records span nearly 200 pages and include testimony from at least one victim who was molested by Epstein. He was a New York financier who allegedly assaulted underage girls at his Palm Beach mansion for decades.

Epstein managed to avoid serious charges, partly because the Palm Beach prosecutor at the time, Barry Krischer, chose to charge him with minor prostitution offenses instead of pursuing a felony sexual assault case.

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Woman spent a MONTH in jail because police mistook dried SpaghettiO’s residue on a spoon for meth before crime lab tests finally realized their error

A Florida woman is free to eat pasta in her car once again after serving a month in jail because cops confused a crusty spoon in her possession with SpaghettiO’s residue as being the drug methamphetamine.

  • Ashley Gabrielle Huff, 23, was arrested on July 2 by police after they suspected her of having meth residue on a spoon that was actually sauce
  • Huff served one month in jail because she could not make court dates or pay bond and even considered admitting to a crime she did not commit
  •  The Crime Lab report showed no controlled substances on the spoon submitted for testing,’ said Judicial Circuit District Attorney Lee Darragh

Ashley Gabrielle Huff, 23, was arrested on July 2 by the Gainesville police department after they suspected her of having meth residue on a spoon in her car that she hard pressed was SpaghettiO’s residue.

She was released from Hall County Jail on Thursday after a crime lab analysis confirmed that the spoon had sauce residue instead of drugs, reports The Gainesville Times.

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A Florida Man Was Arrested for Filming Marion County Sheriff’s Deputies. Now He’s Suing.

A Florida man has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit three years after a Marion County sheriff’s deputy arrested him for filming officers from a public sidewalk.

In 2021, Marion County Sheriff’s Deputy Neil Rosaci arrested George Nathansen and charged him with obstruction of justice for refusing to follow his orders to leave the scene of an investigation. However, body camera footage showed Nathansen standing at least 30 feet away on a public sidewalk before Rosaci walked over and handcuffed him.

In Nathansen’s lawsuit, filed last Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, he alleges that Rosaci and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) violated his Fourth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment rights by falsely arresting and incarcerating him.

Numerous federal appeals courts have ruled that filming the police is protected under the First Amendment, but police around the country continue to illegally arrest people for it. The Justice Department released a report this month on pervasive civil rights violations by the Phoenix Police Department, including retaliating against citizens who were trying to record them. Earlier this year, Texas prosecutors dropped charges against a citizen journalist who was arrested, strip-searched, and jailed for filming police.

Nathansen’s case is yet another example of police retaliation against someone for core First Amendment activities.

The incident began on July 24, 2021, when Rosaci arrived at the scene of a car crash. While deputies were talking to the two parties involved in the accident, Nathansen arrived and began filming with his cell phone. There are a growing number of self-styled “First Amendment auditors” around the country who record police interactions and post them online. (In response to alleged harassment, several states have passed dubious “buffer-zone” laws that criminalize being too close to a first responder.) 

Rosaci’s body camera footage, obtained by the Ocala Post, showed that Nathansen was filming near the deputies’ cars when Rosaci first shooed him away and told him, “You can stand on the sidewalk over there.”

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DeSantis Launches ‘Florida Freedom Fund’ To Oppose Marijuana Legalization Ballot Initiative, As Campaign Reports Millions In New Donations

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has launched a new political action committee to campaign against marijuana legalization and abortion rights initiatives that will appear on the state’s November ballot. At the same time, a newly released campaign finance report shows over $5 million in contributions supporting the cannabis measure have come in over the past two months.

As DeSantis continues his crusade against the marijuana legalization proposal, late last month he started what’s being called the Florida Freedom Fund, aimed at preventing adults from gaining the right to use cannabis. It’s being run by the governor’s chief of staff, James Uthmeier.

A spokesperson for DeSantis told Politico that the PAC “will be championing issues and candidates committed to preserving Floridians’ freedom.” How that stated mission squares with an attempt to restrict adults from accessing marijuana without risking a criminal record and potential jail time is unclear.

According to a Fox News poll released last week, two in three Florida voters support the cannabis initiative—with the issue proving more popular than the governor himself. The survey showed majority support for legalization across the political spectrum, too.

Despite his opposition to the marijuana legalization, DeSantis recently vetoed a bill to ban the sale of intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids in his state. The action came amid reporting that the governor planned to block the hemp prohibition legislation in hopes that the industry would return the favor by financially assisting in his effort to defeat the marijuana initiative.

The governor, who predicted voters will reject the marijuana initiative in November, has argued that the state shouldn’t go beyond the existing medical cannabis program and that broader reform would negatively impact the quality of life for Floridians. The Florida Republican Party also formally came out against Amendment 3 last month.

So far, DeSantis’s PAC hasn’t reported raising any money. The Smart & Safe Florida campaign behind the marijuana initiative, however, reported more than $5.2 million in new contributions from April 1 to May 31, with the bulk of that funding coming from the multi-state cannabis company Trulieve. That’s in addition to the $15 million the campaign raised in the first quarter of the year, a haul that included contributions from other cannabis companies such as Verano Holdings, Curaleaf, Ayr Wellness, Green Thumb Industries and Cresco Labs.

The new first quarter report shows that other marijuana firms are coming to the table in support, including Insa, which donated $144,000, Sunburn parent company Green Sentry Holdings, which chipped in $50,000, and Urban-Gro, which gave $25,000.

The report also shows dozens of small-dollar donations, too.

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