Tag: florida

Florida bill would require bloggers who write about governor to register with the state

Florida Sen. Jason Brodeur (R-Lake Mary) wants bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and other members of the Florida executive cabinet or legislature to register with the state or face fines.

Brodeur’s proposal, Senate Bill 1316: Information Dissemination, would require any blogger writing about government officials to register with the Florida Office of Legislative Services or the Commission on Ethics.

In the bill, Brodeur wrote that those who write “an article, a story, or a series of stories,” about “the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, a Cabinet officer, or any member of the Legislature,” and receives or will receive payment for doing so, must register with state offices within five days after the publication of an article that mentions an elected state official.

If another blog post is added to a blog, the blogger would then be required to submit monthly reports on the 10th of each month with the appropriate state office. They would not have to submit a report on months when no content is published.

For blog posts that “concern an elected member of the legislature” or “an officer of the executive branch,” monthly reports must disclose the amount of compensation received for the coverage, rounded to the nearest $10 value.

If compensation is paid for a series of posts or for a specific amount of time, the blogger would be required to disclose the total amount to be received, upon publication of the first post in said series or timeframe.

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4 More Arrested for Alleged Role in 2021 Assassination of Haitian President

Four more people were arrested on Tuesday and charged in connection with the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, the Justice Department announced.

Colombian national Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, 50, of Miami; Venezuelan American Antonio Intriago, 59, of Miami; and Walter Veintemilla, 54, of Weston, Florida, face charges that include conspiracy to kill or kidnap a person outside the United States.

Frederick Bergmann, 64, of Tampa, Florida, faces charges for allegedly committing export violations and smuggling ballistic vests.

Ortiz and Intriago are part of Counter Terrorist Unit Federal Academy and Counter Terrorist Unit Security (collectively known as CTU), which is based in South Florida, and Veintemilla is a principal for Worldwide Capital Lending Group, also based in South Florida, according to prosecutors.

The four men worked out of South Florida to plan and finance the plot to oust Moïse either by kidnapping or murdering him, and later replace him with someone who would serve their own political goals and financial interests. The intended replacement was Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 64, a Haitian American dual citizen with political aspirations, prosecutors say.

Prosecutors allege that in April 2021, just three months before Moïse was shot 12 times at his private home, Ortiz, Intriago, John, Solages, and Sanon met in South Florida and agreed to a plan in which Sanon would become president and would award lucrative contracts to CTU for infrastructure projects in Haiti.

Additionally, Sanon would also award them with the provision of security forces and military equipment, federal prosecutors say.

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Cops Kill Man for Running Away, Shoot Him At Least 5 Times After He Falls to Make Sure He’s Dead

If we were to declare a winner in the decades-long war on drugs today, hands down, drugs would be the victor. For over 50 years, the US has waged a cruel and horrific campaign of violence, injustice, brutality, and oppression to eradicate arbitrary substances they’ve deemed illegal. Not only was this campaign unsuccessful at eradicating substances, but it’s led to the most deadly drug overdose epidemic in history in which enough people die every year to pack an NFL stadium.

Instead of realizing the error of their ways, the callous, obstinate, and violent state has simply doubled down on enforcement — driving a black market consisting of increasingly dangerous synthetic substances. Fentanyl, in particular, has gripped the nation thanks to the prohibition of safer alternatives, driving crime, suffering, and death. As the following case illustrates, it also fuels an incentive for rampant police violence.

Eric Nathaniel Thornton, 38, was suspected of buying this substance in Jacksonville, Florida last month which landed him six feet under. According to police, officers were watching Thorton and Brian Brightman — who they referred to as a “known drug dealer” — conducting an “illegal drug transaction.”

Because cops claim the right to kidnap, cage, and even kill you over these arbitrary substances they deem “illegal,” they moved in to make an arrest. Not wanting to be kidnapped and caged, Thornton ran from officers.

Thornton never once attempted to harm the officers and was merely attempting to avoid being thrown in a cage for his addiction. He needed medical help for a medical problem; instead, he received bullets… at least ten of them.

As Thornton ran from officers, they claimed he was holding a knife and used this as a reason to fill the fleeing man with holes.

“He’s got a knife,” an officer can be heard saying before executing a fleeing man.

As the body camera footage shows, Thornton dropped to the ground, let out a groan, and died on the scene. Police would go on to justify his execution by releasing photos of knives, which they claim were a threat to their lives as Thornton ran away.

We’re told that the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is now looking into the matter and the result of the investigation they are conducting on themselves will be released when it’s complete.

Thornton was the third person killed by this same department in the first few weeks of 2023. As long as this country continues to treat addiction and substance abuse with violence and coercion, Thornton will be but a single line on an ever-increasing list of names whose lives were taken by the losers of the war on drugs.

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Florida Megachurch Moves to Expel LGBTQ Members

A JACKSONVILLE MEGACHURCH is requiring members to sign a new, anti-LGBTQ pledge committing to adhere to “biblical sexuality” — or leave the church. Describing the oath as “an exercise in clarity… in a sexually confused world,” First Baptist Church has given members and their families until March to comply. 

The pledge compels members to renounce LGBTQ sexual- and gender- expression in favor or “God’s standard for human sexuality,” which the Florida church insists means there are only two genders, as well as that the only morally acceptable sexual “desire and expression” occurs within a marriage between one man and one woman. Unveiled last week, the mandatory pledge reads:

As a member of First Baptist Church, I believe that God creates people in his image as either male or female, and that this creation is a fixed matter of human biology, not individual choice. I believe marriage is instituted by God, not government, is between one man and one woman, and is the only context for sexual desire and expression.

Refusing to sign the pledge does not ban an individual from attending the house of worship, but it is a prerequisite membership, senior pastor Heath Lambert tells Rolling Stone.

In information accompanying the pledge, the church warns: “Your signature and updated contact information on this document is required by March 19, 2023, and will ensure your membership at First Baptist Church continues without any interruption.”

The megachurch’s effort to oust LGBTQ members is the latest manifestation of a reactionary zeitgeist now gripping Florida, one that Governor Ron DeSantis insists is making the Sunshine State the place where “woke goes to die.” The state government recently passed “Don’t Say Gay” legislation effectively outlawing LGBTQ education in public schools; it has also targeted racial minorities by banning the instruction of “critical race theory” and even blocking enrollment in a Black Studies Advanced Placement course. Despite centering the culture war in his church, Lambert insists: “I’m not a politician. I am a Christian.” 

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Florida High School Coach Paid Teen Girls for Nude Photos on Snapchat, Sheriff Says

A high school basketball coach and campus monitor in Martin County, Florida, was arrested for allegedly paying underage girls to send him nude photos on Snapchat.

Alton Edwards, 28, was allegedly paying the underage girls between $10 and $75 to send him the photos after targeting them over social media, according to West Palm Beach-based outlet WPTV. The Martin County Sheriff’s Office reportedly got an anonymous tip about Edwards and spoke with seven teenagers who claim they sent him explicit photos.

According to WPTV’s report, “most” of the young girls Edwards solicited were about 15 or 16 years old. 

“It looks like his major (modus operandi) would be to find the girls on Snapchat, take a look at their friends and then just start probing,” Sheriff William Snyder told the outlet. “Really, it’s grooming. He finds a child who might be more vulnerable, and he gets them to send pictures of them unclothed and sends them cash.”

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Killer Cop Executes Innocent Man for Standing in the Woods With with a Hatchet

On the day he was executed with a bullet to the head, Kevin Mahan had committed no crime. He was merely standing in the woods holding a hatchet — an act that millions of folks partake in every weekend while camping. Unfortunately for Mahan, a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Deputy was called to his location that day, and instead of being left alone, that JSO deputy executed him.

Mahan’s execution took place back on April 21, however, body camera was kept from the public until this week.

The deputy who executed Mahan has not been named as it is the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office policy to no longer identify officers involved in a shooting. A court ruling granted officers confidentiality under Marsy’s Law.

Marsy’s Law was started to protect the identity of victims of crimes by recognizing their right to privacy. Recently, however, unscrupulous police departments have been using it as a shield to protect the identity of killer cops. Cops, like the murderer in the video below, use Marsy’s Law to claim victim status in use-of-force cases where they claim the suspect was the aggressor.

While many suspects are the aggressor, Mahan was aggressing against no one and the only aggressive actions taken in his death were by the JSO deputy who put a bullet between his eyes.

According to police, their deputy confronted Mahan that morning after receiving a call about a “mentally ill man.” There was no report of a crime and though the sheriff’s office released Mahan’s previous record to smear him, on the day he was killed, Mahan had committed no crime at all.

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University of Florida Medical School Scrubs Web Pages of Woke Content in Wake of Exposé

The University of Florida College of Medicine is scrubbing “anti-racism” pages from its website in the wake of a report detailing the influence of leftwing ideology on the school’s curriculum.

The report from Do No Harm, a group opposed to identity politics in medical education, was released November 22 and highlighted a slew of activist statements by the public medical school, many of them posted to its official website. A week later—after a flurry of unflattering media coverage—the College of Medicine had taken down at least three of those posts, including a statement on the admissions office homepage declaring that “BLACK LIVES MATTER.”

That statement also condemned “systemic oppression” and touted the admissions office’s commitment to “equity in healthcare.” In addition, the school removed a webpage that offered a list of “resources for combating systemic racism,” including a set of guidelines instructing “white allies” to “assume racism is everywhere, every day,” and a page that described the school’s learning objectives related to “health equity.”

Though the College of Medicine declined to comment on the removal, it did offer an unsolicited defense of its admissions policies.

“We have a holistic admissions process that welcomes students from all backgrounds, including those from underrepresented backgrounds,” the medical school’s director of communications, Cody Hawley, said. “In accordance with state law, our admissions policy does not favor or give priority to any group.”

This is not the first time the medical establishment has backpedaled in the face of public scrutiny. Brigham and Women’s Hospital distanced itself last year from a proposal by two of its doctors, Bram Wispelwey and Michelle Morse, to offer “preferential care” to minority patients through the hospital’s cardiology service. And in January, Minnesota and Utah stopped rationing COVID drugs based on race after a Washington Free Beacon exposé drew attention to the practice.

Such initiatives nonetheless reflect a worldview that is being inculcated at medical schools across the country. Forty-four percent of medical schools now reward scholarship on “diversity, inclusion, and equity” through their promotion policies, according to a report this month by the Association of American Medical Colleges, while 70 percent mandate courses on “diversity, inclusion, or cultural competence.” The report also found that over a third of medical schools offer extra funding to departments that hit diversity goals, with half requiring diversity statements for job applicants.

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Circle K To Start Selling Marijuana At Its Florida Stores

In another big step along America’s path to normalizing the use of a once-taboo plant, major convenience-store chain Circle K will begin selling marijuana at its Florida gas stations. 

Circle K’s foray into the marijuana business will go live in 2023, through a partnership with Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries, a medical and recreational cannabis wholesaler and retailer with a presence in 15 states. Florida’s marijuana market is the country’s second largest, trailing only California.  

Green Thumb CEO Ben Kovler calls the new venture a “game-changer”: 

“The new RISE Express model is a huge step forward in making it easier and more efficient for patients to purchase high-quality cannabis as part of their everyday routine when stopping by their local convenience store.” 

Circle K parent Couche-Tard is a global pioneer. “Legal marijuana has so far been sold only in stand-alone dispensaries in the US and within pharmacies in countries such as Uruguay and Germany,” reports Bloomberg. Couche-Tard also has a Canadian convenience-store cannabis pilot with Fire & Flower.

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A Texas roofer tried to help Floridians recover from Hurricane Ian. Then he was arrested because he didn’t have a Florida contractor’s license

A Texas roofer was arrested in Florida for repairing homes without a license in what critics are calling an egregious case of no good deed going unpunished.

Terence Duque, the owner of Duque Roofing, was arrested last Friday for conducting business without a Florida license, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said.

Duque is a licensed contractor in Texas. His business was founded in 2008 and is a Platinum Preferred Contractor of the national roofing supply company Owens Corning. He and other Duque Roofing employees traveled to Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian believing that Gov. Ron DeSantis had permitted out-of-state contractors to conduct business in Florida to speed up recovery efforts.

The company has previously assisted with hurricane relief and its website says that employees provide tarps, food, and water for those impacted by severe storms. Posts on social media show that Duque Roofing held a BBQ on Oct. 9 with the help of Miami-Dade County police.

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Steinhatchee Church Deacon Convicted Of Production Of Child Pornography

Jonathan High, 30, of Steinhatchee, Florida, has been convicted of two counts of use of a child to produce child pornography. The guilty verdict, returned yesterday, at the conclusion of a one-day bench trial, was announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. Prior to the trial, High pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. 

In August 2021, law enforcement officers received a Cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that a user of a cloud storage account uploaded files constituting child pornography. An investigation revealed the account belonged to High. Law enforcement officers obtained a search warrant for High’s cell phones and desktop computer, and after an examination of their contents, confirmed that High was in possession of multiple child pornography images and videos that depicted prepubescent boys engaged in sex acts or exposing their genitals in a lascivious manner.  Further investigation revealed that some of these images and videos were produced by High personally; High produced separate video recordings of two young boys using the bathroom in a Perry, Florida church where High served as a deacon.

High’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 9, 2023, at 1:30 p.m., at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee before United States District Judge Allen Winsor. High faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years in prison and a combined maximum of 70 years in prison for all three counts.

This conviction was the result of a joint investigation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Assistant United States Attorneys Justin M. Keen and Kaitlin Weiss prosecuted the case. 

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