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Arrest warrant issued for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones
- Kim_Bruning 6y agoIs there any way in which people can help her here?
- Grazester 6y agoI believe this is her gofundme https://www.gofundme.com/f/DefendScience https://www.gofundme.com/f/DefendScience
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- tyingq 6y agoShe does appear to have legal representation with the right kind of experience. Stephen Dobson, from this firm https://www.ddslaw.net/Attorneys/ https://www.ddslaw.net/Attorneys/ will be her criminal defense lawyer. She's also already filed a civil case. A sibling comment is linked to her GoFundMe, which appears to be about halfway to it's 500k goal.
- MisterBastahrd 6y agoHow many other instances are out there where authorities "can't say what someone is charged with" until they're in custody. This smells like a CYA deal with DeSantis and his partisan bungling of the COVID crisis.
- sonotathrowaway 6y agoHaving cops invade her home and hold her children at gunpoint didn’t scare her into becoming his scapegoat, so it’s important to escalate the campaign of violence against her.
- koolba 6y ago> Having cops invade her home and hold her children at gunpoint didn’t scare her into becoming his scapegoat, so it’s important to escalate the campaign of violence against her. You make it sound like the police broke into her home and deliberately pointed weapons at her children. That’s completely bullshit. The police had a warrant signed by a judge. They repeatedly asked her to open the door, she refused. This went on for over 20 minutes. When they eventually did get inside, they’re entering a premise where the suspect had already demonstrated to not be cooperating and it’s standard practice to enter with your weapon drawn. You could argue with whether the warrant itself is justified. But the police did everything the way they’re supposed to and the only person who put those children at risk was the mother who refused to cooperate with a legally signed warrant.
- bitexploder 6y agoShe didn’t know if she was being arrested and was in pajamas. I’ve read of other famous people being given plenty of time (in FL) to get ready before a search warrant is executed. Considering what we know about Florida and what is happening there with COVID and it’s reporting, I am willing to give her the benefit of doubt. Plus the pretext of the warrant is bad. “Cops just doing their job” doesn’t matter when it is a politically motivated state actor. They are the state and a part of the machine being used to violate her rights.
- MeinBlutIstBlau 6y agoFighting against the state is like skipping boulders on water. You're gonna need a massive amount of momentum behind it to get it to work.
- yanderekko 6y ago>I’ve read of other famous people being given plenty of time (in FL) I wouldn't call it an injustice that she wasn't granted some sort of special treatment that's normally reserved for "famous people".
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- ineedasername 6y agoAFAIK, an arrest warrant isn't required for felonies. It's required for misdemeanors unless the crime is witnessed by an officer. That may point towards this not being a major infraction to begin with. Either way, it really is looking more & more like harassment
- orangecat 6y agoPlease define "partisan bungling" given that Florida has a lower death rate(1) and faster vaccine rollout(2) than the US average, while keeping schools open in accordance with expert recommendations. (1): https://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/?chart=states-normalized&highlight=Florida&show=us-states&y=both&scale=linear&data=deaths&data-source=jhu&xaxis=left#states-normalized https://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/?chart=states... (2): https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/?fbclid=IwAR2xhYewE64LLrd3jy3dxLj8jhaSI_JGv-OfHTyh-8NEZuRPTCk9Q6W5-0Y https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-glo...
- jkhdigital 6y agoShhh! Can't let the facts get in the way of a good narrative.
- gnusty_gnurc 6y agoFunny to see you getting downvotes when you’re entirely correct. I wonder if the downvote brigade thinks Cuomo/Murphy did a good job.
- ineedasername 6y agoThat's the whole point of this thing: You're pointing to Florida's numbers and assuming "no bungling". This person arrested is alleging that Florida has been fudging the numbers to make their situation look much better than it is.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- orangecat 6y agoThis person arrested is alleging that Florida has been fudging the numbers to make their situation look much better than it is. Except she's not. Here's the dashboard that she set up after being fired: https://floridacovidaction.com/ https://floridacovidaction.com/. And here's the official state data: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/96dd742462124fa0b38ddedb9b25e429 https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/96dd742462124fa0b38.... The numbers are virtually identical. There is exactly as much evidence for the claim that Florida is falsifying data as there is for the claim that Trump really won the election.
- cascom 6y agoIt does, but it’s also SOP with the police, if someone speaks out against them or if they come up empty handed charge them with something so as to not look stupid.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- clcuc 6y agoWhat does CYA mean in this context? Sorry about the ignorance.
- grzm 6y agocover your ass
- fdschoeneman 6y agoProbably millions of instances. I think I'd prefer the state not announce what it is charging people with. Once she's charged, she should be able to say so. But consider the possibility one is falsely accused of rape. In my case, I'd want the charge kept private until the courts sorted things out. Or until I was falsely imprisoned at least.
- staticman2 6y agoA basic aspect of the court system is the public should know what the court is doing. The last thing you want is secret courts and secret police disappearing people. At any rate the charges will be public after she is arrested as required by law.
- fdschoeneman 6y agoAn accused person can and should be able to say whatever she wants about her accusations and the process. There are instances where they can't in the US and I think that is wrong. I'm not arguing in favor of secret courts. I'm arguing in favor of preserving a person's reputation until and unless the person can be proven guilty. Or at least until facts have been reasonably well established in court.
- staticman2 6y agoBut if the court proceeding where the charges are stated against a newly arrested person aren't open I'm saying it's a secret court. They have this sort of thing in some countries like China where the government arrests someone and nobody knows why. It's not a great thing.
- Pfhreak 6y agoThis is an obviously politically motivated use of state violence, and I hope this case goes in her favor.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- anonu 6y agoHow can you pass judgement without knowing all the facts? Clearly there's still more to this story...
- thaumasiotes 6y ago> How can you pass judgement without knowing all the facts? From the article, and quite shocking: > The Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed there is a warrant for Jones’ arrest but said it cannot disclose what charges she faces until she is in custody.
- lawnchair_larry 6y agoIf you read the facts available, it appears that this isn’t the case at all, and it seems that we’re being sold a politically motivated narrative once again.
- DaniloDias 6y agoIn this media climate? What an aberration! </s>
- fdschoeneman 6y agoI think it would be helpful if you let us know why you believe it is obvious.
- josho 6y agoIn what sane world do you merit a police raid for publishing public health data? Assuming the worst that she accessed a computer she was not authorized to access. This data, in the aggregate, is public data. Regardless innocent until proven guilty applies. And to date the state hasn’t even made their charges public which seems ridiculous. ‘I have an arrest warrant for you, but I can’t tell you the charge’.
- BrianOnHN 6y agoThis weekend I heard directly from a current DOT employee, formerly Dept Of Health, in the FL capitol: "We were just following the WHO recommendations." "She's just a web developer and doesn't understand anything about the numbers."
- nosmokewhereiam 6y agoThe web developer part is character assassination at its finest. "Just a web developer...what could she know"
- kordlessagain 6y agoJavaScript, for one thing.
- xwdv 6y agoNot a good start.
- neffy 6y agoI suspect the key word there is "she".
- fdschoeneman 6y agoNo it isn't. She was paid as a web developer by the state. Simultaneously, the state has actual data scientists it was paying to look at this data and provide analysis. I'm open to the idea she was and is a data scientist, nevertheless the state was not paying her for that. It was paying her to publish on official state website(s) data and analysis provided by the state's official, paid data scientists.
- nix23 6y ago>>with dual degrees in earth science and journalism in 2012 >>received a dual master's degree in geography and mass communication >>where she completed course work with an emphasis on data science and was working on a doctoral dissertation titled Using Native American Sitescapes to Extend the North American Paleotempestological Record Through Coupled Remote Sensing and Climatological Analysis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebekah_Jones https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebekah_Jones ...Just a Webdeveloper
- spodek 6y agoDeSantis couldn't do a better job of turning her into a hero and himself into a villain. What do you think will come next? I see her winning a lawsuit against him or some part of the state.
- cascom 6y agoThe cynic in me sees her defending herself from criminal charges for the next several years, then being unsuccessful in a civil suit due to no smoking gun of malicious prosecution for a few years after that, and ultimately no one will remember or care, and DeSantis will be out of work or on to another job, but he’s effectively solved this problem.
- ykevinator 6y agoI really hate "data scientist" it elevates glorified excel users to the level of physicists
- ashwal 6y agoWhat a weird story that keeps getting weirder. I am a data scientist who spent June in Tallahassee helping coordinate state-wide COVID testing with FDEM (Florida Department of Emergency Management) and state health officials. Everyone I worked with was pretty dedicated to getting the roll out right (including the governor and his appointees too..) My data & work was spread far and wide with no issue - but just a personal anecdote
- jkhdigital 6y agoAgreed--as a Florida resident, I have heard a variety of highly-charged opinions on this story from many of my fellow residents, but very few hard facts to confirm or deny any particular narrative. I think the raid on Ms. Jones home was a grotesque and unwarranted use of police force, but I also think her "whistle-blowing" story is highly questionable based on the facts available.
- xibalba 6y agoIf you have few hard facts, how are you evaluating the justification for raiding her home?
- jkhdigital 6y agoThe raid on her home is one event which is pretty well documented, and I have little tolerance for militarized police tactics in general.
- kasey_junk 6y agoIt’s fairly easy to reconcile the opinions “I’m not sure if she has done something criminal” and “the police used excessive and intentionally intimidating force when other safer options were open to them”.
- mdoms 6y agoI'd suggest you have a look at how policing is done outside of USA. A raid on someone's home is almost never justified - it would take highly exceptional circumstances to make a "normal" police force perform like that.
- gigatexal 6y agoFrom the gofundme: “ Lawyer's fees, private investigators, an armed security guard for my home since the police published my home address and contact information online, moving expenses so my family can get out of the Governor's reach, and any costs associated with this fight that I may not be anticipating. My family and I will need to move and get set up in a new place.” Holy hell it’s like she pulled a Snowden or something. All she did was be good at her job and tell the truth. Just another reason for me to never live in Florida.
- orangecat 6y agoAll she did was be good at her job and tell the truth. What "truth" do you think she was exposing? The original dispute that caused her to leave her job was a boring technical dispute about whether to automatically publish data from PDFs or to have it reviewed for accuracy first: https://polimath.substack.com/p/a-long-one-about-the-florida-data https://polimath.substack.com/p/a-long-one-about-the-florida.... Despite insinuations from various irresponsible media figures, there is zero evidence that Florida is falsifying data.
- onionisafruit 6y agoIs this case all they have when they accuse Florida of falsifying covid data? I assumed there was more but never looked into it.
- treis 6y agoThere was also some controversy of counting those that died in Florida but were not residents of Florida. A marginal difference, but not anything that big.
- pX3q54Q55945w7E 6y agoHer “data” that she publishes on her website was always within 5% of what my Florida county publishes, and within the same margin of what I see on NYT or any other website. I say it’s close enough, so she didn’t expose diddly squat. What she did do is access a state computer system without authorization. That’s a crime, and her guilt or innocence will play out in court... like with other crimes. There’s no story here, except about a hysterical, attention-seeking woman who poked the wrong bear. Good luck to her. If nothing else, I hope she learns a lesson.
- ocschwar 6y agoThe previous allegation against her was something that would make her the hero even if she was guilty. It was a charge of "making good trouble", albeit one that would put her away for a long time under the CFAA.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- CapitalistCartr 6y agoWhile the State has handled this case wrong, she is not innocent in this. She made a bunch of drama about her interpretation of the data, which was, at best, no better than the State's method, and more likely, she was flat-out wrong. She is mostly a drama queen making a crazy mess.
- tyingq 6y ago"not innocent" Like criminally not innocent? Not clear on what you mean hear.
- CapitalistCartr 6y agoThe State of Florida has handled the case in a Hollywood-level of bungling, thuggish ineptitude. Both sides in this case are dirty. As an active Floridian, I've followed the Covid numbers closely, and at first her story was deeply worrying. But her actual data arguments are idiotic. She doesn't understand data analysis at all. Meanwhile the State acts like the Mafia. Ron DeSantis has been one of the dumber governers we've had, and that's saying something. Regardless of her, I'd love to see him impeached over this.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- selimthegrim 6y agoCan you give an example of one of her idiotic arguments?
- jkhdigital 6y agoMy interpretation is that she's not the whistleblower she claims to be, and in fact has unfairly cast a dark shadow over the work of everyone else involved in Florida's Covid-19 dashboard through her accusations. Honestly, I think she was just attributing sinister motives to fairly inane bureaucratic decisions about data and reporting. But once she decided to go on CNN and lob accusations, this whole fiasco turned into a political Rorschach test that is completely unmoored from the underlying reality.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- Jackson12 6y agoIf a judge issued a warrant for her arrest there must be something there. So idk. Suppose it could still be selective enforcement.
- Hello71 6y agothis is way too optimistic for the US criminal justice system. police and prosecutors regularly lie on warrant applications, and judges regularly grant the flimsiest of justifications for search and arrest warrants. there is no legal accountability whatsoever: the most that defense attorneys can usually do in the case of illegal search warrants is to have the illegally seized evidence excluded; there is no punishment for the state using its immense power to harass and intimidate individuals.
- Jackson12 6y agoIf a cop willfully lies on a warrant they are generally civilly liable. I am by no means saying that no one in the criminal justice systems acts unethically. But if a judge signs a warrant for someone's arrest there is almost always good reason to suspect they committed a crime.
- Hello71 6y agoyes, and if a cop murders a civilian they are (supposed to be) liable, but innumerable news stories over the past... long time have shown that not to be the case far too often.
- Jackson12 6y agoI actually can think of no case where a cop clearly shot someone in bad faith and wasn't ultimately charged. It's much more often the case that the cop has some plausible argument that they made a bad decision in good faith. Which makes the cases very hard to prosecute. It's pretty seldom the case that prosecutors corruptly ignore clear cut misconduct. There are flaws in the justice system. And by no means is it totally fair. But in this sort of situation, where a judge has seen the evidence and issued a warrant, usually there is usually something there. It's very possible this is selective prosecution. But, I'll bet you a good sum of money at even odds that there's probable cause she committed a crime.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- ransom1538 6y agoThey have her ip address [1]. It is super easy to prosecute with her ip address marked on the sent message. I feel bad for her, but, why hand the prosecution so much (use a vpn)? This is like driving drunk with your headlights off. At this point, she will have to plead out. "An affidavit for the warrant claims that an unauthorized message sent from a state emergency management account on Nov. 10 was traced to an IP address associated with Jones." https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/09/raid-florida-doh-rebekah-jones-home-reaction/6505149002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/09/raid-f...
- tyingq 6y agoSome more details on the system she is alleged to have accessed: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/12/florida-posted-the-password-to-a-key-disaster-system-on-its-website/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/12/florida-posted-t...
- stevespang 6y agoObvious attempt to censor a whistleblower who is exposing the Florida Deep State Gov't.
- firstSpeaker 6y agoAnyone has the facts, that are out about this, subject noted to share? Too much speculations and armchair opinions re floating around.
- LatteLazy 6y agoWhat is the law that sending an anonymous messages saying "be a hero" breaks? It seems at worst to be spam and a raid for spamming a small number of people seems very heavy handed...
- tzm 6y agoDoes this news makes you nervous about moving to Florida?
- stretchcat 6y agoNo, that would be tweakers, alligators, and hurricanes.
- Triv888 6y agocoral snakes, rattle snakes, black widows and brown recluse spiders are fun too
- temptemptemp111 6y agoShe probably made unrelated mistakes they can get her on... This is just to set an example to not go against the narrative.
- LocalH 6y ago>After she was fired, Jones started her own online COVID-19 dashboard. But she said Saturday that she may no longer be allowed access to computers, the internet or other electronic devices as a condition of her release from jail pending trial. In the modern day, with so much that is online or involving computers, this should be considered unjust punishment, the likes of which should be reserved only for child molesters. Not speaking to the rest of the story. However, this by itself troubles me.
- tyingq 6y agoIt is curious that this sort of restriction is possible. I don't think I could pay most of my monthly bills without the internet, for example. I assume there's also many jobs that require home internet.
- sp332 6y agoIf she were providing a bogus view of the pandemic, there could be consequences for public health. That doesn't seem to actually be the case as far as I can tell, but the magnitude of the punishment seems about right for the alleged crime.
- 13415 6y agoI suppose you're being cynical or are joking. Literally millions of US citizens would have to be arrested if that was crime. AFAIK, she's being arrested for having accessed government databases after she had been fired, or something similar to that for which she was not fully authorized.
- pjc50 6y agoProviding a bogus view of the pandemic is mainstream US politics. You only get this kind of repressive treatment if you've embarrased the government, in this case the state of Florida.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- TomSwirly 6y ago
- chmaynard 6y agoThis comment thread is an example of social media at its absolute worst. Have an opinion? Big deal, everyone has an opinion. My advice is to keep it to yourself.
- vlozko 6y agoI mean, isn’t part of the reason we have comments is to discuss opinions? The majority (though not all) of the comments I’m reading here are saying that there’s not enough information to form a good, educated one.
- bitcurious 6y agoThere’s a lot of talk in this thread of whether Jones is a data scientist or not, but that talk is missing something crucial - it doesn’t take a data scientist to assemble basic reports about infection rates and mortality. Little to none of what differentiates “data scientist” from “data analyst” or “statistician” is involved in these reports. There is no massive data, no black-box modeling, really no new statistics at all - this stuff is well defined, except for the data itself. The main choice points are around specific decisions with regards to how interpret messy data. Those decisions require domain expertise and a deep familiarity with how various public agencies in Florida work. Perhaps Jones has that expertise, perhaps she doesn’t. A title of “data scientists” doesn’t change that.
- ineedasername 6y agoExcellent point. And important to remember that her claims really circle around interpretation. Measuring her claims really requires knowledges of how the state made its interpretation. If those interpretations don't correspond to how most other data outside of Florida is counted, then there is a problem. This is why data transparency is so important: Accurately understanding regional and nation trends can help inform where resources are dedicated and how the virus spreads.
- temp8964 6y agoRight now, she is apparently an activist. There is nothing wrong with being an activist. However, IMHO, being a "data scientist" is inherently incompatible with being an activist. No matter how qualified you were, once you became a passionate activist, you are no longer a "data scientist" or a "data analyst" or a "statistician" on the topic. Again, there is nothing wrong with being an activist, but you can't be both. I feel this is so obvious that requires no further explanation, but I might get massive downvotes for saying this.
- ZoomerCretin 6y agoFeeling that something requires no explanation is a rationalization for not having any explanation.
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- chha 6y agoShe's been released it seems, but has been "Censored by the state of Florida until further notice." according to her twitter feed. https://twitter.com/GeoRebekah/status/1350862633264672772 https://twitter.com/GeoRebekah/status/1350862633264672772
- MilnerRoute 6y agoCBS includes an additional detail: "Florida Department of Law Enforcement officials said Rebekah Jones has been under investigation since early November after someone illegally accessed the state’s emergency alert health system...." https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/e2-80-98censored-by-the-state-of-florida-e2-80-99-fired-covid-19-data-scientist-rebekah-jones-tweets-on-day-she-is-set-to-turn-self-in-to-face-new-charge/ar-BB1cPLDu https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/e2-80-98censored-by-the...
- easyas101110110 6y agoPolitical persecution of public interest dissidents at its finest.
- fat_pikachu 6y agoI’m seeing a lot of people posting conspiracy theories here and on social media. I wonder what makes this instance exceptional...