Florida coronavirus data whistle-blower Rebekah Jones could face prison after agents raid home
- Rebekah Jones was fired from government job after she raised questions about Florida’s Covid-19 data
- Agents raided her home, investigate alleged hack into state’s emergency response system
A top data scientist who helped build Florida’s Covid-19 dashboard and alleges she was fired from her government job because she refused to manipulate data, could face five years in prison if charged with cybercrime offences.
The Tallahassee home of Rebekah Jones was raided on Monday by Florida law enforcement agents executing a search warrant on suspicion that Jones hacked into a state Department of Health communications system, said Rick Swearingen, commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Swearingen said agents “seized several devices that will be forensically analysed”. Jones, in a Twitter post, said her phone “and all my hardware and tech” were confiscated.
Jones posted home security camera footage of Monday’s raid on her Twitter account. It showed agents with weapons drawn, yelling at unseen people on a second floor to exit the home.
“They pointed a gun at my face. They pointed guns at my kids,” Jones wrote on Twitter.
Swearingen denied that agents pointed guns at anyone in the house.