Bodycam video: COVID-19 analyst delayed cops serving warrant

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Bodycam video released by a Florida law enforcement agency on Thursday shows that officers tried multiple time to contact a former Department of Health employee who the state says sent an unauthorized message about COVID-19 data.

The more than 20 minutes of video released by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement shows officers knocking on Rebekah Jones' door multiple times and attempting to call her before serving a search warrant Monday morning.

“That was not smart what you’re doing, OK, you need to calm down and get your head put on right now because you’re making all the wrong decisions,” an officer said to Jones after she opened the door and law enforcement went inside with guns drawn. “I’m going to explain everything to you about why we’re here, but right now we’re off to a pretty rocky start. All you had to do was answer the door. There was no doubt who we were.”

Jones, who has not been charged with any crime for the message, said Thursday that she, her husband and two children were asleep when the officers arrived. Speaking in a YouTube interview with Florida Today, Jones said she needed to get dressed and told her husband to take the children upstairs because she thought the officers were arresting her and she didn't want them to see that.

She said she doesn't understand why the officers needed to raid her house with guns drawn.

“They were there to serve a search warrant for a computer. This was not an illegal, underground cartel,” she said. “There was no risk of danger and (the delay in opening the door) does not excuse that behavior.”

Attorney David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor who is not involved in the case, also thought the FDLE overreacted.

“Unless the hacker is hacking into a military...