"I would tell (the governor) to stop bullying kids."
Kevin Brown says Gov. DeSantis had no right to tell his son and the other high school students to take off their masks.
His son decided to keep his mask on during the press conference at USF.
@WFLA
"I took mine off."
"Did you feel pressure by the governor to do that?"
"A little."
This
@HillsboroughSch
senior's mom says she's very upset and it was "shocking" for Gov. DeSantis to ask her son & the other high school students to take off their masks.
LATEST CAPITOL RIOT ARREST IN TAMPA BAY (thread)
52-yr-old Audrey Southard-Rumsey from Spring Hill rushed away from federal court in Tampa after her first appearance Wednesday afternoon. Most serious charge is assault of a federal police officer.
@WFLA
Inbox: “I can't believe a grown man would bully high school students like that. He's clearly unhinged. The governor talks a lot about freedom, but only if he gets his way. That's not freedom, that's dictatorial and unacceptable,”
@NikkiFried
said.
NEW:
@GovRonDeSantis
annoyed with USF students—
"You do not have to wear those masks. Please take them off. Honestly, it's not doing anything. We've gotta stop with this Covid theater. So if you wanna wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous."
@WFLA
#BREAKING
@HillsboroughSch
Board votes 5-2 to reinstate a 30 day mask mandate with opt out option only for medical exceptions. Requirement applies to students, teachers and staff.
“I’m responsible for him and I told him to wear that mask.”
Tonight on
@WFLA
News Channel 8 at 11, a LIVE report on two students (& their parents) responding to Gov DeSantis telling them to take off their 😷 at the start of his news conference in Tampa.
"DC Taking it back!"
Like many of the more than 450 defendants nationwide, the
@FBI
identified Southard-Rumsey because of a tip about her own Facebook post from outside the US Capitol on January 6.
Here are the 9 criminal charges the Spring Hill music teacher is facing in connection to the DOJ investigation into the Jan 6 Capitol Riot. She was released back into the community on a $50K signature bond. She only pays IF she fails to show up for court.
“We may disagree on policies, but if we as leaders don’t denounce neo-Nazis and white supremacists in our state, in our country, what are we doing here?”
@nikkifried
said during her press conference Sunday in Tampa.
"Tell Pelosi we are coming for that b*tch."
The threat against the Speaker of the House is just one of the statements the FBI says Southard-Rumsey can be heard saying while inside the Capitol.
Not planning for a voter registration surge is voter suppression.
Not ensuring everyone who wants to register can do so is voter suppression.
Not extending the deadline is voter suppression.
@GovRonDeSantis
&
@FLSecofState
, you must extend the deadline.
"I don't care whether you've been vaccinated or not, because dead is dead."
Oak Hill Hospital CEO says beds, staff at breaking point in Brooksville hospital. He also speaks about the death of a 29-year-old EMT from
#covid19
.
via
@WFLASam
@WFLA
ICYMI: News of this arrest comes on the same day Tampa man Paul Hodgkins, who took a selife inside the Senate chamber, became one of the first defendants to enter a plea deal with the DOJ. He awaits sentencing on July 19.
One more detail from the complaint. It says
@FBITampa
had "previously had multiple interactions with Southard-Rumsey in relation to her protesting activities in
#Florida
."
This is the section of the criminal complaint documenting her assault on a
@CapitolPolice
Sergeant with a flagpole. That Sgt. told the FBI he hit the back of his head on the base of a statue and "felt like he was being trampled during the ordeal."
"She's living her dream at 22."
#GabbyPetito
's parents are in Wyoming where their daughter's cross country road trip came to a tragic end. In this never before seen clip from an interview on 9/14, Joseph and Tara Petito spoke of her love for travel.
@WFLA
Three days after Lakeland Police detained her for violating a noise ordinance, 13 year old Lillie Johnson and her mom are once again protesting the
#SCOTUS
decision overturning
#RoeVWade
.
@NikkiFried
, who shared video of the arrest, is scheduled to attend the demonstration.
'I'll kill them all':
@PolkCoSheriff
deputy arrested for threatening feds at U.S. Capitol, Sheriff Grady Judd says.
Deputy Peter Heneen has been suspended pending termination from the sheriff’s office
#BREAKING
Judge Cooper has issued his written order in the Florida school mask lawsuit trial. He writes the state of FL/Dept of Education are “ordered not to violate the Parents’ Bill of Rights by taking action to effect a blanket ban on face mask mandates by local school boards”
Commissioner
@NikkiFried
is urging
@HealthyFla
to go back to releasing daily covid19 reports. She noted weekly vaccine doses administered in FL was 334,064 compared to 288,870 the previous week (+45,194). Her closing message focused on getting
#vaccinated
.
#BREAKING
A judge has just denied the state of Florida's motion to dismiss a lawsuit that challenges
@GovRonDeSantis
order banning school mask mandates as unconstitutional.
BREAKING: ***"Standing is sufficiently pled"***
JUDGE: I don't make up the law. I try to figure out what it is. I think all 3 elements of standing in FEA v. DeSantis have been met.
"This case should be tried, and a record made."
MASK CASE WILL GO TO TRIAL NEXT WEEK.
@WFLA
Incredible.
Project DYNAMO rescued three premature babies from
#Ukraine
and safely transported them to Poland on Monday. Two are twin American boys.
The babies were transported in incubators by ambulance as
#Kyiv
was being shelled by Russian artillery
After 212 days in sanctuary at an Old Lyme church, an immigrant couple from Pakistan that sells Italian food in a city with strong Polish heritage gets to go home after ICE agreed to let appeals process play out in Federal court.
@NBCConnecticut
#NBCCT
"I have nothing but praise and compliments for the Department of Justice." Here's some of
@WFLA
sit down interview with defense attorney Patrick Leduc, who represents Hodgkins, about the complex DOJ investigation into what happened six months ago Sunday.
"This is what is sad. We are bringing 8 & 10 year olds to the bedside of their parents to say their last goodbyes." Listen to emotional plea by Dr. Timothy Regan/Lakeland Regional Health for the unvaccinated during Florida covid surge.
@FLHealthPolk
@WFLA
"There's nothing that gives the governor authority to draw these maps,"
@FentriceForFL
says after
@FLHouseDems
protest during legislative special session. "We did the best that we could to speak up for the people of
#Florida
, to stand up for black voices."
New:
@RonDeSantisFL
sent out this campaign fundraiser email following yesterday’s incident asking the high school students to take their masks off. (Had he walked up to the podium and said nothing I would not have interviewed those families last night).
This is a mug shot from a prior arrest for 38-year-old Paul Rae of Largo. He is the latest
#Florida
man to face federal charges in connection to the Jan. 6
#CapitolRiot
. Prosecutors say he traveled to DC as an associate of the Proud Boys.
@WFLA
SPECIAL DELIVERY: With the park closed due to the
#coronavirus
pandemic,
@BuschGardens
brought a truck filled with close to 6 thousand lbs. of food to donate to
@FeedingTampaBay
. Catch our story tonight on
@WFLA
News at 6.
"Somebody came from out of state, preyed upon these people, lured them with promises of a better life,"
@BexarCoSheriff
Salazar says of opening investigation into migrants flown from TX to FL to Martha's Vineyard.
@WFLA
"Social media has been amazing & very influential,"
@josephpetito
said at
#GabbyPetito
family news conference. "To be honest, it should continue for other people, too. This same type of heightened awareness should be continued for everyone."
@WFLA
@ChrisSprowls
"We have the right to be in the people's house. We didn't tear up nothing, we didn't break anything,"
@micheleforfl
says responding to
@SpencerRoachFL
tweet saying "House Democrats are staging an insurrection."
#BREAKING
@HillsboroughSch
district had responded to
@EducationFL
Commissioner Corcoran saying it’s 30 day mask mandate “is in full compliance with all state laws,” citing Judge Cooper’s ruling last Friday in favor of parents suing Gov DeSantis, DOE.
NEW one line response from Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino saying the family camped from 9/6-9/7 which contradicts record showing an end date of Sept 8. He says “they all left the park.”
I have sent follow up questions.
@WFLAJosh
@WFLAJB
@WFLA
@MJAlex2020
The
@gwupoe
reports that Florida is home to the most Capitol Riot defendants. With today's arrest of the Spring Hill woman, my count is up to at least 46.
I asked
@PressSec
about
@GovRonDeSantis
saying it's unfair FL is receiving less money in American Rescue Plan b/c of lower unemployment rate. She also gave credit to local govts for following
#covid19
guidelines when the state did not mandate them.
@WFLA
#BREAKING
Three more arrests today out of Florida Middle District connected with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Photo from
@WFLAStaci
on scene of FBI raid in Polk County. Federal court records show three new defendants face assault charges.
@WFLA
MAJOR CAPITOL RIOT INDICTMENT OF FIVE FROM TAMPA BAY (thread)
Prosecutors say a group of five individuals, including a brother & sister from Lakeland, charged at police lines, stole riot shields & threw objects at police protecting the US Capitol.
@WFLA
Take a look at part of the block long Back the Blue mural painted downtown on Madison St. next to the
#Tampa
Police Department. Video courtesy of a
@WFLA
photojournalist.
North Port Police spokesperson tells
@WFLANiko
that Gabby’s mom Nichole Schmidt made these calls on Sept. 10, but officers did not respond to the Laundrie home on Wabasso Ave. until the next day after missing person report was filed with Suffolk County PD in NY.
#GabbyPetito
Police were called to the Laundrie house two times the day before Gabby Petito was reported missing.
Reports attached. Police redacted the narratives.
Reports say: "Problem Settled"
"He was a coward then. He's a coward now."
@PolkCoSheriff
Grady Judd, who serves on the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, reacts to the jury finding ex-Parkland School Resource Officer Scot Peterson not guilty on all counts.
"It was never brought to my attention, I think it's another Russia hoax," President Trump says in response to
@EvanDonovan
's question about not asking Vladimir Putin about the reports on Russians placing bounties on US soldiers.
@WFLA
The Oak Hill Hospital CEO went on to say he doesn't have the staff to take care of the really sick patients.
"And it's totally unnecessary if people would get the
#vaccine
, if people would wear mask and wash their hands."
@WFLA
More fallout at
@sao13th
following
@GovRonDeSantis
removal of
@AndrewWarrenFL
.
Chief Communications Officer Melanie Snow-Waxler says she was terminated from the job on Friday.
Her attorney says it is "part of a troubling pattern of retaliation."
The Trop just lit up moments ago as
@RaysBaseball
wins Game One of the ALCS against the Astros, 2-1. Game two tomorrow afternoon. First pitch at 4:07.
@WFLA
Here's our full report on
@WFLA
News at 11 about this busy day of developments for two of the Capitol Riot defendants from the Tampa Bay area. Stay with 8 On Your Side as we continue tracking several local cases moving through the federal court system.
"I'm immune compromised, my mother is immune compromised, I have a nephew that's immune compromised," Dawn Marshall told me last night when I asked why she still wants her high school aged son to wear a mask in school.
@WFLA
“I really hope that Gabby inspires others to be empowered and be able to get out of a bad situation safely,"
@Nikischmidt927
said.
@gabbsfoundation
partnered with Just Help Out Foundation for a fundraiser Thursday night at Topgolf in Tampa.
#GabbyPetito
In lieu of flowers for the service, please send donations for the Future Gabby Petito Foundation through the Johnny Mac Foundation at or
We Thank you for all the support💙🦋🌈
"I can tell you I don't do this for money."
Following the vote, I asked Sarasota School Board chair Shirley Brown about the likelihood the Florida Department of Education will try to strip her salary because of the vote to bring back a mask mandate.
@WFLA
Before this evening’s rally in Sanford, Joe Biden released a statement saying Trump has “no plan to get this virus that has taken the lives of over 15K Floridians under control.”
@WFLA
#Florida
leads the nation as home to 52 of the 500+ defendants charged in connection to the January 6 Capitol Riot.
Here’s a thread on 33 yr old Mitchell Gardner who had been booked in
@SheriffPinellas
Jail Friday before release to US Marshals.
@WFLA
“Everything that we thought was settled law is on the chopping block,”
@NikkiFried
says.
She joined
@micheleforfl
in Dunedin to speak with voters about reproductive rights, access to abortion and the implications of the
#SCOTUS
overturning
#RowVWade
#Breaking
Evacuate now notice sent out in Manatee County as a collapse and the release of hundreds of millions of gallons of wastewater could happen at any moment at the Piney Point phosphogypsum stack.
@WFLA
“You are not just standing for yourself, you are standing for all of us”
@mayawiley
told the New College of FL graduates at their "alternative" commencement. Ceremony comes same week
@GovRonDeSantis
signed 3 higher ed bills into law on the Sarasota campus.
"We're going to have more Floridians settling disputes in grocery stores, movie theaters and restaurants with gunfire."
Parkland families and groups working to end gun violence protested proposed
#Florida
gun laws outside St. Pete City Hall.
"Enough is enough, you can't clean up somebody else's house if your own house is dirty."
Here's part of
@TitusONeilWWE
's passionate speech at
@TampaPD
. He's wearing a Cassius Clay shirt on the 4th anniversary of
#MuhammadAli
's passing.
#Tampa
@WFLA
Moments earlier first responders rushed in to help another man that
#NBCCT
photographer
@trevor51977
saw fall to the ground on the New Haven Green
#NBCCT
New statement from Mary C. Mayhew, President and CEO of
@FLHospitalAssn
:
“There can be no question that many Florida hospitals are stretched to their absolute limits.”
(1/2)
The crowds gathered in downtown Tampa on the eve of Super Bowl LV.
City put in place a mask ordinance ahead of
#SBLV
events but compliance here is at best guess maybe around 50%.
Florida has never had a statewide 😷 order during the coronavirus pandemic.
"I want justice for him and I will not stop until he gets it."
The girlfriend of one of the victims from the fishing trip triple murder in Frostproof says
@PolkCoSheriff
Judd shook her hand and promised he will not stop until justice is served.
@WFLA
#BREAKING
Former Democratic presidential candidate
@PeteButtigieg
will campaign for the Biden-Harris ticket Wednesday in Tampa and St. Pete. One event is with veterans and the second is “Pride at the Polls” to mobilize the LGBTQ+ community.
#Election2020
The written order formalizes Judge Cooper's findings from Friday, when he ruled that Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Department of Education exceeded their authority in prohibiting local school districts from requiring students to wear masks in schools.
"Were you concerned about your niece's wellbeing?"
"I was,"
#HarmonyMontgomery
's great uncle tells
@WFLA
.
Kevin Montgomery witnessed abuse according to court documents from the arrest of the missing girl's father. He just wants her found soon.
@WFLAJB
#Breaking
After 5 hour emergency meeting, Sarasota School board voted 3-2 for 90 day mask mandate that can be suspended if county positivity rate drops below 8% for three consecutive days. Another Florida district defies gov’s directive on masks in schools
“The Constitutional rights promised to all Americans do not come with an asterisk that says “unless Gov. DeSantis disagrees with you.”
Here’s the full letter from the
@UnitedFacultyFL
(via
@MahsaWho
) responding to Gov. DeSantis’ education agenda.
@WFLA
“What more can we do to impress upon people this is real.”
Tampa General Hospital released this second video featuring its frontline COVID-19 team that is caring for more than 250 covid patients, 112 in ICU.
(Trimmed slightly/ full video here):
"But (
@josephpetito
) feels really strongly that there's more that can be done to protect people like Gabby, who were victims of domestic violence. And I agree with him,"
@GovRonDeSantis
said about his call with
#GabbyPetito
's father.
@wfla
"There are the stages of grief and one of them is bargaining."
I asked Dr. Regan of Lakeland Regional Health if hospitalized patients have expressed regret about not getting the vaccinated.
He also gives explanation how
#covid19
vaccine works.
@WFLA
"Absolutely this safe would have saved Ethan’s life" Mike Song said showing
@NBCConnecticut
how a biometric gun safe works. A few hours later Kristin Song shared an emotional reflection on losing her youngest child &
@GovNedLamont
signed
@EthansLaw2
#NBCCT
A Polk County woman is latest person from
#Florida
to be arrested in connection to Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Federal court records say Corinne Montoni is accused of tampering/destruction of records/documents & violent entry/disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds
Inbox:
@HillsboroughSch
Board has called an emergency meeting for Wednesday with 5,599 students and 316 employees isolated or quarantined because of positive
#covid19
test or close contact/possible exposure.
#Breaking
@PascoSheriff
deputies are at the home of missing 34-yr-old
#KatheenMoore
’s boyfriend in New Port Richey. She was last seen in this area around 1am on Nov. 29. Friend tells
@WFLA
a homeless man found her cell phone in nearby Walgreens dumpster.
The NFL has several covid safety measures in place at Raymond James Stadium for the game, including giving the limited number of fans masks.
NFL Chief Medical Officer says mask wearing is “probably the most important risk mitigation strategy.”
#SBLV
Gabby’s father Joseph Petito and stepfather Jim Schmidt spoke at her memorial service.
“And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree. There will be an answer,
#LetItBe
,” Schmidt said quoting the song tattooed on her arm.
#GabbyPetito
Good luck to all the students starting the new school year in
#NewHaven
today.
How about this first day of school
#TBT
photo from high school with my sister (the year after the Red Sox 2004 World Series).
#NBCCT
#backtoschool
#BREAKING
New statement from
@NorthPortPolice
after family of Brian Laundrie spoke with police Friday because they claim they “have not seen Brian since Tuesday of this week.”
@WFLA
As a freshman,
@YaleLacrosse
midfielder Brian Tevlin won a national championship.
As a sophomore, he sacrificed playing time in order to donate bone marrow to a man fighting a life-threatening disease.
Why he signed up for
@BeTheMatch
on
@NBCConnecticut
News at 6.
#NBCCT
“
#Florida
needs a governor that will unequivocally, forcefully, condemn hate. Gov. DeSantis is coddling anti-Semitism because he views these extremists as part of his political base. It’s just another reason he must be replaced in Nov.”
@CharlieCrist
said.
UPDATE: New Haven Police Chief tells me initial samples of drugs sent to DEA labs came back as pure K2, not laced with something else. He says DEA will do tests on additional evidence collected on the Green that was sent to their lab.
#NBCCT
A chaotic day for first responders on the New Haven Green. Number of suspected overdose patients from bad batch of laced K2 continues to rise. Photos from last 30 minutes
@NBCConnecticut
#NBCCT
Brandon Rollins' father described for 8 On Your Side the final phone call from his son which led to the gruesome discovery near the lake. All his heartbroken mom wants right now is justice for her son and his two best friends.
@WFLA