Free Republic

Nooo! That’s not how you do it! While trying to take a photo with a lemon shark during a birthday fishing trip Saturday in Cayo Costa, Florida, things ended up going horribly wrong for Shawn Meuse, per Gulf Coast News. Making a recovery at Gulf Coast Medical Center, Meuse said he had a hold of the shark as he prepared to let it go back into the water when the bite took place. (RELATED: Australian Surfer Sees Board Get Smashed In Half By Great White Shark) “You don’t know what a wild animal is going to do, you know? So...

Today, the James Madison Institute (JMI) released a new report examining Florida’s two-decade journey to becoming a national model for election integrity, transparency, and accessibility. Following Florida’s efforts after the 2000 election, JMI notes that the legislative efforts and administrative reforms demonstrate how the state has implemented changes aimed at ensuring secure, accurate, and transparent elections for voters. Key reforms include: • Statewide voter registration database for real-time, accurate voter rolls • Strict photo ID requirements and signature verification at polls • Secure ballot intake stations with daily monitoring • Creation of an Election Crimes Office to investigate fraud and...

A grieving husband witnessed the Tuesday execution of the man who abducted and killed his wife from a Florida insurance office over four decades ago — stating he “made a promise” to see her tragic case through. Randy White, 70, lost his wife, Janet Renee White, after she was abducted, raped, and stabbed to death by Kayle Bates in 1982 — just minutes after he last said goodbye to her, USA Today reported. Bates, 67, died by lethal injection at 6:17 p.m. Tuesday at Florida State Prison under a death warrant signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. It was the...

A Florida man repeatedly used his sprinkler system to hose down special needs children as they got on and off their school bus, police have said. Antonio Roman, 61, was arrested by deputies with Marion County Sheriff's Office after repeatedly using the sprinkler system on the family next door to him in Ocala. Officials say he intentionally activated the sprinklers twice daily, when his two victims departed for school and again when they returned. Deputies said the father of the children had to resort to wearing a swim suit to shield his children, who use wheelchairs, from the repeat behavior....

A 71-year-old Florida woman is behind bars after authorities say she lured a father and his two daughters to her property and held them at gunpoint in a bizarre case that’s left authorities reeling over what caused this strange incident. According to the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Department, Helen Litchfield has been charged with three counts of kidnapping, three counts of aggravated assault, and one count of armed burglary. She was arrested Friday and booked into the Wakulla County Jail. The incident began on August 4, when a father and his two daughters, both under the age of 13, were fishing...

‘They have no business messing around with our city government.’ State-appointed auditors came to St. Petersburg Wednesday to begin two days reviewing spending by Mayor Ken Welch and the majority Democratic-led City Council. Confronting them was a group of local residents in front of City Hall who declared they didn’t trust what the DeSantis administration says is the motivation for looking into local government spending. Mimicking the federal initiative led by Elon Musk in the first months of the second Trump administration, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis introduced Florida’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) earlier this year, describing it as an...

Man in U.S. illegally charged after crash kills 3 on Florida Turnpike ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — An illegal immigrant has been arrested in connection with a deadly crash on Florida's Turnpike. The crash occurred around 3 PM on Tuesday near Fort Pierce. Troopers said a semi-truck tried making a U-turn in an 'official use only' area, causing a minivan to crash into the truck. Three of the minivan's passengers died. The driver, Harjinder Singh, has now been charged with three counts of vehicular homicide. Officials said he entered the US illegally by crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in 2018....

The Brief: -A federal judge ruled Florida’s restrictions on transgender teachers’ pronouns violate civil-rights law. -The case is on hold while a Georgia appeal on similar issues is pending. -The outcome could shape workplace protections for transgender employees across the Southeast. A federal judge in Florida has ruled that the state’s law requiring teachers to use pronouns that match a student’s sex at birth amounts to discrimination, conflicting with federal protections against employment discrimination based on sex. SNIP What we don't know: While Walker declared the law discriminatory, he stopped short of issuing an injunction or awarding damages. The future...

The Brief: -Eight people have been arrested after a violent brawl at Lake Winterset on Aug. 2 was caught on cellphone video and posted to social media, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said. -Deputies said the fight left two people temporarily unconscious, occurred on posted private property, and took place in front of children and other witnesses. -The suspects face charges including rioting, affray, trespassing, disorderly conduct, and in one case, contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Eight people have been arrested in connection with a violent brawl earlier this month at Lake Winterset that left two participants temporarily...

Every day, passengers are caught at U.S. airport security checkpoints attempting to smuggle illegal drugs, weapons and various forms of contraband. But a recent incident drew special attention from the Transportation Security Administration. “We’re back with another desperate plea to stop hiding animals in weird places on your body before airport security,” the TSA posted to X on Tuesday, alongside two photographs. “According to the report… ‘passenger divested two turtles from her breast area.’”

A Florida traveler was caught trying to smuggle two turtles through airport security by hiding them in her bra — prompting authorities to beg fliers not to stash things in “weird places.” The woman, who was not identified, was stopped at a Miami International Airport checkpoint with the reptiles wrapped in gauze and plastic, according to photos shared by the Transportation Security Administration on Facebook on Thursday. One of the turtles tragically died, but the surviving one was handed over to the Florida Department of Fish and Wildlife, officials said. “Friends, please – and we cannot emphasize this enough –...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Thursday announced the soon-to-be opening of a second illegal immigration detention center in the state called the “Deportation Depot,” explaining that the demand is now here for it. DeSantis made the announcement during a press conference in Florida’s Baker County. He explained that they were originally considering Camp Blanding for the second immigration detention center, until they stumbled upon an unused portion of the Baker Correctional Institution, which already had so much of the infrastructure they were looking for, saving millions of dollars. Further, he noted that Camp Blanding’s runway did not have the...

‘These types of smears are directly contributing to our officers facing a 1000% increase in assaults against them,’ said DHS’s McLaughlin. Americans’ trust in corporate media has plummeted to its lowest level in more than five decades, according to Gallup polling. That trust gap should come as no surprise when reading the propaganda press’s hyperbolic coverage of the Trump administration’s immigration law enforcement policies. Department of Homeland Security officials say reporting on Alligator Alcatraz, the new Florida Everglades-based holding facility for illegal aliens facing deportation, has been drenched in “lies” and “baseless allegations.” “Nearly every single day, my office responds...

BAKER COUNTY, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that the Baker County Correctional Institution will become Florida’s second immigration detention facility, replacing plans for Camp Blanding. The decision to use a portion of the empty Baker County facility, which was vacated in 2021, was driven by cost considerations and existing infrastructure, allowing the state to operationalize the facility within two weeks at a cost of $6 million, DeSantis said. “We have what we want at Alligator Alcatraz,” said DeSantis, emphasizing the demand for additional detention capacity. The Baker County Correctional Institution will have the capacity to house over 1,300...

Newly released video captured the moment the winner of a $167.3 million Powerball jackpot got tackled and tased by Florida police after kicking a deputy in the head. Bodycam footage from the April 29 brawl caught James Farthing, 50, booting a Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputy in the head when police arrived at the TradeWinds Resort, in St. Pete Beach, after he allegedly punched a hotel guest in the face, WFLA reported. The deputy was holding another person to the ground when Farthing ran up and kicked him, with resort security rushing in to pin the suspect against the wall and...

A wild brawl broke out among a group of swimsuit-clad boaters at a Florida lake over the weekend — in which one man was knocked unconscious and left floating face down in the water, shocking video shows. The unruly fight happened at Lake Winterset in Polk County, in front of young children relaxing on the lakeside with their families, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said. Seven men and a 17-year-old boy were arrested, Sheriff Grady Judd announced Tuesday, as he vowed to make an example out of the hooligans.

Anxious FBI chiefs are trawling through 'numerous' top-level investigations spanning 22 years for fear they were compromised by convicted bureau spook Charles McGonigal, DailyMail.com can reveal. The forensic clean-up operation ranges over the entire time the philandering former head of counterintelligence in New York worked for the agency. McGonigal, 55, has already been sentenced to four years and two months in prison for taking money and conspiring with a sanctioned Russian oligarch who is a crony of despot President Vladimir Putin. But the full possible repercussions of his treachery are outlined in a sentencing memorandum by the US government for...

Nancy Pelosi is probably kicking herself over her most recent X post, because it opened a can of worms she never wanted spilled. But TDS got in the way, and she couldn’t help herself. In a desperate effort to smear President Trump’s plan to clean up DC’s deadly streets, Pelosi took to X and claimed that Trump “delayed” deploying the National Guard on January 6… a claim that instantly blew back on her, in a big way, dredging up an old debate about her role that day. ... But even worse for Pelosi was the blistering response from former Capitol...

The mother of North Carolina teen Giovanni Pelletier has revealed who found his body after he went missing, and asked the internet to “stop spreading lies.” Who found Giovanni Pelletier's body? Teen's mom shares update (Charlotte County Sheriff's Office/Facebook) ============================================================== The mother of North Carolina teen Giovanni Pelletier, who was recently found dead after going missing, has stressed that his family found his body, not the police. On Saturday, August 9, a decomposing body was found near the area where Pelletier was last seen. His family later confirmed to ABC 11 and on social media that the body indeed belonged...

Shoplifters with $100k Mercedes Steal Thousands in Clothes Body Cam Watch 869K subscribers 3.4M views 6 months ago On March 23, 2024 in Florida, officers responded to a shoplifting call from Carter's after the suspects had fled the store. The caller stated that two women had entered the store and while one obtained and concealed merchandise, the other attempted to distract employees with conversation. The caller provided a description of the two women, and when officers arrived on scene, they located one of the women in the parking lot. This is body cam footage of the events that followed.