COVID-19 Data Analyst Sues State of Florida Over 'Sham' Search Warrant

Rebekah Jones, a former manager of COVID-19 data and surveillance for the Florida Department of Health, has now sued the state.

Jones, who says she was fired over the summer for refusing to falsify pandemic data, filed the suit on Monday as a response to the "sham" search warrant executed on her home earlier this month by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. As detailed in an Associated Press report, the suit ties the "sham" search warrant to Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.

"Plaintiff's firing captured a great deal of media attention nationally and in Florida, much of it negative toward Governor Ron DeSantis," the suit states. "Governor DeSantis openly denounced Plaintiff in the most vitriolic and vituperative manner in the furor following her firing."

The search warrant in question, per the report, was executed by the state as a response to what they said was the identification of a message sent from a computer at Jones' address. The message was sent to still-active Health Department workers and saw Jones urging them to speak out in an effort to save lives.

"You know this is wrong," Jones allegedly said in the message. "You don't have to be a part of this." Computers and other items were seized by agents. In the suit, the court is asked to immediately return those items and award punitive damages.

In the months since the firing earlier this year, Jones has co-founded the COVID Monitor, which monitors pandemic data in school districts across the country.