On Thursday, the Miami Herald published a misleading claim about the recent arrest of the 13-year-old son of Rebekah Jones, the disgraced "whistleblower" who claimed the Florida Department of Health pressured her to manipulate Covid data to the benefit of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and the outlet said that the child was arrested over "memes" when he was arrested for threatening to shoot up his school, Holley Navarre Middle School.
According to Yahoo News, the boy was arrested for "digital threats of terrorism" and the Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office alleges that he made several threats to shoot and stab several students at his school and made statements such as "I want to shoot up the school" and "I’m getting a wrath and natural selection shirt so maybe but I don’t think many ppl know what the columbine shooters look like."
"Okay so it’s been like 3-4 weeks since I got on my new antidepressants and they aren’t working but they’re suppose to by now so I have no hope in getting better so why not kill the losers at school," was another threat the boy allegedly made.
According to the Miami Herald, her "son was arrested by sheriff’s deputies after sharing Internet memes in a private chat with school friends."
Christina Pushaw tweeted a fact check after the Herald published the false meme headline.
Pushaw tweeted out the headline from the Herald, which originally read: "13-year-old son of Rebekah Jones, whistleblower who clashed with DeSantis, arrested over memes." That headline has since been changed to read: "Son of Rebekah Jones, Florida whistleblower, arrested in probe of threatening Internet posts."
Twitter owner Elon Musk followed up and said his Community Notes feature will correct the Herald's misinformation.
In their article, the Herald made no mention of the boy's alleged threats but sourced a series of tweets by Jones, a former Florida Department of Health dashboard manager and who the New York Post described as a "fake whistleblower who peddled lies about Florida’s Covid deaths."
Jones first teased the "breaking" story about her son on Wednesday but said she needed the "Trump indictment fever" to die down.
On Thursday she tweeted, "Today's events will tell a story so enraging, heartbreaking and brutal that I'm sure when I'm ready to tell it, no one will ever defend the Florida governor's actions again."
"My family is not safe. My son has been taken on the gov's orders, and I've had to send my husband and daughter out of state for their safety. THIS is the reality of living in DeSantis' Florida. There is no freedom here. Only retaliatory rule by a fascist who wishes to be king," she said.
In addition to the threats, her son did also tweet a meme which featured a sleeping, overweight school security guard that read, "Cops in their car waiting for the school shooter to kill himself so they can go in."
She later tweeted DeSantis was responsible for her son's arrest over "non- threatening snapchat memes" and "That corrupt, fascist pig is about to find out that the runway people gave him to defame and attack me isn't there when you kidnap and charge 13 year old autistic kids whose parents happen to be your 'worst nightmare' with felony threats of terrorism for sharing snapchat memes."
She claimed that when her son was arrested he was "kidnapped."
She also linked to her GoFundMe.
Alejandra Caraballo, a far-left trans activist who has previously called for violence against Supreme Court justices, wrote on Twitter: they arrested Rebekah’s 13 year old son for posting a meme in a Snapchat group mocking police for inaction during mass shootings. Her family is being targeted by DeSantis.
Jones was fired in 2020 for insubordination and she was criminally charged for illegally accessing a state database in 2021, a case in which she later admitted guilt through a plea deal.
She was banned from Twitter in 2021 for spam and "platform manipulation."
She was the Democratic candidate in 2022 for Florida's 1st congressional district but lost that race to Republican Matt Gaetz.Powered by StructureCMS™ Comments
Join and support independent free thinkers!
We’re independent and can’t be cancelled. The establishment media is increasingly dedicated to divisive cancel culture, corporate wokeism, and political correctness, all while covering up corruption from the corridors of power. The need for fact-based journalism and thoughtful analysis has never been greater. When you support The Post Millennial, you support freedom of the press at a time when it's under direct attack. Join the ranks of independent, free thinkers by supporting us today for as little as $1.
Remind me next month
To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our Privacy Policy
Comments