Subsequently, DeSantis announced with confetti that his crack squad of election-fraud-stateers had arrested “20” Florida residents for illegally voting in the 2020 election. It turns out that the number was 19, and it also turns out that most of the people in that number were Black (at least 13 of the people taken into custody), 12 were registered Democrats, and virtually every single person arrested by the DeSantis goon squad were told in one form or another that they could vote by various Florida officials. The move works on two levels: 1) DeSantis gets to make a big splash with the national Republican base by championing the conspiracy theory bullshit that fires up their old racism, and 2) DeSantis creates fear of voting among communities unlikely to vote for a dirtbag Republican in Florida. The cost? Some citizens’ freedoms and lives.
Now video of a few of the arrests through police officer body camera footage has been obtained by the Tampa Bay Times. It shows Florida citizens absolutely baffled and demoralized while apologetic police officers arrest them on these politically motivated hack charges.
The first video shows Tampa resident Tony Patterson being arrested by a couple of officers in front of his home. He is completely blown away by the idea that he is truly being arrested. The police officer, clearly uncomfortable with being the bearer of fascism in this case, attempts to offer an olive branch saying that Patterson’s bond has been “reduced quite a bit,” and so the two felony counts Patterson is facing will only amount to $1,000 bond. Patterson puts his hand over his face, frequently saying, “Oh my God, man.” He isn’t yelling—he isn’t even angry. What you are seeing is a man who is bewildered by how profoundly unfair, inhumane, and maddening what’s happening to and around him is.
As Patterson puts his hands behind his back to be handcuffed, he asks, “Why are they doing this to me? I didn’t do nothing to nobody.” As they walk Patterson over to one of the officer’s vehicles—a long walk mind you, out across two lawns in the middle of the day—Patterson is informed that he will be searched against the vehicle once they get there, and he responds, “What is wrong with this state?” The answer to that question is large, but if you wanted to distill it down into a few words that might capture some of the moral decay involved in what is happening to Patterson here, that answer would be “Ron DeSantis.”
The next person is 55-year-old Romona Oliver. Oliver is getting into her car, in her driveway, to go to work. It is not yet 7 AM when Florida police officers walk up to her and inform her that they are arresting her. Her car is running and the driver’s side door is open. She is gobsmacked, saying, “Oh my God,” numerous times as officers arrest her in her driveway and tell her apologetically that she will be let back out right after being booked in at the station. “I know you’re caught off guard but unfortunately that’s how this stuff works.” The officer is trying to be nice but the it isn’t “unfortunate,” this is exactly how this is supposed to “work.”
According to the Tampa Bay Times, Oliver “registered to vote at the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles on Feb. 14, 2020.”
After brief eligibility checks by the Department of State — which reports to DeSantis and is responsible for cleaning the rolls of ineligible voters — she was given a voter ID card both times.
Oliver wasn’t removed from the rolls until March 30 this year, more than two years later.
Please note at the beginning of the video how after the female officer asks Romona Oliver if she just got married (she did), and then informs Oliver that she’s being arrested on a voter fraud warrant, Oliver attempts to—politely and frazzled—go and tell her husband what is happening. It is heartbreaking.
Then there’s 49-year-old Nathan Hart, who, after being handcuffed and while he’s being searched and having his keys and such taken out of his pockets, very calmly, explains that the guy at the “driver’s license place” convinced him to register after he explained he had a felony conviction. “He goes, ‘Well, are you still on probation?’” Hart’s probation was over and the man at the DMV explained he could at least fill out the form and if they let him vote (the state of Florida) then he could vote! One of the officers says that that sounds like a good defense against the charges.
But the most telling moment is back with Patterson as he sits in the back of the police car, handcuffed. Patterson laments listening to his brother, who convinced him to go vote. “Why would y’all let me vote?”
The officer responds, “’I’m not sure, buddy. I don’t know.”
Patterson goes on, “And then why now? This happened years ago. Why now? Why me?”
The video jumps a short while later as the police officer tells the dispatcher on the radio that he is working on whatever paperwork needs to be done before taking Patterson to jail. You can hear the dispatcher ask about the case he’s working on. The officer makes a “psssst” response and then says, “I’ve never seen these charges before in my entire life.”
On Daily Kos’ The Brief, we talk about the work being done to keep Nevada’s Senate Democratic. We are joined by UNITE HERE Director Mario Yedidia. UNITE HERE represents more than 250,000 workers throughout the U.S. and Canada who work in the hospitality, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, laundry, and airport industries. Yedidia tells us about what workers in Nevada are thinking about and voting about this coming November.