Category: Polk county sheriff’s office
‘Enough is enough’: Fed-up Florida sheriff has tough words for anti-ICE leftists who stormed Minnesota church
Grady Judd, the outspoken sheriff of Florida’s Polk County, most definitely is not shy about making his opinions known, whether they’re about crime in his own back yard or even crime of concern around the country.
Indeed, after leftists protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement stormed a church Sunday in St. Paul, Minnesota, Judd — like many Americans — was outraged and made sure to let residents of his Florida county know exactly where he stands.
‘Freedom of religion. It is our right in this United States of America.’
The following is what Judd had to say:
I’m standing in a house of worship. And I think about last weekend in St. Paul, Minnesota, where people who came to worship were attacked — they were attacked by rioters. The service was disrupted. They cut at the very fabric of this great United States of America. We settled this country so many years ago so we could worship free, the way we wanted to, in whatever house of worship we chose. That attack is unacceptable.
Then he added what many in Polk County wanted to hear: “I can assure you that had that attack been in this community, every one of those rioters would be in jail today. That’s where the federal government could have found them — on state charges, locked up.”
Judd concluded: “And I pray it’s that same way all across the United States of America. Enough is enough. Let’s join together for the good of the United States of America, let’s worship the way we want to, and let’s everyone renounce the horribleness of last Sunday in St. Paul, Minnesota.”
RELATED: Why ‘anti-ICE protesters’ are useful, delusional idiots
The video showing Judd’s words received over 3 million views and elicited more than 20,000 comments since it was posted Tuesday; the following are some of the more popular reactions:
- “Grady Judd for sheriff of the world!” one commenter wrote.
- “I love Sheriff Grady Judd,” another user said. “We need more people like him in law enforcement all over this great country.”
- “Freedom of religion,” another commenter noted. “It is our right in this United States of America.”
- “Great commentary,” another user offered. “What’s troubling is that a segment of the American public is attempting to argue that the individuals who disrupted the church were merely ‘exercising their First Amendment rights.’ That claim collapses under even minimal scrutiny. Once they trespassed onto church property, any First Amendment protection ceased to apply. More importantly, their actions directly violated the First Amendment religious rights of the church and its members. If there were ever a clear-cut case for the DOJ to set a strong precedent by pursuing felony charges, this would be it. Serious consequences are warranted for conduct this egregious.”
As it happens, Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen were arrested Thursday in connection with the church-storming incident. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced later Thursday that William Kelly also was arrested.
However, former CNN talking head Don Lemon reportedly is escaping charges. Lemon claimed to have been acting as a journalist when he joined the group that stormed the church whose pastor reportedly leads an ICE office.
But CBS News sources said a Minnesota federal magistrate judge refused to sign a complaint against Lemon. “The attorney general is enraged at the magistrate’s decision,” according to a CBS News source said to be familiar with the matter.
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Florida man wearing bra, fake breasts, G-string gets busted — but what cops found moments later raised more alarms: Police
A Florida man wearing a lace bra, a G-string thong, and fake breasts was caught trespassing at a construction site, according to police. However, authorities said the bizarre situation escalated when a deputy discovered something alarming under his prosthetic silicone breasts.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd began his Monday morning briefing by stating: “Now occasionally I bring you stuff that you just can’t believe, that you’ll never get over, that may even scar you for life.”
‘Can you imagine? He’s mad at us for trying to find out why he’s wearing lace bras with guns and G-strings or G-somethings.’
According to the affidavit provided to Blaze News by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy encountered 39-year-old Matthew Zaccarino of Altamonte Springs at a construction zone around 1:19 a.m. Dec. 14.
The affidavit states Zaccarino’s vehicle was parked on private property with signs posted that read: “No Trespassing.”
A deputy made contact with Zaccarino, “who was standing next to the vehicle’s open passenger-side door and putting on female clothing (bra and panties),” the affidavit said.
Judd added, “We see this dude wearing a red lace bra, with prosthetic silicone breasts. Then we noticed he’s wearing a G-string — showing off the boys. You know what I mean?”
Judd said the deputy believed the situation was “highly unusual.”
Zaccarino told the deputy he was on his way to a “costume party,” according to Judd.
However, when the deputy pressed him about the costume party, Zaccarino couldn’t answer the question, Judd said.
The affidavit states that Zaccarino was “unable to provide a location, direction, or identify individuals who would be present” at the supposed party.
The affidavit also states the deputy issued several lawful commands for the suspect to stop moving, but he “refused to comply, removed his bra and silicone breast prosthesis, and began reaching inside the vehicle.”
At that time, the officer handcuffed the suspect.
Sheriff Judd stressed that these kinds of strange encounters can be extremely dangerous for officers.
According to the affidavit, the deputy was looking down at the bra and breast prosthesis and noticed a “loaded H&K 9mm firearm under the items” on the passenger-side floorboard near where Zaccarino was standing.
“Such loitering and prowling occurred under circumstances that warranted justifiable and reasonable alarm for the safety of people or property in the vicinity,” the deputy wrote in the affidavit.
Zaccarino then clammed up and refused to talk to law enforcement, according to Judd.
“Can you imagine? He’s mad at us for trying to find out why he’s wearing lace bras with guns and G-strings or G-somethings,” Judd stated.
“Oooh, it was ugly. It was so ugly,” Judd remarked.
Zaccarino was arrested and charged with armed trespass, resisting without violence, and loitering and prowling.
According to Polk County Sheriff’s Office jail records, Zaccarino was released on a $6,250 bond.
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Mom boards school bus, threatens student, curses out bus driver — then repeats scene at HS, cops say. It ends badly for her.
A 48-year-old mother boarded a Florida school bus Monday morning and threatened a student and cursed out the bus driver, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said.
But the mother — identified by authorities as Latanya Rowe — allegedly was just getting started.
‘These police ain’t gonna be able to protect you!’
The bus was supposed to be taking students to Davenport High School, but Rowe apparently had some business to take care of first.
The sheriff’s office said Rowe began cursing at and threatening a student on the bus about a Friday incident between the student and Rowe’s son and daughter. The student victim recorded video of Rowe’s profanities and threats, officials said.
“Yeah, record me!” she yelled to start things off. “I know where you live!”
She also cursed out the bus driver, accusing him of not “handling the situation” between her kids and the student, authorities said.
The bus driver told Rowe to get off the bus, but she refused, officials said, adding that when he told her he was contacting law enforcement, she left.
The sheriff’s office said Rowe’s actions caused the bus to be delayed by about 50 minutes.
Before the clip ended, Rowe was heard hollering — apparently at the student — that “these police ain’t gonna be able to protect you!”
RELATED: Mom and her 17-year-old daughter board middle school bus, start slugging 8th-grade boy: Report
The sheriff’s office said that when deputies went to Rowe’s home, she told them through her Ring camera that she was at the high school.
Indeed, the two school resource deputies went to the high school’s front office where they found Rowe cursing, yelling, and causing a disturbance, officials said. When the deputies attempted to take Rowe into custody, she resisted, the sheriff’s office said.
What’s more, Rowe’s daughter was standing nearby and was told multiple times to move back, officials said, adding that she repeatedly refused and told deputies that she wanted to go to jail too. The sheriff’s office said she was taken into custody for violation of the “Halo law” after warnings and resisting arrest.
Deputies investigating the original dispute between the three students on the bus — Rowe’s son and daughter and the student victim — learned through several witnesses that Rowe’s son had been bullying the student victim for a week and calling the victim racial slurs, officials said.
When all three students got off the bus Friday afternoon, the victim attempted to talk to Rowe’s son and daughter, but they both punched the victim, officials said, adding that the victim fought back until another student separated them.
“The irony of this situation is that this woman’s two children were found to be the aggressors in a fight that took place on Friday, yet she was screaming at the victim and accusing the victim of hurting her kids,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in the aftermath. “The victim’s parents declined to press charges and preferred that the school handle that internally, but we are moving forward with charging this mother for her criminal conduct. You cannot go onto a school bus or onto school property and cause a disturbance — schools are meant to be safe places where children learn.”
Rowe was charged with disrupting a school function, trespassing on school grounds, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest, officials said, adding that she was released after posting $1,750 bond.
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