A shattering personal account of one family's grief leads a focus on black-on-black violence — the tragic historical roots, ongoing human toll and glimmers of new hope.

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In This Issue

A shattering personal account of one family's grief leads a focus on black-on-black violence — the tragic historical roots, ongoing human toll
and glimmers of new hope.

Also in the magazine:

• E.W. Jackson takes you behind the scenes of his campaign for lieutenant governor of Virginia as his grassroots conservative movement shocks theestablishment to take the GOP nomination, only to be waylaid by a predatory press with a hidden agenda.
  
• High Point, N.C., police chief Marty Sumner reveals how a new enforcement strategy emphasizing early intervention has sharply reduced domestic violence.
  
• Kira Davis laments the push by the left to redefine Martin Luther King, Jr.'s ideal of a color-blind society as an insidious new form of racism.

Click here to view the issue.

Colion Noir Released This Video Days BEFORE CA Killing Spree, “The Profile of A Mass Shooter”

Guns Save Lives

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• Colion Noir Released This Video Days BEFORE CA Killing Spree, “The Profile of A Mass Shooter”
• [Video] Father of CA Mass Shooting Victim Blames NRA and Politicians for Son’s Death
• [Video] 22 Year Old Female Bookstore Clerk Draws Gun on Would be Robber
• BREAKING: Democratic Senator Calls For Federal Gun Control Following Shooting

Colion Noir Released This Video Days BEFORE CA Killing Spree, “The Profile of A Mass Shooter” Posted: 25 May 2014 03:10 PM PDT It might sound like Colion Noir shot and released this video in the aftermath of the killing spree that took place in Isla Vista, the upscale college neighborhood in Santa Barbara, CA. Noir touches on the psyche of mass shooters, which seem to fit Elliot Rodger in many cases. Noir also talks about gun free […]

[Video] Father of CA Mass Shooting Victim Blames NRA and Politicians for Son’s Death Posted: 25 May 2014 01:12 PM PDT Richard Martinez, the father of one of the Isla Vista shooting victims, Christopher Martinez, railed against the National Rifle Association and politicians immediately following the death of his son after being shot by the suspect Elliot Rodger. This statement should not be confused with the statement made by the killer’s father at an earlier time. […]

[Video] 22 Year Old Female Bookstore Clerk Draws Gun on Would be Robber Posted: 25 May 2014 12:26 PM PDT Let’s add pepper spray to the list of things not to bring to a gunfight. A would be robber attempted to rob an Iowa textbook store using a can of pepper spray. He put the spray right in the face of 22 year old Jessica McDonald and demanded money from the register. As the store’s […]

BREAKING: Democratic Senator Calls For Federal Gun Control Following Shooting Posted: 25 May 2014 09:48 AM PDT Well, that certainly didn’t take long. In the wake of the killing spree in California in which 3 people were shot to death and 3 people were stabbed to death, Democrats are already calling for additional federal gun control laws. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) appeared on CBS’ Face the Nation this morning. “That gut-wrenching, heartbreaking […]

SEIU Clowns, Banned -- Children Praying, Obama & Hillary's Great Adventure Meltdown...

Send In The Clowns: 84% of McDonald’s Protesters Were Not McDonald’s Employees

On Wednesday, the Service Employees International Union, as part of its four-year old plan to unionize the nation’s fast-food workers, launched a frontal assault on McDonald’s corporate headquarters in Oakbrook, Illinois.

During the event, over 100 protesters, as well SEIU boss and fast-food unionization architect Mary Kay Henry, were arrested. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →

Will Children be Banned From Praying at Their Graduation?

If angry atheists have their way, that’s exactly what will happen.

The American Humanist Association, an angry atheist group that peruses the country for a small town to attack in its attempt to eviscerate faith from public life, has sued a Greenville, South Carolina school over a 5th Grade graduation ceremony.  . . . please click here for the rest of the post →

Obama and Hillary’s great Libyan adventure melts down

Obama’s great Libyan experiment is taking on the air of a geopolitical Chernobyl. As we speak, US forces are being assembled to evacuate American citizens from that country . . . please click here for the rest of the post →

A Message From an Ex-Muslim Living in the Boko Haram Islamic Killing Zone!

Loganswarning

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A Message From an Ex-Muslim Living in the Boko Haram Islamic Killing Zone! Posted: 25 May 2014 02:53 AM PDT Since there has been so much talk about Boko Haram lately, I am reposting this article from 2012.       Years I ago I befriended a man living in Nigeria who was very outspoken against Islam. Over the years we particapted in numerous online debates in an attempt to expose the threat of Islam to non-Muslims. What I did not know about my friend until recently is that he is an ex-Muslim. An ex-Muslim living in Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamic killing zone! Here is his message. Heed his warning… Moo Ham Mad Christopher Logan I think you may be having a hard fight on this Islam issue in America because you are making it a Liberal Obama Democrat Issue. If you are a supporter of Sarah Palin, Republican Party, NRA and you are using this to hammer the left then YOU ARE MAKING A BIG MISTAKE. This is NOT a left or right issue – it is a human issue and making it a left or right issue, is the reason why the left and the so-called politically correct are not hearing. I am from Nigeria. My father is MUslim Fulani and my mother Igbo Christioan. In 1966 my father was killed in the mayhem of a coup and my father’s people launched a genocide against nmy mother’s people killing over 2 million of them in the Biafra Genocide. My mother escaped, handed me over to missionaries and I was adopted in the UK. I was a christian as a child with my mother but in later years became a Muslim in honour of my father. I was part of the progressive Muslim reformation agenda in the UK till I travelled back to Nigeria to discover REAL Islam. We have had repeated Islamic Pogroms against Christians in Nigeria. There was Maitatsine and now Boko Haram. People have been repeatedly slaughtered out of Islamic rage and Jihad. I used to think that this was an adulteration till I studied Islam fully and properly and realised that the killers were the true Islam. They were following closely the dictates of Prophet Mohammed. With this I resigned from Islam and now my life is in Danger. I have now dedicated my life to telling the truth about Islam. The biggest mistake that people make is that they think Islam is a religion like Christianity or Buddhism that preaches peace yet people can go to war like Christian crusaders. No Islam actually encourages JIhad and violence. We need America to face Islam like they faced communism for people to stop being respectful of the Bigotry and violence in Islam because they think they are respecting a religion. I REPEAT it is not a left or right issue, a democrat or republican issue. It is an urgent HUMAN issue. Islam is as deadly or even worse that Nazism because we know the evil of nazism but fail to recognise the evil in Islam. This man’s bravery is second to none. Sahih Bukhari Hadith Volume 4, Book 52, Number 260: Narrated Ikrima: Ali burnt some people and this news reached Ibn ‘Abbas, who said, “Had I been in his place I would not have burnt them, as the Prophet said, ‘Don’t punish (anybody) with Allah’s Punishment.’ No doubt, I would have killed them, for the Prophet said, ‘If somebody (a Muslim) discards his religion, kill him.’ “ After reading his story there should be NO excuse not to speak out against Islam. We are fighting a world war, and in the end it will be Sharia or our way of life. We have no choice but to speak out!

On Memorial Day, Some Portals to the Past...

Fox News First: May 26
By Chris Stirewalt

On Memorial Day, Some Portals to the Past
 
My recollections of Memorial Day are dusty and filled with the creaking sound of the springs on my cousin’s Buick Roadmaster as it forded dry streambeds and trundled along rutted country roads in southern Illinois – and then the thwack of fat June bugs popping on the windshield as she picked up speed on the blacktop down towards the Harmony Grove church.

To the eyes of a suburban boy, the places she took my father and me were just empty prairie. To my father’s eyes, they were filled with the faint lines of places and people he had known as a boy. That caved-in pile of sheet metal and rotten boards was Wick Cage’s general store where his father carried eggs to sell. That empty corner was where his grandfather’s little house had stood in the dirt yard where the old man, standing in his best starched overalls at the head of a long table carried outside for the occasion, had poured dippers of iced tea out of a galvanized bucket. Where the hens watched nervously as one of their own made for Sunday dinner. 

Just as my old man would start waxing nostalgic, our tour guide moved us along. We were not there to remember life. We were there to visit the dead. My cousin had been retired from the Air Force longer than I had been alive, and she took seriously her job not just as family historian, but as one who would see that our family would do its part for Memorial Day – for Decoration Day as it was once properly known.

And on to another cemetery we would go, this one clutched by slender locust trees and set back from the road on a rise above Hurricane Creek. Who came to this ancient place keep it up? Who oiled and painted that wrought-iron gate? Who trimmed back the grass from the tiny headstone of an unnamed stillborn child dead for 120 years? Why? No time for questions. Cousin mustered us out and deployed the flag markers for the military men and flowers for the civilians. Back in the Roadmaster and back on the road. A whole day went by that way, graves of my ancestors and graves of those unknown to us. The Black Hawk War, the Civil War, World War I, and on and on.

You can stand at the Dodge Grove Cemetery up the highway in Mattoon, where my grandmother’s people were well-off enough to be laid to rest beneath monuments amid mausoleums. From there you see the rise of the earth reveal the graves of hundreds of Civil War dead, including three generals, as the locals will tell you. And any of them, officers or enlisted, who had no one to decorate their graves that day, got a flag, courtesy of our little honor guard.

Americans don’t much do cemetery trips these days – or cemeteries, for that matter. If you don’t believe in those words “the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting,” then a cemetery wouldn’t be of much use to you. But more than that, we have a culture now based on “closure,” in which we learn to seal off the hurts of our hearts and bury them deeper than the deepest grave. Remembrance is of no virtue to people who believe that their purpose is the pursuit and maintenance of their own happiness.

What an impoverishment of spirit that is. I once had an editor who believed that the best way for foreigners to understand Americans was to read our obituaries – to meet these gentle, kind, faithful, loved and loving people who passed their lives unknown to all but those whom they touched directly. I increasingly believe she was right.

But I have a corollary to add: The best way for Americans to know themselves and their history is to walk among the quiet headstones of our graveyards. See the dates and realize how young they were. Read the inscriptions. Feel the cool marble. Imagine. You can know your family that way, but you can know what America is by placing yourself among the remains of the men and now women who died to make her and to defend her.

No politics today. Instead, we offer you a few of the portals from which to begin that journey – places to let that knowledge start to wash over you. Places where you can leave a flag and offer up a little word of thanks.
 
-- The inscription at the Daughters of the American Revolution Memorial Marker in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania reads  “Near this spot, liesLieutenant John Waterman, died April 23, 1778, whose grave alone of all his comrades was marked.” Some 2,000 Continental soldiers died at Valley Forge or in distant hospitals. Most expired not in the dead cold of winter, but in the spring, when influenza, typhus, typhoid and dysentery more than decimated the camp. Waterman died during this time. His lonely gravestone on the grand parade ground was marked simply, “JW 1778.” He was later identified by his initials as a Rhode Island officer.
 
-- In Grafton National Cemetery, Grafton, West Virginia rests PrivateThornesberry Bailey Brown, believed to be the first Union casualty of the Civil War.  Brown mustered into service in Company B, 2nd Virginia Infantry, and served under Captain George R. Latham as part of the “Grafton Guards.”  On May 22, 1861, near present-day Grafton, a Confederate sentry ordered Brown to halt.  Brown refused and shot the sentry in the ear.  The sentry returned fire, shooting Brown in the heart.

-- At Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York lies Sgt.Wilbur E. Colyer. Served in the U.S. Army in World War I and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery near Verdun, France, on October 9, 1918. His citation reads “Volunteering with 2 other soldiers to locate machinegun nests, Sgt. Colyer advanced on the hostile positions to a point where he was half surrounded by the nests, which were in ambush. He killed the gunner of one gun with a captured German grenade and then turned this gun on the other nests silencing all of them before he returned to his platoon. He was later killed in action.”

-- Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee is the final resting place of Cornelia Fort. Nashville’s first woman flight instructor,  she was giving a flying lesson as a civilian instructor over Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941 and witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. Fort was the second woman to join the Woman’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron, which ferried planes to free up male pilots for combat assignments. She was the first WAFS pilot to die in the line of duty. Cornelia Fort was killed while ferrying a BT-13 Valiant trainer when it collided with another plane over Texas on March 21, 1943.
 
--On April 5 1951, Naval Hospitalman Richard D. Wert was serving with the Marines as they cleared North Korean guerrillas from rural areas of South Korea and as they aided in driving the enemy beyond the Thirty-Eighth Parallel. While with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines during an attack on Chinese Communist forces, De Wert continually rejected medical treatment for his wounds to provide first aid to fallen marines. Under intense fire he provided treatment to four marines, De Wert was killed in action while tending to an injured comrade. The Medal of Honor and Purple Heart recipient was originally buried in Korea, re-interred at the Woodlawn National Cemetery, Elmira, N.Y, but in 1987 upon request from his family, was laid to rest in his home where his grave can be found in section 5 at the Massachusetts’s National Cemetery in Bourne.
 
-- At Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Oakville, Missouri you can find Air Force Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie, who served in the 8th Special Operations Squadron. He was shot down and killed while piloting his A-37B Dragonfly aircraft in the vicinity of An Loc, in South Vietnam. His remains were buried in Arlington National Cemetery's Tomb of The Unknowns as an unidentified soldier from the Vietnam War. After petitioning the United States Government for permission, his family had his body exhumed. DNA tests confirmed that the previously unknown soldier was, in fact, Michael Blassie.
 
-- Staff Sgt. James M. Christen of Loomis, California died in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, on his third deployment overseas. Sgt. Christen previously served two tours in Iraq. His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. Staff Sgt. James Christen now rests with many of his comrades from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan in Section 60, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.

Thank you One and All. ... TO ALL WHO SERVE and GAVE YOUR ALL! God Bless ...

MEMORIAL DAY

 

 

 

 

Keep it 

moving, please, even if you've seen it before.

It is the 

VETERAN, 

not the preacher, 

who has given us freedom of religion. 

It is 

the VETERAN, 

not the reporter, 

who has given us freedom of the press.

It is 

the VETERAN, 

not the poet, 

who has given us freedom of speech.

It is 

the VETERAN, 

not the campus organizer, 

who has given us freedom to assemble. 

It is 

the VETERAN, 

not the lawyer, 

who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is 

the VETERAN, 

not the politician, 

Who has given us the right to vote. 

It is the 

VETERAN who 

salutes the Flag. 

It is the VETERAN who serves under the Flag.

May 16 - May 22, 2014 This report represents some events the FWC handled over the past week; however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement. Patrol, Protect, Preserve

FWC

Division of Law Enforcement

 

Weekly Report

May 16 - May 22, 2014

 

This report represents some events the FWC handled over the past week;

however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement.

 

Patrol, Protect, Preserve

 

 

  

 

NORTHWEST REGION

 

SANTA ROSA COUNTY

 

Officer Hutchinson and Investigator Hughes were checking a fisherman at Carpenter's Park when Officer Hutchinson observed a bag containing cannabis under the console. Upon further inspection, more cannabis was located, in addition to several prescription pills including what appeared to be oxycodone and amphetamine. Officer Hutchinson issued the man a notice to appear for possession of not more than 20 grams of cannabis. The pills will be sent to FDLE for identification.

 

Officer Hutchinson and Investigator Hughes were checking fishermen at the Simpson River Fishing Pier when they observed a subject quickly hide something upon seeing the officers. After speaking to him, they discovered that he had hidden a cannabis joint. He was also in possession of alcoholic beverages and was not yet 21. The subject's companion admitted to giving him the beer. The officers issued the one subject a notice to appear for possession of not more than 20 grams of cannabis and possession of alcoholic beverages by a person under the age of 21 and the other subject a notice to appear for giving alcoholic beverages to a person under 21.

 

Officer Barnard and Lieutenant Hahr were just leaving the boat ramp at Smith's Fish Camp when a boat returned to the ramp. The officers conducted a boating safety inspection and observed indicators of impairment from the operator. The man performed very poorly on field sobriety tasks and was arrested for BUI. The man's girlfriend was present and her car was parked at the boat ramp. The officers noticed a glass drug pipe lying in the center console of the vehicle. The woman admitted that she had smoked cannabis from the pipe earlier. The woman was issued a notice to appear for possession of drug paraphernalia. The man submitted to a breath test, but due to the damage at the Escambia County Jail, he had to be taken to Gulf Breeze Police Department for the test. Approximately 2.5 hours after the stop, the man provided a breath sample of .100 BAC. Additionally, a bag of crushed pills were located in the boat. They appeared to be Xanax, but positive identification was not possible. The pills will be sent to FDLE for analysis.

 

Officer Clark received information that an individual had been keeping over the bag limit of red drum near Galvez Landing. Officer Clark observed an individual that fit the description given returning to Galvez Landing. The subject was in possession of two legal red drum. Upon questioning the individual, he admitted having some additional fish in a cooler in the back of truck. There were four additional red drum in the cooler, one of which was undersized. Officer Clark issued the subject a notice to appear for the violations.

 

Officers Manning and Hoomes received information about a picture of speared goliath grouper being posted on Facebook. Officers Hoomes and Manning were able to track down two individuals involved in spearing the fish.   After interviewing the subjects the fish was retrieved from a nearby dumpster. A warrant was obtained for the violation.

 

ESCAMBIA COUNTY COP (Community Oriented Policing)

 

Officers Manning and Livesay spoke to the members of the Santa Rosa Yacht Club and the Pensacola Speckled Trout Club this week. With both groups, they covered boating safety and fisheries regulations. Approximately 50 people were in attendance.

 

OKALOOSA COUNTY

 

Officers Bartlett, Maltais and White were on vessel patrol in Ft. Walton Beach after sunset when a vessel without navigational lights crossed their path within close proximity. The officers stopped the vessel to address the violation and detected signs of impairments coming from the operator during a safety inspection. The subject was run through field sobriety tasks and was subsequently arrested on suspicion of operating a vessel while being impaired and booked into the Okaloosa County Jail.

 

BAY COUNTY

Officers Basford and Palmer were on water patrol when they checked two juvenile fishers in a boat.  During their vessel inspection, the officers located a bag of cannabis (26.5 grams), a grinder, electronic scales, rolling papers, seven new empty baggies, and $222 in cash.  One subject was identified as the owner of the items and he was arrested and booked into the juvenile detention center for possession of over 20 grams of cannabis (felony), possession of cannabis with intent to sell (felony) and possession of drug paraphernalia.  He was also charged with improper safety equipment and no fishing license.  A parent was notified and all contraband seized.  The next day the State Attorney’s Office advised they would be charging the subject as an adult due to his criminal history.  The other subject was cited for no fishing license and released.

Officers Chambers and Basford were on water patrol in the Choctawhatchee River when they came across a submerged jon boat.  A check of the registration numbers found the vessel to be reported stolen through the Walton County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO).  The boat was refloated and towed to a nearby ramp where it was turned over to WCSO for further investigation.

Officers Price and Brady were conducting offshore patrols when they conducted an inspection on a charter boat.  The captain advised they only had vermillion snapper onboard.  Officer Brady boarded the vessel and found vermillion snapper and six greater amberjack, five of which were undersized.  A citation was issued.

Officer Basford received a call concerning a subject cleaning and filleting an undersized cobia on the Bay County fishing pier.  When Officer Basford arrived he found the fisherman talking with Panama City Beach Police Officers.  Apparently, in landing the undersized cobia, the fisherman knocked over several other fishers and they had called the police to file a complaint.  Officer Basford found a bag of filets on the individual and he confessed to filleting the fish on the pier.  A citation was issued for failure to land cobia in whole condition.  The police banned the subject from the pier.        

BAY COUNTY COP (Community Oriented Policing)

Officer Chambers set up a static boating display at a Deerpoint Lake Boat Ramp to kick off National Safe Boating Week.  Officer Chambers gave out information and talked with the boating public about importance in wearing life jackets.

 

LIBERTY COUNTY

 

On Saturday night, Lieutenant Parker observed two vehicles parked in the northern section of the Apalachicola Forest. The occupants were using lights as they walked in several locations in the wooded area. A closer check revealed the subjects were trying to catch their dogs.  The individuals, one being from Liberty County and the other one from Calhoun County, were cited for running deer with dogs during closed season.

 

On Thursday night, Officers Mims and Henderson taught a boating safety class to students and their parents at the Tolar School near Bristol, Florida.  There were approximately 80 students and parents in attendance.

 

 

NORTH CENTRAL REGION

DUVAL COUNTY

Lieutenant Arkin was on patrol of Lighthouse Marina Boat Ramp when he observed a vessel being launched and recovered due to engine problems. The individuals with the vessel were test-driving it before purchasing it. The vessel had a Florida number that was painted on by using a stencil and green paint. After closer observation, Lieutenant Arkin discovered that a ghost Florida number was on the vessel and the manufacturer’s name had been scratched off. Lieutenant Arkin ran a check through Florida Crime Information Center/National Crime Information Center (FCIC/NCIC) on the ghost Florida number and it came back stolen out of Jacksonville in 2012. Investigator Izsak and Officer Shearer responded to the scene to assist and determined that the Hull Identification Number (HIN) had been altered. The current owner had a title to a 1987 18’ Sun Runner with the altered HIN that was on this vessel. This altered vessel was a 1993 18’ Four Winns. The vessel was impounded by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office so that notification can be made to the owner.

HAMILTON COUNTY

The beginning of the 62^nd Annual Folk Festival kicked off this week at Stephen Foster Folk/Cultural Center State Park in White Springs. Numerous FWC officers are participating in the event as the primary law enforcement presence within the park. The festival runs for five consecutive days and attracts thousands of visitors and participants each year.

COP (Community Oriented Policing)

Officers Langford and Stanley gave several presentations to students at Eastside Elementary in Lake City, Columbia County. The officers spoke about their job and brought a FWC patrol boat along for a question and answer session. Approximately 200 children took turns seeing the static display.

On Saturday, Officers Yates and Bean attended a summer safety expo held at Taylor County Elementary School in Perry, Florida. The officers spoke about their job, the importance of boating safety and resource protection. Officers also participated in “Ready, Set, Wear it” by wearing their personal floating devices (PFDs) and giving some away to the children to wear throughout the event. FWC’s vehicle and airboat were provided for a static display which was attended by 150 children and their families.

 

NORTHEAST REGION

BREVARD COUNTY

While conducting resource inspections at a local family park, Officer Lightsey observed a male urinating in view of the public. After speaking with the man and warning him not to urinate in public anymore the officer received consent to search the man’s vehicle.  The search revealed 13 grams of cannabis and multiple types of drug paraphernalia. A notice to appear was issued for the offenses.

COP (Community Oriented Policing)

Lieutenant Urban and Officers Horst, Land and Loeffler attended the Police Memorial Day event at the Melbourne Square Mall. The event was to honor fallen officers and to help the public have a better understanding on what law enforcement does. The event had about 150 individual contacts for the officers who attended with about 80 of them being youth contacts. The youths at the event were very impressed with the patrol vessel and enjoyed getting a closer look. Several potential recruits inquired about the hiring process and stated that they would be applying to the agency.

 

 

SOUTHWEST REGION

 

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY

 

Officer Patterson was conducting resource inspections in the area of Picnic Island Park. During one inspection he discovered an individual who was in possession of a snook that was harvested out of season. The snook was seized and a citation was issued for the violation.

 

LEE COUNTY

                                                                                                                                            

Officers Morrow and Suttles were dispatched to a rural section of Fort Myers to investigate the report of a man who shot and killed an alligator on his property. When the officers arrived at the scene, they located a dead alligator that measured approximately 6-feet-6-inches long directly behind the caller’s residence. The caller had drug the alligator from a pond at the back of his mother’s property to the garage. The alligator was identified by the officers as an American alligator and it was found with two small bullet holes in its head. The officers continued their investigation and learned that the subject had lost his dog possibly to the same alligator approximately one week ago. He reported to the officers that this evening, at around dusk, while taking photos of poisonous plants at the edge of his mother’s property, he saw the alligator again. In a sworn written statement, he reported that the alligator was close to him and he drew his firearm and began to slowly back away. The alligator suddenly moved very quickly and in self defense he fired a single shot directly into its head with a .380 caliber hand gun. He advised the officers that it was suffering and he decided to put a second round in its head to, “put it out of its misery.” The officers questioned the subject why he was in the area where he knew there was an alligator and he told them that he is a nature lover. The subject was charged with taking an American alligator without a permit, a misdemeanor offense. He was served with a notice to appear and given a date to appear in court. 

  

PINELLAS COUNTY

Investigator Rosas responded to a complaint regarding individuals keeping illegal redfish at the Skyway Rest Area. After making contact with the individuals, Investigator Rosas conducted a regulatory inspection and found the subjects in possession of one oversized redfish. The fish was seized and a citation was issued for the violation.

 

 

SOUTH REGION A

GLADES COUNTY

On Sunday, Officer Taylor was dispatched to a vessel fire on the Caloosahatchee River. Officer Taylor arrived to find a 58-foot yacht that was completely on fire and burning intensely. The three subjects on board were able to jump from the vessel and swim to shore unharmed before the fire got out of hand. The captain of the vessel advised Officer Taylor that he had approximately 800 gallons of diesel on board at the time of the incident. Despite the best efforts of the fire department, the vessel was a total loss and burned all the way to the top of the water. The owner of the vessel estimates it was worth approximately $950,000. Officer Taylor is currently investigating the accident.

HENDRY COUNTY

Lieutenant Steelman received a complaint about a calf being killed by a panther and it being covered up in a cypress head. A panther biologist was called to the scene and talked with the landowner.

PALM BEACH COUNTY

Officer Nasworth was on foot patrol at the Canal Point Locks. Officer Nasworth observed several subjects fishing underneath the Highway 441 Bridge. Officer Nasworth made contact with the subjects to conduct a fisheries inspection and discovered a subject to be over his daily bag limit of black crappie by 14 fish. Officer Nasworth issued the subject a notice to appear for the violation and the fish were seized.

Officer Alford observed two subjects taking black crappie using a cast net at Canal Point. Officer Alford managed to catch one subject while the second fled on foot. The subject was arrested and charged with possession of undersized black crappie on Lake Okeechobee, illegal method of take for game fish, and cited for no resident freshwater fishing license.

Officers Alford, McClendon, and Harris were working a detail to deter the illegal taking of black crappie at Canal Point. Officer Harris observed a subject taking large quantities of black crappie using a cast net. The subject walked away leaving over 122 black crappie on the ground. The subject told Officer Harris he intended to leave the fish on the ground. Officer Harris arrested and charged the subject with taking over the daily bag limit of black crappie, undersized black crappie on Lake Okeechobee, illegal method of take for game fish, willful wanton waste, and he was cited for no resident freshwater fishing license.

Officer Nasworth was conducting surveillance on Canal Point Locks, where there have been a high number of complaints of illegal fishing activity due to the water flowing.  He observed a subject at the locks violently jerking his fishing pole in a manner constant with illegal snatch hook fishing. Officer Nasworth observed the subject reel in a black crappie hooked on the tail. Officer Nasworth eventually made contact with the subject who was issued a citation for illegal method of taking freshwater fish and failure to allow inspection.

Officers Davis, Nasworth and Lieutenant Brown were working the Canal Point area when they received a call of a person in a red shirt cast netting under the bridge. Officer Davis and Lieutenant Brown entered the area and saw an individual in a red shirt walking away from the bridge. When contacted, the subject admitted to throwing a cast net and catching specks.  Officer Nasworth located a Styrofoam cooler with freshly caught game fish and a cast net behind a wall at the location where the suspect was standing. The cooler contained 15 black crappie, six of which were short of the 10 inch minimum, and two bluegill. The subject was issued a notice to appear for possession of undersized black crappie and taking freshwater game fish by illegal method.

ST. LUCIE COUNTY

Officer Pifer was on land patrol in Fort Pierce conducting resource inspections when he came upon several individuals actively fishing. One individual was observed walking around the rocks and appeared to be harvesting crabs. The subjects fishing were in possession of a five-gallon bucket. An inspection revealed 11 whole stone crabs. One of the crabs was an egg bearing female. The other subject had two whole stone crabs. The subjects advised they were using them for bait. The subjects were cited for possession of stone crabs during the closed season.

Officer Payne was conducting license and resource inspections at the Fort Pierce North Bridge, when he came upon a subject fishing. The subject advised Officer Payne that he had no luck catching any fish. However, an inspection of his five-gallon bait bucket, which contained a cast net, revealed two redfish. The subject then stated that someone had given the fish to him. Both fish were measured and found to be undersized. One of the fish still had its gills moving and was released alive. The subject was cited for possession of undersized redfish.

 

 

SOUTH REGION B

COLLIER COUNTY

Lieutenant Shea attended the Naples High School Army JROTC Annual Military Ball.  At the ball, Lieutenant Shea was recognized for starting the JROTC’s Annual Survival Hike in theBig Cypress National Preserve and supporting the Naples High School Army JROTC Program.  Over 150 Cadets, parents and school officials were in attendance.

Lieutenant Barrett and Investigator Haney were on water patrol in Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and stopped a vessel to conduct a boating safety inspection.  They detected signs of impairment from the operator, conducted seated field sobriety tasks and determined the operator to be impaired beyond the legal limit.  Following the arrest, the subject was found to be in possession of marijuana and a glass pipe.  He was transported to jail and charged with BUI, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Officers Futch and Thurkettle shared a joint detail with the National Park Service within the Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area regarding the hunting season.  During the detail the officers made several contacts and wrote a total of 11 citations and 18 warnings.

Lieutenant Caraker and Officers Futch, Polly and Thurkettle participated in a detail in the Picayune Strand State Forest.  The officers provided high visibility patrols focusing on public safety within this state forest and educated the public about all applicable traffic laws, state forest fees, equestrian rules, target shooting and use of the designated trail system.  The officers wrote 18 citations and 52 warnings.

Officers Barringer, Miller, Reith, and Tidwell conducted enhanced patrols in the Goodland Bay area with a focus of educating boaters on boating safety and manatee zone awareness.  They emphasized on the difference between slow speed and idle speed.  Local marinas in the area were pleased to see extra patrols in their area and some problems with conflicting signs were identified and steps will be taken to correct these issues.

 

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