Rebekah Jones

Rebekah D. Jones (born July 1989) is an American data scientist, geographer, and activist. In September 2018, she became a geographic information system analyst at Florida Department of Health in Tallahassee.[2][4] From November 2019 until May 2020, Jones was geographic information sciences manager for the Florida Department of Health, where she assisted in the creation of a geospatial presentation for Hurricane Michael.[5] She also participated in tracking the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida.[1][2][6][7] On January 16, 2021, an arrest warrant was issued for Jones by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Jones stated she was not allowed to speak to the media about the charges.[8]

Rebekah D. Jones
Jones in 2020
BornJuly 1989 (age 31)[1]
NationalityAmerican
Alma materSyracuse University[2]
Louisiana State University
Florida State University
Known forFlorida COVID Action
COVID-19 whistleblower[3]
Scientific career
FieldsGeography, data science
Websitegeojones.org

Education

Jones graduated cum laude from the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University with dual degrees in earth science and journalism in 2012. She received a dual master's degree in geography and mass communication at Louisiana State University in 2014.[2]

Jones was also a graduate student in the Department of Geography at Florida State University from 2016 through 2018[9] where she completed course work with an emphasis on data science and was working on a doctoral dissertation titled Using Native American Sitescapes to Extend the North American Paleotempestological Record Through Coupled Remote Sensing and Climatological Analysis.[6][10][9] According to Jones, her doctoral work is in progress.[2]

Alternate COVID-19 dashboards

Jones made headlines in May 2020 after alleging that the Florida Department of Health pressured her to strategically align COVID-19 case data with Florida's goal to reopen the state. State records indicate that Jones was fired for violating Health Department policy by making public remarks about the data.[11] Despite protests by Nikki Fried, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Jones was not reinstated.[12] The Urban and Regional Information Systems Association of GIS professionals wrote a letter to Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, stating among other things, "While all the facts have yet to be made public, we are concerned that the actions taken potentially put the public at risk and prevented a certified GIS professional from following the Code of Ethics that guides all GIS professionals working in government, non-profit and private sector positions."[13] The American Association of Geographers also wrote a letter to DeSantis titled "Geography Matters" to emphasize the role of geographic data scientists in public health and epidemiology. Jones was among the 683 signers of the letter but was not otherwise mentioned therein.[14]

Within weeks, Jones launched an independent dashboard of the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida using the same data science software and data extraction techniques, but using open data and offering instructions to others wishing to set up their own dashboards. Her dashboard offers more information than the official Florida dashboard, and explains calculations for aggregated data per county. Her second dashboard also gained more views in the first 48 hours than the original dashboard she built at the Florida Department of Health, according to her website. In August, she launched a second COVID-19 dashboard specifically to track cases in schools prior to the 2020 fall school opening. Initially, the state did not release any data at all for schools, eventually doing so in September. Local newspapers used her dashboard for coverage of the state data.[15]

Her story gained international attention before she was interviewed by CNN's Chris Cuomo.[16] Her story, also presented by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, suggests that Florida was hiding information about COVID-19 hospitalizations since late May 2020.[17] Florida Governor Ron DeSantis refuted her claims in June 2020, saying Jones has "no evidence" and calling her accusations "embarrassing".[18] Additionally, she appeared on multiple television and radio programs, including NPR,[19] CBS Miami,[20] and became an important source for primary data and information about Florida's COVID-19 cases. She was profiled by The Washington Post[21] and Time[22] after she founded the non-profit group Florida Covid Action.[23]

Months later, Jones summarized the episode saying: "They never actually denied what I was saying. They said I was insubordinate, that I didn't listen to my superiors, and that was true. They asked me to do something wrong and I didn't do it."[24]

Jones continued to work with COVID-19 researchers to identify sources for missing Florida COVID-19 data as of July 2020 according to the COVID Tracking Project.[25] In September, she was also listed as one of 50 pandemic experts to follow by the Medium coronavirus blog.[26]

Police raid

On December 7, 2020, at 8:30 a.m., state police raided Jones' home, where they confiscated electronic devices including her personal phone and laptop computer. She posted video of the encounter on Twitter taken from a home security camera.[27][28] Florida Department of Law Enforcement said in a statement later that day that a search warrant was issued because Jones was suspected of hacking into a Florida Department of Health computer system and sending an unauthorized message to members of the State Emergency Response Team on November 10, 2020.[29] The alleged statement urged recipients to "speak up before another 17,000 people are dead".[30]

In a press interview later that morning, Jones denied sending the unauthorized message. She stated that because the authorities seized only her personal electronic devices and not other electronics in her house that could have been used to send the unauthorized message, she does not think she was the target of the investigation at all, but rather that her phone was seized so authorities could identify the Florida Department of Health workers with whom she had been communicating, including her confidential sources.[31]

Nikki Fried, the same official who had defended Jones in May, reacted quickly on Twitter, claiming to have already spoken to FDLE, because "[k]nowing that children were in the home, police should have exercised extreme caution."[32] The next day, DeSantis appointee Ron Filipkowski resigned from his Florida position in the 12th Circuit Judicial Nomination Commission in solidarity with Jones, stating that the policy of Florida "towards COVID is reckless and irresponsible" and though "health policy was unrelated", that COVID-19 policy in Florida has become "now a legal one rather than just medical".[33][34] In a subsequent media interview, Filipkowski said his resignation decision was made after reading the search warrant for Jones' house and hearing a spokesman for DeSantis claim that the governor's office had no involvement in the raid, something that Filipkowski found "fantastical and not credible".[35]

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz accused governor Ron DeSantis of abusing Florida's judicial systems to persecute Jones for criticizing the mishandling of COVID-19 pandemic in Florida by the governor.[36]

Lawsuit

Jones filed a lawsuit on December 20, 2020[37] against the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Commissioner Rick Swearingen[38] alleging that the police obtained a "sham" search warrant whose true purpose was to retaliate against her for being a whistleblower. Her suit also claims that one of the FDLE agents grabbed her "without consent, authorization, or legitimate basis" while searching her home.[39] She is also alleging that the FDLE violated her First Amendment free speech rights, and unlawful search and seizure when they confiscated computers and her personal cell phone.[37] Jones is seeking damages and a jury trial, stating in the 19-page lawsuit, which was filed in Leon County court, that "They entered her home with guns drawn, terrorizing her family."[38]

Jones has had prior criminal charges in Florida. At the time of the police raid, Jones was facing an active misdemeanor charge for allegedly cyberstalking a former student and romantic partner who'd got a restraining order against her. She had also faced prior charges stemming from an alleged violation of that restraining order, but those charges were dropped.[40][41][42]

Awards and honors

In 2020, Jones was recognized by Fortune magazine's 40 Under 40 in Healthcare for founding Florida COVID Action and her geospatial scientific expertise.[43] On December 26 that year, Jones was named Forbes' Technology Person of the Year.[44]

References
  1. Taylor, Langston (May 22, 2020). "Ousted manager was told to manipulate COVID-19 data before state's re-opening, she says". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved June 15, 2020. Jones was 30 years old in May 2020
  2. Cox, Jay (March 31, 2020). "Alumna Tracks the COVID-19 Outbreak". Syracuse.edu. Syracuse University. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  3. Gancarski, A.G. (May 23, 2020). "'Can't trust the information': Nikki Fried questions Florida's COVID-19 data". Florida Politics. Retrieved November 8, 2020. Fried [...] decried Jones' dismissal, whose whistleblower claims that the state was massaging data have been countered by an administration contention that she was fired with cause for insubordination.
  4. Jones, Rebekah D. "Quantifying the Impact of Hurricanes, Mid-Latitude Cyclones and Other Weather and Climate Extreme Events on the Mississippi-Alabama Barrier Islands Using Remotely Sensed Data B.A". Academia.edu. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  5. Hinson, Parker; Jones, Rebekah (2019). Florida Department of Health's Hurricane Michael GIS Response. Esri User Conference 2019. San Diego, California. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  6. Geraghty, Este; Lanclos, Ryan (April 20, 2020). "COVID-19: Dedicated Scientist in Florida Made Quick Moves to Map the Disease". Esri Blog. Environmental Systems Research Institute. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  7. "Rebekah Jones @GeoRebekah , the fired GIS data scientist from Florida, Launches new #Coronavirus Dashboard, FloridaCOVIDAction". GISuser.com. June 12, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  8. Davis, Jason (January 16, 2021). "Arrest warrant issued for former Florida Dept. of Health analyst Rebekah Jones". WPTV-TV. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  9. Sassoon, Alessandro Marazzi; Waymer, Jim (May 21, 2020). "Accusations fly around dismissed Health Department official, but questions about COVID-19 data persist". Florida Today. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  10. Jones, Rebekah D. "Rebekah Jones Academic Record". Academia.edu. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  11. Farrington, Brendan; Calvan, Bobby Caina (May 23, 2020). "Public remarks prompted Florida virus data curator's firing". Associated Press. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  12. "Commissioner Nikki Fried Requests Cabinet Briefing on Fired DOH Employee" (Press release). Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. May 19, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  13. "URISA Statement Regarding Recent Events in Florida" (PDF) (Press release). Urban and Regional Information Systems Association. June 19, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  14. "AAG Letter to Governor Ron DeSantis: Geography Matters". aag.org. American Association of Geographers. May 29, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  15. Cutway, Adrienne; Selig, David (September 30, 2020). "See the COVID-19 cases confirmed in your children's schools". Local10.com. WPLG. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  16. Cuomo, Chris (May 22, 2020). "Florida's governor and state health..." Retrieved December 8, 2020 – via Facebook.
  17. COVID-19 Risk At GOP Convention Shrouded By Florida Data Opacity. The Rachel Maddow Show. MSNBC. June 12, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2020 – via YouTube.
  18. "Home of fired Florida data scientist who built COVID dashboard raided by FDLE". WESH. December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  19. Aboraya, Abe (June 21, 2020). "Rebekah Jones, Former DOH Scientist, Will Keep Her COVID-19 Dashboard Going 'As Long As I Can'". wmfe.org. WMFE-FM. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  20. "Florida Data Official Rebekah Jones Creates COVID Dashboard That Shows More Cases Than State Reports". CBS Miami. June 15, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  21. Iati, Marisa (June 16, 2020). "Florida fired its coronavirus data scientist. Now she's publishing the statistics on her own". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  22. Mansoor, Sanya (June 15, 2020). "Fired Florida Data Scientist Creates Competing COVID-19 Tracking Site and Suggests State Is Hiding Important Information". Time. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  23. Papenfuss, Mary (December 17, 2020). "Florida Scientist Vows To Speak COVID-19 'Truth To Power' Despite Police Raid". HuffPost. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  24. Luscombe, Richard (August 12, 2020). "Ousted expert on Florida's Covid plan: 'They're not listening to the scientists'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  25. Glassman, Rebecca; Lacan, Olivier (July 8, 2020). "Florida's COVID-19 Data: What We Know, What's Wrong, and What's Missing". CovidTracking.com. The Atlantic Monthly Group. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  26. "50 Pandemic Experts You Can Trust". Medium Coronavirus Blog. September 18, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  27. Chute, Nate (December 7, 2020). "Watch video of FDLE agents entering Rebekah Jones' home with guns drawn". Tallahassee Democrat. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  28. Jones, Rebekah [@GeoRebekah] (December 8, 2020). "1/ There will be no update today. At 8:30 am this morning, state police came into my house and took all my hardware and tech. They were serving a warrant on my computer after DOH filed a complaint. They pointed a gun in my face. They pointed guns at my kids." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  29. Klas, Mary Ellen; Ceballos, Ana (December 7, 2020). "Did COVID data whistleblower hack Florida's emergency alert system? Police raid home". Miami Herald. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  30. Ross, Allison (November 27, 2020). "Florida's emergency communications channel hacked, according to state official". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  31. "Florida police raid home of former Covid-19 scientist". Cuomo Prime Time. CNN. December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  32. Fried, Nikki [@nikkifried] (December 8, 2020). "Like most of you, I was shocked at what I saw on today's video from @GeoRebekah. Knowing that children were in the home, police should have exercised extreme caution. I've spoken with @FDLEpio this evening to get to the bottom of this situation and understand the facts" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  33. Anderson, Zac (December 8, 2020). "Sarasota attorney resigns state job to protest Rebekah Jones raid". Herald Tribune. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  34. Filipkowski, Ron [@RonGOPVet4Biden] (December 8, 2020). "My resignation letter to Governor Desantis" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  35. "Florida official on why he resigned over raid on fired Covid-19 data scientist". Cuomo Prime Time. CNN. December 9, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  36. "South Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz Calls For Investigation Into Raid Of Fired COVID-19 Analyst". CBS Miami. December 10, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  37. Grenoble, Ryan (December 22, 2020). "Florida Data Scientist Rebekah Jones Files Suit Over 'Sham' Raid". HuffPost. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  38. Burke, Peter (December 21, 2020). "Attorneys for Rebekah Jones call FDLE raid 'a sham' in lawsuit". WPTV. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  39. Devine, Curt (December 21, 2020). "Fired Florida Covid data scientist's lawsuit calls search of her home 'retaliation'". CNN. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  40. Desai, Jigsha (December 8, 2020). "Who is Rebekah Jones? Former Florida COVID-19 data scientist had home raided by authorities". USA Today. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  41. Mazzei, Patricia (December 11, 2020). "A State Scientist Questioned Florida's Virus Data. Now Her Home's Been Raided". The New York Times. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  42. Armus, Teo; Iati, Marisa (December 9, 2020). "GOP lawyer appointed by Florida governor resigns state panel in protest over raid on ousted data scientist's home". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  43. "Rebekah Jones | 2020 40 under 40 in Health". Fortune. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  44. Popkin, Helen A. S. (December 26, 2020). "Forbes Technology Awards 2020: Geeks Step Up When Governments Fail". Forbes. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  • Official website
  • Florida COVID Action – Jones' alternate COVID-19 dashboard for the state of Florida
  • The COVID Monitor – US statewide website founded by the Florida COVID Action project for "the nation's most comprehensive COVID-19 dataset focusing on coronavirus cases in every K-12 school district in the U.S.A."
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