Florida
Is it legal to video police and other first responders in Florida? It may get tough in 2025
‘The horror and cruelty’: Lorraine Stone talks George Floyd video
Lorraine Stone talks “the horror and cruelty” of the video of the death of George Floyd and what comes next.
Thomas P. Costello, Asbury Park Press
As of 2025, it may become harder to take videos of law enforcement in Florida, even if they’re breaking the law themselves.
A new law going into effect on Jan. 1 requires people to move back 25 feet if first responders, including law enforcement, verbally warn them to, while the responder is performing a legal duty.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said this was in support of law enforcement officers and accused news media outlets of warping narratives about police for attention and “clicks.”
Critics say it’s to prevent people from taking videos of law enforcement officers breaking the law or brutalizing people.
Here’s what to know.
What does SB 184, Impeding, Threatening, or Harassing First Responders, do?
SB 184 makes it illegal, after you have been verbally warned, to approach a first responder or remain within 25 feet while the responder is performing a legal duty with the intent to:
- Block or interfere with their ability to perform the duty
- Threaten the first responders with physical harm
- Harass the first responder
Violations will be a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail.
What does SB 184 define as ‘harassment’?
“Harassment” is defined as an action directed at a first responder that “intentionally causes substantial emotional distress in that first responder and serves no legitimate purpose.”
“Emotional distress,” “legitimate purpose” and which parties may decide if they apply were left undefined.
Rep. Angela Nixon, D-Jacksonville, introduced an amendment to clarify that “harass” did not include “asking a first responder questions out of concern, for the health, safety and well-being, of the person that is being responded to” and to stress that a person may still impede a first responder if they are breaking the law or using “unnecessary harm or excessive force.” The amendment failed.
What does SB 184 define as ‘first responders’?
First responders are defined here as law enforcement officers, correctional probation officers, firefighters and emergency medical care providers.
Are you allowed to record or video police officers in Florida?
Yes. SB 184 does not prevent taking video or pictures of law enforcement in the course of their duties, but it does require you, if asked, to move 25 feet away, which can make shooting images or video much more difficult.
An amendment from Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis, D-Ocoee, which would have defined “the peaceful audio or video recording, photographing, or eyewitness observing of a first responder” as a legitimate purpose, failed to pass.
So did Nixon’s other proposed amendment to change the name of the bill to “The I Don’t Want the World to See the Police Kill an Unarmed Innocent Man Like George Floyd Again, So I Want To Protect Bad Cops and Violate Free Speech Act.”
How did police videos cause the Black Lives Matter protest movement to go worldwide?
Davis’ amendment referred to the video shot of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a police officer in 2020.
The video, and many others shot by bystanders and witnesses, were widely shared online and contributed to the massive widespread Black Lives Matter protests that year by making more Americans aware of incidents of police brutality that otherwise may have gone unnoticed.
Darnella Frazier, the then-17-year-old girl who videoed Floyd’s murder, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation.
Why was SB 184 necessary?
DeSantis said when he signed the bill that the legislation “recognizes we’ve got some strange currents going on in our society right now that really seek to delegitimize law enforcement,” accusing news media outlets of warping narratives about police for attention and “clicks” and citing media coverage of the controversial police killing of Dexter Reed in Chicago.
Officers fired 96 shots in 41 seconds at Reed during a traffic stop, reportedly over Reed not wearing a seatbelt. A citizen review board questioned both the validity of the stop and the order of events — they say it’s unclear who shot first — and questioned the appropriateness of deadly force in the response. Bodycam footage showed one officer emptying his pistol multiple times at Reed, even after Reed was motionless on the ground.
“You shouldn’t be in a situation where you’re at a traffic stop, you’re responding to a call of someone in distress, and then you have people come trying to interdict or trying to harass you from performing your duty,” DeSantis said. “We view that as a problem, and now you’re going to be held accountable.”
Critics questioned the bill, saying it would be open to First Amendment challenges and prevent recordings of police misconduct and brutality.
Florida
Doctor accused of fatally removing patient’s wrong organ indicted
Family of dead Alabama man claims surgeon removed wrong organ
The family of Alabama man William Bryan claims that he died after his liver was mistakenly removed from his body during surgery at a Florida hospital.
unbranded – Newsworthy
PENSACOLA, FL — A Florida doctor has been indicted in connection with the death of a 70-year-old man who had his liver wrongly removed instead of his spleen during an August 2024 medical procedure at a hospital, authorities said.
Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky, 44, was indicted on a second-degree manslaughter charge by a grand jury in Walton County, Florida, on Monday, April 13, according to the county sheriff’s office and the Office of the State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit. He was arrested on the morning of April 13 and later released on a $75,000 bond, online inmate records show.
In a news release, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office said the grand jury indictment connected Shaknovsky to the “operating room death of an Alabama man.” William Bryan, of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and his wife, Beverly, were visiting their rental property in Okaloosa County when William Bryan suddenly began experiencing left-sided flank pain, according to the family’s attorney.
They went to Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital in Walton County, and he was admitted for further studies pursuant to concern for an abnormality of the spleen. The sheriff’s office said Shaknovsky had removed William Bryan’s liver instead of his spleen during what was scheduled to be a laparoscopic splenectomy, “resulting in catastrophic blood loss and the patient’s death on the operating table.”
The grand jury indictment follows an extensive investigation conducted by the sheriff’s office, the Office of the State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit, and other state and medical authorities, according to the news release. The sheriff’s office said the jury found probable cause to “charge that the actions taken in the operating room constituted criminal conduct” under state law.
“Our duty is to follow the facts wherever they lead, without fear or favor,” Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson said in a statement. “The Grand Jury has spoken, and our responsibility is to ensure the charges are carried out through the proper legal process. Our thoughts remain with the victim’s family and their unspeakable loss.”
Medical examiner found spleen still in William Bryan’s body during autopsy
A Pensacola law firm, Zarzaur Law P.A., is pursuing a civil lawsuit on behalf of William Bryan’s family, citing wrongful death, medical malpractice, and personal injury.
William Bryan began suffering “severe abdominal pain” while on vacation with his wife in August 2024, according to Joe Zarzaur, the Bryan family’s attorney. Shaknovsky, who was a surgeon at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital at the time, had diagnosed William Bryan with hemoperitoneum and splenic injury, or bleeding of the spleen, an operative report states.
William Bryan initially elected to hold off on surgery until they got back to their home in Alabama, but Beverly Bryan said Shaknovsky told her husband would bleed to death if he traveled in his condition, according to Zarzaur. Shaknovsky performed the procedure after discussing the “risks, benefits and alternatives” with the couple, the operative report states.
During the procedure on Aug. 21, 2024, William Bryan died from massive blood loss after the removal of the “large” spleen, according to the operative report. After the procedure, a pathologist realized the removed organ labeled “spleen” was actually liver tissue, Zarzaur said.
Once an autopsy was done, the medical examiner determined William Bryan’s liver had been removed, and his spleen was still in his body with a cyst attached to it, according to Zarzaur.
“The spleen had a small cyst on it that had some hemorrhage around it, but it was not a fatal issue,” Zarzaur said. “It was a fairly routine-looking cyst. It probably would have been very treatable.”
Thomas Shaknovsky involved in 2023 surgical mishap
In September 2024, the Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo ordered an emergency suspension of Shaknovsky’s license. Ladapo had cited William Bryan’s death and a prior incident in 2023, in which Shaknovsky removed a portion of a different patient’s pancreas instead of the adrenal gland and purportedly claimed the adrenal gland had “migrated” to a different part of the body.
The 2023 case was settled, and no lawsuit was filed against the surgeon or Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital, according to Zarzaur. State records show that Shaknovsky paid $400,000 in 2024 to settle a medical malpractice claim.
“That one got swept under the rug,” Zarzaur said at a news conference in September 2024 while announcing the case. “Here we are in a case after that.”
The Florida Department of Health lists Shaknovsky’s current medical license status as “retired.” The department defines retired status as the licensed practitioner “not practicing in the state of Florida, but maintains a retired license status.”
“The licensed practitioner is not authorized to practice in the state of Florida,” according to the state health department. “The practitioner is not obligated to update his/her profile data.”
Contributing: Jonathan Limehouse, USA TODAY
Florida
FBI says suspects tried to rob Offset outside a Florida casino when he was shot in the leg
The rapper Offset was ambushed by a “large group” of people who tried to rob him outside a Florida casino last week when he was shot in the leg, the FBI said Tuesday.
Federal investigators said that they are still searching for the suspects who assaulted Offset last Monday night outside of Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, just north of Miami. Throughout the assault, a single shot was fired into Offset’s leg before an unsuccessful attempt to remove the rapper’s watch, the statement said. Offset, who rose to fame as part of the influential hip-hop trio Migos, was hospitalized for a couple of days, but swiftly returned to the stage at a performance at a music festival at the University of Arkansas on Saturday.
The suspects fled the scene in two Chevrolet SUVs that went in separate directions: A black Suburban that fled towards Hollywood, Florida, and a Tahoe that fled southbound towards Miami.
Following the shooting, officers detained two people, but law enforcement hasn’t shared evidence to directly tying either one to the shooting.
One of the people detained was rapper Lil Tjay, born Tione Jayden Merritt. He was arrested in connection with an altercation that occurred before the shooting, the Seminole Police Department in Florida said. He was charged with disorderly conduct and operating a vehicle without a valid license. His lawyer, Dawn M. Florio, told The Associated Press last week that Lil Tjay did not have a gun and was not charged with any weapons or gun-related crimes. He was swiftly released after posting bond.
Offset, born Kiari Kendrell Cephus, launched his career with Migos, one of the most popular hip-hop groups of all time. The Atlanta trio is celebrated for their rapid-fire triplet flow, an often-imitated delivery that changed the trajectory of trap.
The group had several multiplatinum selling singles, including “Bad and Boujee,” which went No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart, “Stir Fry,” and “Narcos.” Migos released four full-length albums across their career.
More than three years ago, Offset’s cousin Takeoff, another member of Migos, was shot and killed at a Houston bowling alley.
Florida
Florida teenager charged with sexually assaulting and killing stepsister Anna Kepner on cruise ship
A 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder and aggravated sexual abuse in Florida in the 6 November death of his 18-year-old stepsister on a Carnival cruise ship, the US justice department said Monday.
Timothy Hudson was initially charged in February and subsequently indicted on 10 March. But the breadth of the case was not known until a seal was lifted Friday, weeks after US district judge Beth Bloom in Miami said he would be prosecuted as an adult at the request of the government.
Anna Kepner, Hudson’s stepsister, had been traveling on the Carnival Horizon ship with her family. Before the ship was scheduled to return to Florida, her body was found concealed under a bed in a room she was sharing with two other teens, including the younger stepbrother.
The cause of Kepner’s death was determined to be mechanical asphyxia, which is when an object or physical force stops someone from breathing.
Email and voicemail messages seeking comment from Hudson’s attorneys about the charges were not immediately returned Monday. Hudson, whose name was disclosed through his signature on documents filed in federal court, has remained free in the care of an uncle since his arrest in February.
Kepner’s father, Christopher Kepner, released a statement, saying the family was placing “trust in the justice system to pursue the truth with care and integrity”.
“At the same time, we are deeply troubled that, despite the seriousness of the charges, he has not been taken into custody,” Kepner said. “The situation is deeply painful and complex for the entire family.”
In a written statement, US attorney Jason Reding Quiñones said, “Our hearts go out to the victim’s family during this unimaginable loss. A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging serious offenses that allegedly occurred aboard a vessel in international waters.”
Kepner was a high school cheerleader at Temple Christian school in Titusville, Florida, about 40 miles (65 kilometres) east of Orlando. At her memorial service in November, family members encouraged people to wear bright colors instead of the traditional black “in honor of Anna’s bright and beautiful soul”.
Teens are rarely prosecuted in federal court. Hudson pleaded not guilty when he was initially charged in February, though the proceedings were not public because of his age – and neither were court documents. He was seen at the courthouse wearing a ball cap and a hoodie pulled tightly around his face.
A judge on 6 February said Hudson must wear an electronic tether while living with an uncle. The order was changed to allow him to join his father for a few days recently at a landscaping business, newly unsealed court records show.
Prosecutors objected to Hudson’s release, citing dangerousness, and asked a judge Monday to revisit that order now that he has been charged as an adult. Defense lawyers were given a week to respond.
“He committed these crimes against a victim with whom he had no apparent relational strife, and whom he was being raised to view as a sibling,” assistant US attorney Alejandra López said in a court filing.
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