APOPKA, Fla. – Nathan Tuck told News 6 he got a call from his attorney around 11 p.m. on Monday that President Donald Trump pardoned him and others for charges stemming from the attack on the US Capitol. 

It was Jan. 6, 2021, when some of the supporters of President Trump stormed the Capitol building – some of them trying to stop the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. 

“I’m so proud of it. I am so proud of January 6th. I have no remorse for it, I am very proud of it,” Nathan Tuck said.

Tuck also proudly tells News 6 he is a member of the Proud Boys and a former police officer of almost 9 years in Apopka and Longwood.

He was facing about 14 months behind bars for his role after pleading guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges.

“So I went into the Capitol. I participated in a protest that was very peaceful, and the cops are the ones that instigated the entire thing… I just protested and entered the Capitol building that I paid for my entire life through my taxes. So I’m not sorry,” Tuck said.

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According to the United States Attorney’s Office, Nathaniel Tuck was the sole member of his co-defendants who successfully pushed his way past a line of multiple Capitol Police officers, making physical contact with at least one officer as he did so…and he “…spent most of the next hour inside the Capitol building, where he berated officers, shouting at them and calling them “communists.”

Later he sent a text to his father saying, “Politics won’t save us. Violence is the only way we will win.”

His father Kevin Tuck was with him that day and also charged.

He was an officer with the Windermere Police Department and also pleaded guilty for his role in the 2021 insurrection at the U.S.Capitol.

He was sentenced to six months is prison and had yet to start his sentence.

Last night Nathan celebrated with fellow Proud Boys members. He told News 6,

“We just drank and had a good time last night. Picked up a lot of guys from prison last night,” Nathan Tuck said.

There were about 45 local arrests made in connection with Jan. 6. Three Central Floridians were charged with some of the most serious crimes.

Joseph Biggs, a Proud Boy from Ormond Beach, and Kelly Meggs – an Oath Keeper from Dunnellon – were both convicted of seditious conspiracy.

And Kenneth Harrelson, and Oath Keeper from Titusville was convicted of lesser charges, and was sentecned to four years in prison.

All three have now been released.

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We know, we know. College football’s national title game ended only a few hours ago. The celebration in Columbus, Ohio, is just now cranking up. Heck, Kirk Herbstreit’s pooch is still prancing somewhere in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

So why are we already making projections for the 2025 season? Because it’s a tradition like no other. Way-too-early forecasts have become embedded in the sport’s fabric, much like portal season, the Pop-Tarts Bowl and profanities by Nick Saban on live TV.

Who cares if they should be taken with a grain of salt? Our guess is, they’ll still make more than a few fans feel salty. All part of the fun.

Here then, is our way-too-early 2025 ranking of Florida’s seven Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

7. Florida International

2024 record: 4-8

3 key returners: DB Brian Blades II (six pass breakups), QB Keyone Jenkins (2,557 passing yards, 22 TDs), RB Kejon Owens (team-best 392 rushing yards, five TDs)

3 key departures: LB Travion Barnes (Baylor), S JoJo Evans (Louisville), WR Eric Rivers (Georgia Tech)

Impact newcomer: RB Ajay Allen (Miami)

Outlook: New Panthers coach Willie Simmons did arguably his best recruiting job of the winter by convincing both Jenkins and Owens to withdraw their names from the portal and remain at FIU. On the flip side, Simmons lost a procession of talented defensive players to the portal and must do some significant replenishing. Simmons, a Tallahassee native who posted four consecutive seasons of at least nine wins at Florida A&M, has the coaching and recruiting chops to succeed down south, but this will take time.

6. Florida Atlantic

2024 record: 3-9

3 key returners: DB Wendel Philord (42 tackles, four pass breakups), WR Jabari Smith (17 receptions), DB Jayden Williams (two interceptions)

3 key departures: RB C.J. Campbell (Rutgers), QB Cam Fancher (UCF), S CJ Heard (Vanderbilt)

Impact newcomer: QB Caden Veltkamp (Western Kentucky)

Outlook: New Owls coach Zach Kittley practically had to pilfer the transfer portal to replenish FAU’s decimated roster, but he pulled off a bonanza by signing Veltkamp, a 3,000-yard passer at Western Kentucky last season. As a bonus, he also landed one of Veltkamp’s top targets last year, Hilltoppers slot receiver Easton Messer (55 catches, 793 yards). Widely regarded as one of college football’s brightest young offensive minds, Kittley, 33, has the energy and ingenuity to turn around FAU. But his overhauled roster will need time to jell.

5. UCF

2024 record: 4-8

3 key returners: Edge Nyjalik Kelly (team-high 5.5 sacks), RT Paul Rubelt (lone returning OL starter) DT John Walker (injured in 2024)

3 key departures: LB Xe’Ree Alexander (Washington), DL Lee Hunter (Texas Tech), RG Marcellus Marshall (Minnesota)

Impact newcomer: QB Tayven Jackson (Indiana)

Outlook: Count us among those who remain convinced Scott Frost didn’t forget how to coach. Also count us among those who believe he never really was crazy about leaving UCF for his alma mater (Nebraska), where he went 16-31 in four-plus seasons. Frost has some significant rebuilding ahead of him in his second stint in Orlando, and he has been forced to tap heavily into the transfer portal (more than two-dozen transfers) since his return in early December. But don’t be shocked if the Knights make some rumblings in the Big 12 in 2025. And if his second season (2026) remotely resembles the Year 2 of his initial go-round at UCF (see Colley Matrix), watch out.

4. USF

2024 record: 7-6 (topped San Jose State, 41-39, in Hawaii Bowl)

3 key returners: QB Byrum Brown (12 school records), WR Keshaun Singleton (428 receiving yards, three TDs), S Tavin Ward (team-high three interceptions)

3 key departures: S Tawfiq Byard (Colorado), RB Kelley Joiner (NFL draft), LB Jamie Pettway (NFL draft)

Impact newcomer: RB Cartevious Norton (Charlotte)

Outlook: Presuming Brown is healthy and still here, the Bulls should eclipse the seven-win plateau in Year 3 of the Alex Golesh era. The backfield must be replenished, but there’s proven talent on the perimeter and up front. The big question involves the defense and whether USF can develop more consistency on that side. After two .500 regular seasons, Bulls fans want to see Golesh’s “process” produce titles, or at least title-game berths.

3. FSU

2024 record: 2-10

3 key returners: S Shyheim Brown (team-high 70 tackles), DT Darrell Jackson (32 tackles, 3.5 sacks), S KJ Kirkland (46 tackles, two pass breakups)

3 key departures: QB Luke Kromenhoek (Mississippi State), edge Patrick Payton (LSU), RB Lawrance Toafili (NFL draft)

Impact newcomer: QB Thomas Castellanos (Boston College)

Outlook: As promised, coach Mike Norvell has orchestrated a brisk overhaul in the wake of a disastrous autumn, bringing in two new coordinators (Gus Malzahn, Tony White) and an infusion of veterans from the transfer portal. The returners and replenishments on defense, along with White’s 3-3-5 scheme, should foster optimism, but the big question is whether the Seminoles will regain an offensive pulse. Castellanos, a 5-foot-9 dual threat, played briefly for Malzahn at UCF and possesses the skill set that meshes with Malzahn’s no-huddle scheme.

2. Miami

2024 record: 10-3 (lost to Iowa State, 42-41, in Pop-Tarts Bowl)

3 key returners: DT Rueben Bain (3.5 sacks), RB Mark Fletcher (545 rushing yards, eight TDs), LB Francisco Mauigoa (team-high 88 tackles)

3 key departures: DL Simeone Barrow (NFL draft), WR Xavier Restrepo (NFL draft), QB Cam Ward (NFL draft)

Impact newcomer: QB Carson Beck (Georgia)

Outlook: The Hurricanes got a coup of sorts by luring Beck — 24-3 as a starter at Georgia — from the portal. Beck, who likely will miss spring practice while recovering from elbow surgery, doesn’t have Ward’s hair-trigger release, but he possesses far more big-game experience than Ward had upon his arrival to Coral Gables. He’ll also be complemented by what projects as a solid offensive line and sturdy run game (see Fletcher, Jordan Lyle). The prevailing question is how the beleaguered defense will progress under new coordinator Corey Hetherman.

1. Florida

2024 record: 8-5 (topped Tulane, 33-8, in Gasparilla Bowl)

3 key returners: QB DJ Lagway (6-1 as starter), edge Tyreak Sapp (team-high seven sacks), C Jake Slaughter (first-team All-American)

3 key departures: WR Chimere Deke (NFL draft), LB Shemar James (NFL draft), edge Jack Pyburn (LSU)

Impact newcomer: WR Dallas Wilson (Tampa Bay Tech)

Outlook: Few SEC teams ended 2024 with more momentum than the Gators, whose season-ending four-game win streak included home upsets of ranked foes LSU and Ole Miss. Moreover, coach Billy Napier replenished his roster with a top-11 prep signing class in December. This is Lagway’s team now, and he’ll be flanked by talent both proven (Slaughter) and promising (Wilson). The most formidable challenge: a schedule every bit as ruthless as last year’s.

• • •

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In the Space Coast’s eighth launch of 2025 thus far, a SpaceX Falcon 9 took flight on another Starlink mission early Tuesday morning from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

The Falcon 9 lifted off at 12:24 a.m. EST from pad 39A, ascending into low-Earth orbit to deploy a payload of 21 Starlink internet satellites.

In light of the cold front gripping the Sunshine State, risks of thick cloud layers and cumulus clouds spurred the Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron to spell out unusual variance for a 4½-hour Starlink launch window.

The squadron predicted an 85% chance of favorable weather early during the launch window, which opened at 12:13 a.m. — with those odds dropping off to 40% by the window’s conclusion.

Cape Canaveral: Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, Blue Origin, NASA rocket launch schedule in Florida

However, no significant Central Florida cloud cover was present at liftoff across the Tampa Bay-Orlando-Space Coast corridor, per a National Weather Service radar loop from the Melbourne Orlando International Airport station shows.

The post-midnight mission marked the Falcon 9 first-stage booster’s eighth flight, SpaceX reported.

The booster previously launched Crew-8, Polaris Dawn, CRS-31, Astranis: From One to Many, and three Starlink missions. 

Following stage separation, the booster settled for a landing on the SpaceX drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean a bit more than eight minutes after liftoff.

Next SpaceX mission targeted for Friday

Next on the Eastern Range schedule, another SpaceX Starlink mission is slated to lift off Friday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, a Federal Aviation Administration operations plan advisory shows.

That Starlink launch window is scheduled to extend from 5:45 p.m. to 10:15 p.m.

For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.

Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

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