Early Thursday morning, Hurricane Irma tore across the Caribbean destroying entire communities and leaving a reported eight deaths in its wake. As Floridians brace themselves for the most powerful storm ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean, a Polk County Florida Sherriff took the opportunity to antagonize residents who might seek refuge in local shelters.
On Wednesday, in a series of tweets, the Sherriff's Office announced that law enforcement officers will be checking IDs at every shelter and turning away citizens with certain criminal records.
If you go to a shelter for #Irma, be advised: sworn LEOs will be at every shelter, checking IDs. Sex offenders/predators will not be allowed
— Polk County Sheriff (@PolkCoSheriff) September 6, 2017
He went on to smugly clarify that individuals with arrest warrants will be taken into custody.
If you go to a shelter for #Irma and you have a warrant, we'll gladly escort you to the safe and secure shelter called the Polk County Jail https://t.co/Qj5GX9XQBi
— Polk County Sheriff (@PolkCoSheriff) September 6, 2017
He then continued to exploit the terror of those in the path of the impending category 5 storm.
If you have a warrant, turn yourself in to the jail – it's a secure shelter https://t.co/UFNGNafJh8
— Polk County Sheriff (@PolkCoSheriff) September 6, 2017
As always, Twitter responded with a collective WTF.
So basically this guy is encouraging anyone with a warrant, which are issued for things such as outstanding parking tickets, to risk death?
— Alt Sarah H. Sanders (@AltUSPressSec) September 6, 2017
Seriously?
You're a fucking loser… be a decent human being you fucking redneck
— Alt_Dept of Labor (@alt_labor) September 6, 2017
Where does he get off?
Umm..Sheriff..your job is supposed to be public safety…NOT getting off on some power trip. You're a disgrace.
— JoAnn Cubberly (@joann_cubberly) September 7, 2017
Despite the public outrage, sheriff's office spokeswoman Carrie Horstman defended the tweets, telling the Orlando Sentinel, "Officers are legally obligated to take a person into custody if they have a warrant." She went on to say that officers have no way of seeing what type of crime is connected to a warrant so, even people with minor offenses would be arrested.
Terrorizing citizens who are seeking shelter from a natural disaster is absolutely disgusting. We can already see how this scenario is going to play out.