Little was known about BadVolf. I have worked to ensure our hiring reflects the diversity of our community. One standoff between deputies and protesters in Wellington, which is patrolled by the sheriffs office, made news, as young protesters denounced what they saw as infringements on their right to march in opposition to law enforcement misconduct. With his shaved head and stolid build, he looked every inch a career police officer, but his eclectic job history also included stints in horse transportation and database design, and he was a licensed pilot. Or do you want someone who says, I think I can do it, trust me? They want the experienced professional who has actually done it.. But that day in the spring of 2016, his hoax backfired spectacularly, with FBI agents raiding his home and carting off his computers. Police officers shot a man who was going through what the report described as a behavioral health crisis. A review concluded that there had a been total failure of the system. Im just lucky that I have a place to go, and Im really grateful for that. Given what we now know, this is a poor response. A reporter from Gawker interviewed BadVolf over online chats, suspecting at first that he was actually talking to Dougan, but eventually falling for the hoax as thoroughly as Lewis fell for Jessica. Russias not my fight, he explains. It is such sadness this must be done to protect a friend but we see no other way to do this. Dougans cockiness faded after the FBI search. The previous high for a settlement amount came in 2017, when Bradshaw settled over the shooting death of Seth Adams for $2.5 million. I was born in the Soviet era and I remember the fight for honesty in our government, he wrote Gawker in his hacker guise. But now that the recordings were public by way of his BadVolf persona, he could use them freely. Woodside was fired for using a police PC to watch a movie while on duty, and another deputy was terminated for lying on a police report and surfing Facebook on department time. By the end of his campaign, Dougan had released roughly 14,000 protected address records from at least 20 different Florida counties. No. Dougan moved back to Palm Beach County with a burning sense of injustice. When Dougan arrived in Belle Glade in mid-2008, it had lots of brewing issues. Dougan raised money to put a light aircraft in the skies over Palm Beach, a banner with an anti-Bradshaw slogan trailing behind it. Its like magic, he said. Dougans sojourns to Moscow started in February 2013. (A spokesman for the FBIs Miami office declined comment.). She broke into an elaborate story about a suspicious woman whod become involved with her wealthy father, and asked Lewis if he could help investigate the woman. They can maybe try to say I encouraged it, but Im not worried about that. Dougan also claimed hed sold the PBSOtalk website to a Russian businessman (he changed his domain registration first, to make it look good) and that he no longer had control over what was posted there. We are constantly evaluating our hiring practices. They didnt have an arrest warrant, and no charges had yet been filed. He won temporary political asylum in February 2017, and last December the Russian government made his status permanentan honor not even granted to Edward Snowden. Dougan told GossipExtra that Borodin was interested in hiring him to set up a websitea massive community charity fundraising website for all of the various charities in Russia.. This year, the Legislature ordered Bradshaws agency to pay $6 million of a $22.5 million verdict won by Dontrell Stephens, who was paralyzed in a 2013 shooting a federal jury deemed to be an excessive use of force. State law already creates a process for this where deputies have a review board they go in front of. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Orders Epstein Criminal Probe - Breitbart None of the DNC emails did. In Palm Beach County there were about 4,000 homeowners availing themselves of Floridas address confidentiality laws. Diaz, who was unchallenged for the Republican nomination, said that Bradshaw is a better politician than a sheriff. Dougan discovered a flaw in the system while compiling data for a geo-marketing venture. "He's on. Education: Bachelor's in public administration, Barry University, Political: Ran unsuccessfully for sheriff in 2016, Money: Raised $29,827, including $13,655 of his own money, as of July 25. In some ways, Bradshaw has been ahead of this curve. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office leadership is using their totalitarian authority to commit vast numbers of crime to investigate and persecute [sic] its political enemies.. His excellent inter-personal and communication skills demonstrate competence as a leader who gets things done, yet maintains a balance between assertiveness and diplomacy while always remembering that his first and foremost duty is to keep citizens safe. In January of that year Bradshaws office opened a criminal investigation into Dougan, assigning a retired detective to track his every move and hunt for his sources. The Icelandic hosting apparently didnt work out, and whoever controlled DC Leaks moved it to Malaysia five days later, on May 5th, where it stayed for the remainder of election season. They were just beating the minorities bloody, says Dougan. Hed learned, for example, that the FBI was working with the sheriffs office against him, at least according to Lewis telephonic pillow talk. He arrived at the inescapable conclusion that the entire American system was broken, from street cops like Raban to the FBI to the judges overseeing it all. Fuck them. It was so convincing that Bradshaws office had to issue a denial, leading to a cycle of real news headlines like Sheriff Bradshaw Wrongly Accused of Telling Boynton Residents to Run Over Protesters?, There are rules to making good fake news, Dougan learned. The Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Rosemary OHara, Dan Sweeney, Steve Bousquet and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Hes so uninformed its unbelievable. Freeman has knocked Bradshaw for overseeing an agency that has had to make multimillion-dollar payouts to settle cases brought against people shot by deputies. He began making arrangements for his escape immediately. Like a bad version of Miami Vice, he wrote, where you drive a blacked-out Toyota Corolla and dont catch any of the bad guys.. The agents had a search warrant to seize all his electronics and any and all records, data or materials pertaining to the computer networks of 24 different Florida county governments and confidential property records within these counties.. Whenever we have a bad contractor or person who attacks one of our judges or the sheriff or the state attorney, thats one of the things I do, Lewis told her. His campaign slogan and key commitment is Citizens Before Politics., My opponent likes to say that I dont have the 50 years of experience that he has, Diaz told the Town-Crier. He says PBSO has succeeded in keeping crime down and that he is a regional and national leader in law enforcement. We Cannot Allow the Left to Destroy Palm Beach County, Zero Evidence of Threats to Palm Beach County School Board, Four Florida State Reps Didnt Vote on Abortion Bill Dont Let Them Get Away With It, Even a Federal Judge Thinks Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer is a Liar, Palm Beach County Bob Weinroths Bid for School Board Seat off to Shaky Start, Jolt Media, Inc. | PO Box 810967, Boca Raton, FL 33481. Is there anything about yourself that we didnt ask about that would embarrass you if an opponent found out? Oh I bet, Jessica trilled. The actions of law enforcement officers are being scrutinized more closely, and the public is calling for policy changes and policing reform. I know he loves his job and is passionate about the agency. In interviews with The Daily Beast, Dougan insisted there was no other purpose to his frenzied drive to the capitol. 1:07. Bradshaw also asked the independent Palm Beach County Criminal Justice Commission to conduct a formal review of the work release program. In 2012, Dougan revealed that Bradshaw had spent nearly $1,000 of taxpayer money taking campaign donors to lunch, a revelation that earned Bradshaw a rebuke from a state ethics commission. Asked about the criminal investigation of Epsteins jail time that Gov. Before he got into the construction business hed worked at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office for 23 years, retiring in 2005 as a lieutenant detective. He kept going, slathering layers of disinformation over his citizen journalism. Sometimes at night he visits Moscows bars and clubs with his friends. While Diaz is campaigning on a platform of transparency and fiscal responsibility, Bradshaws platform is based on his past performance and decades of experience. And I talked to him about trying to overturn that Russian adoption law that I thought was not great. Or have you ever received a withheld adjudication or had a matter sealed or expunged? The talk of Russian hackers inspired Dougan as he was pondering how to release the 10 hours of recordings hed made while posing as Jessica. Im putting everything out there.". Lawmen say they are its defenders. He rose through the ranks of the West Palm Beach Police Department and in 1996 was appointed . Got a tip? Dougan says hed reached out to Borodin in advance of his trip, primarily because he wanted to meet as many interesting people as possible on his first visit to Russia. We hope that four more years will bring even more progress. It included current and retired federal agents, prosecutors, local cops and judges. BE SURE TO READ: We Cannot Allow the Left to Destroy Palm Beach County, BE SURE TO READ: Zero Evidence of Threats to Palm Beach County School Board, [Video] 7th Grader Punished For Shirt Saying Only Two, Pushaw Dunks On FLOTUS Spox Who Resigned After, Cruz Defends Justice Thomas-Dems Hate Him Because Hes, Video: Satanists Shred Bible at SatanCon Boston Opening, Nightmare Photos Hatched: Hilarious Easter Bunny Encounters Thatll, News Freeman denied the allegations. For 10 days in the summer of 2015 romance was in the air. But its not my fight here. He has near-universal name recognition, and he regularly raises gobs of campaign money. Further discussion is warranted on this issue. His office provides the local security detail when President Trump visits Mar-a-Lago. Dougan says hes had no contact with government officials or former Kremin bigwigs since that lunch with Pavel Borodin in 2013, except for the bureaucrats who processed his political asylum request. PBSO budget rises faster than calls for service - The Palm Beach Post Dougan claims that Nelson made everything up to retaliate for complaints he made about her performance, and that Windham officials only fired him because theyd learned about his Belle Glade whistle-blowing. (PBSOtalk was hosted there for about six weeks in 2012.). What am I going to do? After a few months, he sent an anonymous tip about Raban to an attorney defending one of the cops arrestees, and then tried to get a TV news reporter interesting in the Facebook posts. Dougan had nowhere left to go. A Florida cop turned hacker who fled to Russia to escape the FBI claims Seth Rich leaked him DNC documents. It was the largest settlement ever reached by PBSO. Over the previous weeks, someone had been systematically targeting federal agents, judges, local cops and intelligence agency workers throughout Florida, posting 14,000 of their home addresses to the web, all of them specifically exempted from public records because of their sensitivity. Its evident, though, that he was floating a version of the story in his BadVolf guise as early as September 2016. If that was the plan, it worked. But his story is full of holes. Obscure as those details are from the outside, theyd likely be well known to the person who set up DC Leaks and secured its hosting. ", If the meeting was about adoptions, that detail didnt make it into the GossipExtra story that first broke the news of the power lunch. If they wanted a Russian hacker, he would give them one. When Dougan traveled abroad, Lewis was able to electronically monitor his quarry from the comfort of Palm Beach County, even seeing the photos Dougan snapped before they appeared on Facebook. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw discusses the rollout of new body cameras coming to Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputies, Feb. 16, 2023, in West Palm Beach, Fla. How and what. Dougan provided The Daily Beast with the SQL queries and some of the scripts he used, and we verified that both of his re-identification techniques worked as described. We definitely need a change in these trying times and move to a leader like Diaz that will support his troops to insure their safety and the safety of the community. I really dont care. (Lewis declined repeated interview requests from The Daily Beast. The penchant for engaging in unethical behaviour was so deep-rooted among his colleagues that he left the force and launched a personal crusade against them. Now he had his own personal online tormentor. May 1, 2023 at 10:31 AM. He arranged to route his calls through an offshore VOIP service that had a bank of numbers in a New York area code, and bought a $40 program called MorphVOX Pro to change the pitch of his voice. While acknowledging the optics are real bad, Bradshaw said it really wasnt a big thing at the time. If yes, please explain. Editorials are the opinion of the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board and written by one of its members or a designee. It deals with the safety of your family.. For someone who claims to dislike politics, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw has made himself into a political force. I have a whole file cabinet dedicated to this, nothing but this guy, Lewis said. Gov. DeSantis orders criminal probe of Jeffrey Epstein case - Miami Herald I am running for re-election to ensure the Sheriffs Office maintains this level of excellence and continues the critical safety programs needed in the fight against gangs, opioid overdose reduction, Homeland Security, mental health challenges, community policing, and advancement in technology. Journalistic and Ethical Standards Seth Rich conspiracy stories are most virulent of the narratives purporting to exonerate Russia of interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential race, and by extension clear the Trump campaign of collusion. Sheriff who allowed Jeffrey Epstein liberal work release privileges Over weeks of subsequent correspondence with BadVolf, it became clear that he, at least, was the real deal, the reporter wrote. At no point, though, did officials warn the victims of the leak, according to several people on the list who spoke with The Daily Beast. But the next day the FBI came and carted off Dougans computer, and with it the leaked files. As a bonus, hed been treated to a full briefing on the departments quest to silence his website and throw him in jail. I went to Michigan, I went to Canada, I went all over the place, Lewis told Jessica. Early release of inmates in not my decision and is up to the Chief Judge and the State Attorney. Prosecutors want to investigate whether Krischer's office has ever told the grand jury the full scale of Epstein's crimes, or whether the prosecutor's office is interfering with the judiciary . Were in charge of homeland security, weve fought the gangs, weve fought the opioids, were doing great with the coronavirus, helping the neighborhoods, helping the healthcare workers, feeding the people in their neighborhoods and getting them to the testing sites.. Yes, in Palm Beach County 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016. Thats not the kind of experience I have or ever want to have, or the kind of leader I am.. Dougan was in Moscow in time to witness Putins landslide reelection victory this year, after his most viable opponent, opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was hit with dubious fraud charges and barred from running. But they dont feature at all in Dougans story. I couldnt stick around out of fear I would be missed, so I drove straight back to Palm Beach County before they realized I had taken my little trip.. He has near-universal name recognition, and he regularly raises gobs of campaign money.. His message to voters: Who do you trust to keep you safe?. Are you a member of any civic groups? Bradshaw, Ric L. Sheriff Ric Bradshaw is a career law enforcement professional responsible for leading the largest law enforcement agency in Palm Beach County. Jessica didnt exist. Had a guy run from me, he wrote in one post. PBC Jolt Exclusive: Sheriff Ric Bradshaw to run for Reelection. Gauger has filed papers to run as a Republican.. I am the only candidate who has the qualifications, experience and professionalism to lead the largest law enforcement agency in the county and continue to retain our countys position as the seat of Homeland Security for southeast Florida. Instead, The Daily Beast has learned exactly how Dougan used public information and sophisticated data analytics to blow holes in Floridas address confidentiality system without cracking a single network. Lewis read a lot into the Borodin lunch. Now living in Moscow, Dougan is winding up an audacious third act. Deputies still do not wear body cameras. In addition to exposing the sheriffs offices desperation to pin something on Dougan, the recordings captured Lewis boasting about doing the same to another longtime Bradshaw critic, an ex-cop from Michigan named Jim Donahue who ran against Bradshaw in the 2012 election. It was a former deputy named John Mark Dougan. No other candidate running has run an agency or has the qualifications I have to serve. If he is reelected, Bradshaw proposes to double the number of mental health teams. Under Bradshaw, who had been police chief in West Palm Beach, standards increased quickly. Also, I have worked to give back to the community, nearly $10 million from LETF funds to social programs that support children, seniors and underserved communities. His tale ends with a big reveal that wont surprise anyone familiar with the deep lore built up around Russiagate on the alt-right. All in all, a successful bit of trolling. Bradshaw asked Governor Ron DeSantis to have FDLE conduct an investigation and his agency has also been looking into whether any policies were violated. Some very wealthy, powerful people. You would think that they would notify people, especially police officers and judges and shelters and things like that, says a woman who manages a shelter for domestic abuse victims. It reached the mainstream by way of a since-retracted Fox News story, and then on the back of Fox personality Sean Hannity. After that it didnt take much digging to confirm what Rodriguez had already come to suspect. Years ago the Florida legislature recognized two classes of people who might face danger if their home address showed up in the states famously open public records repositories: abuse victims, and government officials like police and judges. Dougan claims he later realized that the whistle-blower at the basketball court had been none other than slain DNC staffer Seth Rich. The Saga of 'BadVolf': A Fugitive American Cop, His Russian Allies, and Im shocked how he is still alive., Jessica couldnt get enough of it. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office just issued the following statement: "On May 3, 2022, Sheriff Bradshaw, under advice from his doctors, elected to go forward with a heart procedure . They were letting these guys get away with murder, and they were fucking over the citizens they were getting paid to protect.. Freeman was a major in the Riviera Beach Police Department, which at the time was one of the countys worst. There really was a DC Leaks. Palm Beach County Sheriff Speaks Out On Recent Antisemitic Acts In truth, DCleaks.com was registered at a family owned hosting firm in Romania called THCservers, which also features in a number of identified GRU hack attacks. (The Daily Beast turned up no evidence of a link between Borodin and Flyman.). Do you want the person with the most experience, has done the job and has proven himself over 16 years as the sheriff and has executive experience in actually running major law enforcement organizations? Freeman had ups and downs during his time as a police officer in Riviera Beach. Comment Policy A recent case from Baltimore illustrates the potential benefits of mental health teams. The only reason conspiracy mongers fixed on Rich, rather than any of hundreds of his fellow DNC workers, is because he was killed. Ric Bradshaw wins fifth term as Palm Beach County sheriff - WPTV PBC Jolt Exclusive: Sheriff Ric Bradshaw to run for Reelection Rodriguez did not respond to repeated emails and phone messages). Bradshaw serves on regional task forces that deal with homeland security and emergency management. He was sentenced to 18 months. As Sheriff, I am chairman of Homeland Security for all of South Florida. For more information about Diaz, visit www.diazforsheriff.com. His new tale is set in a world where the official story about Russian election interference is a cover-up and a lie. Bradshaw has earned praise from many for keeping crime down, but that praise hasnt been universal. Bradshaw said hes proud of how his deputies handled the protests. With PBSO seeking $740 million, a $31 million increase, in next years budget some including Freeman question whether Bradshaw is using cost as an excuse to keep his deputies from employing technology that, in other places, have provided piercing snapshots into police misconduct. Sheriff Bradshaw has a successful track record of forty-nine (49) years in law enforcement. In order to succeed, we need the support of our community. Sheriff Bradshaw allowed Jeffrey Epstein to be on work-release for 12-hour days, six days a week. If so, please name them: Have you ever run for office before? Privacy Policy This falls race for Palm Beach County Sheriff has four-term incumbent Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, a Democrat, being challenged by former Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office Capt. School board eyes hiring of 20 sheriff's deputies through May 2023 Its easy to envision Dougan bluffing his way into a meeting with an important Russian and then leaking it to a friendly gossip site, if only to make his enemies wonder. On Saturday, the day after my home was raided, I took a rental car and drove to the nearest Russian embassy, located in Washington, D.C. He oversees 4,300 employees and 5,000 volunteers with a budget of more than $788 million. The warrant sought evidence of communication between Dougan and Internet user BadVolfs Russian moniker. He has served as sheriff for 16 years. Bradshaw got an early $5,000 from the Police Benevolent Association, so he also has the powerful unions backing. But the DNC emails that Dougan says he raced to D.C. to get, the ones he claimed to have uploaded onto a website he created for that express purpose, never appeared there. Rich was 27 years old when he was shot and killed on July 10, 2016 on a Washington, D.C., sidewalk. The name and address went right into BadVolfs next data dump. That was based on the question, Who do you want to make the best decisions for your family, your neighborhood and your safety? Bradshaw told the Town-Crier. I am your sheriff, he said. Dougan didnt carenobody was worried about his safety. The audio dump went off like a bombshell in Palm Beach County. On one occasion he was written up for insubordination. Population: 1,492,191 Throughout everything, Dougan hasnt forgotten his old enemies. Rodriguez started poking around right away, but he had trouble finding information on Jessicas target. Ric Bradshaw wins fifth term as Palm Beach County sheriff Democratic incumbent first elected in 2004 Ric Bradshaw has won a fifth term as Palm Beach County sheriff, defeating Republican. Under Bradshaw, the department has come far. He had Lewis on tape boasting about hacking him, with no mention of getting a warrant first. The catfishing caper had been easy for Douganone of his many startups involved building business telephone systems. On the other end of the call was Jessica, a New York woman in her mid-thirties with a fawning, obsequious manner and a chipmunk voice. For several years in the 1980s Belle Glade was notorious for having the highest per-capita HIV infection rate in the country. West Palm Beach, FL 33406 Palm Beach County: Sheriff Ric L. Bradshaw - Florida Sheriffs Association
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