Nov 7, 2022·edited Nov 7, 2022Liked by Lee Williams
I've been in Florida for more than 30 years.
Absolutely no excuse for this.
I thought about various penalties that might be appropriate for the officers that would correct this sort of behavior in the future, but have concluded that this was so egregious there is no hope of rehabilitating either one of them.
Fire them both.
The female clearly didn't pay attention during her training, is an asshole and should not be wearing the uniform. She IS a tyrant and should not have any job in law enforcement. Let her scrub toilets for a living.
Her supervisor clearly lacks the judgment and mental faculties to do his job. His decision to proceed with an arrest when the female officer was clearly in the wrong is the sort of thing I would expect from a Biden regime gestapo agent - not a Florida law enforcement officer.
Pay the victim $100,000 for his inconvenience OUT OF THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT FUNDS. Every officer in the department must know beyond any doubt that treating citizens like this is a "third rail" and if they duplicate the error, they too will be fried.
I spoke to Sheriffs office to find out if the Deputies involve are still working patrol. I was to told they are not currently working patrol during the investigation.
As a former police officer in two different states and a member of the Florida Sherriff's Association, I'm absolutely appalled by the video. How any officer could possibly think that the gentleman had a "two-foot-long pistol" in his rear pocket is ridiculous. Once the man showed her that it was a cane and explained his difficult situation, that should have been the end of it. The Sergeant exhibited a gruff, aggressive, uncaring attitude and was spring loaded to an arrest. I'll try to avoid the Lake City area in the future.
Thanks for weighing in, Phil. It was a hard one to watch, and it kept getting worse. I almost fell out of my chair when the supervisor told her to arrest the poor guy.
So they'll investigate themselves, and - surprise surprise! - nothing will have been done wrong. Forgive my cynicism but cops have had far too much power and far too much forgiveness for the way they abuse it, for far too long. Whether or not open carry is illegal, interacting as a public servant with that shitty attitude, you deserve to get flack.
Well, at least Mr. Hodges will probably get a nice retirement, courtesy of his taxpaying neighbors. Should take it from the Sheriff's Deputy Pension Fund.
Deputy Gohdy and Sgt. Harrison are a pair of nincompoops. In an obvious attempt at CYA, they have blown this up into something that will be career-detrimental for both of them.
Nothing would have prevented this. These Columbia County thugs act like this to everyone. They police themselves and NOTHING will come of this. I think the so called Deputy Gohdy picture should be plastered all over social media! She has no business in a position of power. She is a thug!
Great article, Lee! I've shared the direct link on a few 2A Facebook groups, as well as a Georgia gun forum I frequent. This is gonna get expense for the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.
"Legal open carry would have prevented this false arrest"
No. A brain and a modicum of common sense would have prevented this ridiculously absurd arrest.
Nothing would have prevented uneffingbelievable congenital stupidity like this.
Garbage like this by thugs with guns and badges is exactly the reason millions of reasonable people hate cops and totally disagree with the nonsense called "qualified immunity" by which these rogue thugs enjoy a veneer of protection from legal liability. Qualified immunity emboldens cops to satisfy the bully personalities many of them were born with -- the personalities that compelled them into law enforcement in the first place. There should be not one iota of difference in legal liability between anyone who works in law enforcement and anyone who works at any other job.
Law suits against cops should be allowed, frequent and personal. Let a few of these fascist counties shell out millions of dollars in settlements and you'll end up with vastly more common-sense cops.
DeSantis' constant harping on what a law and order state Florida is doesn't help. Law and order is one thing; Gestapo thuggery is quite another.
Law enforcement's prime oath should be: "Be alert, but first give the citizen the benefit of the doubt." To which I would add, "And keep your snarky, smart-ass comments to yourself."
I hope Hodges sues this piss-ass hick county's ass off.
Anyone but another blind person would have known he was just a guy walking along minding his own business.
I'm sure you didn't, but obviously the majority of the Columbia County electorate voted for High Sheriff Mark Hunter. Maybe even the blind guy did.
This holier-than-thou tyrant was first elected in 2008 and is now in his fourth consecutive term. He knows Gohdy and Harrison are bullies and doesn't give a damn because he won his latest two elections unopposed.
A sheriff is nothing more than just another politician, ALL of whom should be term-limited. This one's got the county conned and will be hard to get rid of.
He has also been handed video of HIS officers in the parking lot having sex and has done nothing about it. He tried to make people believe his is a "Godly" man, not in my book! There is so much that has been done here and no action taken by him. He is a thug just like his officers.
Harrison was demoted and suspended without pay for seven days. Gohde was suspended without pay for two days. Both are undergoing remedial Civil Rights training.
So the punishment was very light. I would have fired both of them. This is so basic, even someone with no training should not have screwed it up.
I've been in Florida for more than 30 years.
Absolutely no excuse for this.
I thought about various penalties that might be appropriate for the officers that would correct this sort of behavior in the future, but have concluded that this was so egregious there is no hope of rehabilitating either one of them.
Fire them both.
The female clearly didn't pay attention during her training, is an asshole and should not be wearing the uniform. She IS a tyrant and should not have any job in law enforcement. Let her scrub toilets for a living.
Her supervisor clearly lacks the judgment and mental faculties to do his job. His decision to proceed with an arrest when the female officer was clearly in the wrong is the sort of thing I would expect from a Biden regime gestapo agent - not a Florida law enforcement officer.
Pay the victim $100,000 for his inconvenience OUT OF THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT FUNDS. Every officer in the department must know beyond any doubt that treating citizens like this is a "third rail" and if they duplicate the error, they too will be fried.
Very well said, sir.
I spoke to Sheriffs office to find out if the Deputies involve are still working patrol. I was to told they are not currently working patrol during the investigation.
Thanks, Curt. Great grab on that.
As a former police officer in two different states and a member of the Florida Sherriff's Association, I'm absolutely appalled by the video. How any officer could possibly think that the gentleman had a "two-foot-long pistol" in his rear pocket is ridiculous. Once the man showed her that it was a cane and explained his difficult situation, that should have been the end of it. The Sergeant exhibited a gruff, aggressive, uncaring attitude and was spring loaded to an arrest. I'll try to avoid the Lake City area in the future.
Thanks for weighing in, Phil. It was a hard one to watch, and it kept getting worse. I almost fell out of my chair when the supervisor told her to arrest the poor guy.
So they'll investigate themselves, and - surprise surprise! - nothing will have been done wrong. Forgive my cynicism but cops have had far too much power and far too much forgiveness for the way they abuse it, for far too long. Whether or not open carry is illegal, interacting as a public servant with that shitty attitude, you deserve to get flack.
Yep. This one is bad on several levels, especially constitutional.
Well, at least Mr. Hodges will probably get a nice retirement, courtesy of his taxpaying neighbors. Should take it from the Sheriff's Deputy Pension Fund.
Yup. The short version: Nothing to see here, Folks. Move along.
Deputy Gohdy and Sgt. Harrison are a pair of nincompoops. In an obvious attempt at CYA, they have blown this up into something that will be career-detrimental for both of them.
Totally agree. They should each be looking for work in a few weeks.
Nothing would have prevented this. These Columbia County thugs act like this to everyone. They police themselves and NOTHING will come of this. I think the so called Deputy Gohdy picture should be plastered all over social media! She has no business in a position of power. She is a thug!
I'm inclined to agree that "Nothing would have prevented this." because this situation is so absurd that it defies reality.
It did produce a great constitutional question, which is going to be expensive for CCSO.
Great article, Lee! I've shared the direct link on a few 2A Facebook groups, as well as a Georgia gun forum I frequent. This is gonna get expense for the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.
Thanks, Phillip.
Boy have times changed. I can remember when the cops were nice to you even if you did something stupid. like speeding, maybe a few too many, etc.
"Legal open carry would have prevented this false arrest"
No. A brain and a modicum of common sense would have prevented this ridiculously absurd arrest.
Nothing would have prevented uneffingbelievable congenital stupidity like this.
Garbage like this by thugs with guns and badges is exactly the reason millions of reasonable people hate cops and totally disagree with the nonsense called "qualified immunity" by which these rogue thugs enjoy a veneer of protection from legal liability. Qualified immunity emboldens cops to satisfy the bully personalities many of them were born with -- the personalities that compelled them into law enforcement in the first place. There should be not one iota of difference in legal liability between anyone who works in law enforcement and anyone who works at any other job.
Law suits against cops should be allowed, frequent and personal. Let a few of these fascist counties shell out millions of dollars in settlements and you'll end up with vastly more common-sense cops.
DeSantis' constant harping on what a law and order state Florida is doesn't help. Law and order is one thing; Gestapo thuggery is quite another.
Law enforcement's prime oath should be: "Be alert, but first give the citizen the benefit of the doubt." To which I would add, "And keep your snarky, smart-ass comments to yourself."
I hope Hodges sues this piss-ass hick county's ass off.
Anyone but another blind person would have known he was just a guy walking along minding his own business.
You are spot on! I live here and they are thugs with guns who police themselves. The good ole' boy system at it's finest here.
Thanks, Dede. That confirms a lot.
You get what you vote for.
I'm sure you didn't, but obviously the majority of the Columbia County electorate voted for High Sheriff Mark Hunter. Maybe even the blind guy did.
This holier-than-thou tyrant was first elected in 2008 and is now in his fourth consecutive term. He knows Gohdy and Harrison are bullies and doesn't give a damn because he won his latest two elections unopposed.
A sheriff is nothing more than just another politician, ALL of whom should be term-limited. This one's got the county conned and will be hard to get rid of.
He has also been handed video of HIS officers in the parking lot having sex and has done nothing about it. He tried to make people believe his is a "Godly" man, not in my book! There is so much that has been done here and no action taken by him. He is a thug just like his officers.
Columbia County and their sheriff's department are lucky Mr. Hodges was not black,
because the community would have been subjected to one of those sanctioned terrorist
protest (pillage, plunder, steal, loot, burn, destroy), plus a several million dollar settlement.
He will be lucky to receive an apology
Follow up on the Story:
https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2022/11/17/legally-blind-lake-city-man-sues-for-wrongful-arrest-by-columbia-county-deputy-and-sergeant/
Harrison was demoted and suspended without pay for seven days. Gohde was suspended without pay for two days. Both are undergoing remedial Civil Rights training.
So the punishment was very light. I would have fired both of them. This is so basic, even someone with no training should not have screwed it up.
As of January, 2024, the case was still on-going.
https://dockets.justia.com/docket/florida/flmdce/3:2023cv01375/421061
Like I said, nothing will be done.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1371731073648985