Homeschooling Revolution: Leftists Retaliate Against Homeschooling as Parents Flee Degenerate, Failing Public Schools

(The Epoch Times)—In light of steadily declining enrollment in the Broward County Public School System, district officials are preparing for the probability of closing some of its facilities.

In an initiative called “Redefining Our Schools,” Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) officials are developing possible strategies to address the district’s chronic decline in enrollment at their traditional public schools.

“Over the years, some schools have experienced significant enrollment changes, as families have moved to different areas or selected other school options,” the BCPS website states. “The District is exploring ways to reduce the number of under-enrolled schools to ensure equitable funding and instructional resources across the District.”

To involve the community in the planning process, the district has held a series of town hall meetings. The first meeting was held at Fort Lauderdale High on Feb. 8. The second was at J.P. Taravella High in Coral Springs on Feb. 15, and the third was held at Charles W. Flanagan High in Pembroke Pines on Feb. 22.

At the Feb. 22 town hall meeting, BCPS Superintendent Peter Licata informed attendees that enrollment in the district had fallen from 259,130 students in the 2004-2005 school year to 201,273 in the 2023-2024 school year.

While district officials have yet to release a preliminary list of schools under consideration for combination, repurposing, rezoning, or closure, he said the district did release a list of the 67 schools that are the most under-enrolled schools, operating at 70 percent or less of their full capacity.

With an enrollment loss of approximately 24,000 students, Broward is seeing an annual loss of $207 million to the district.

Further enrollment decline is expected.

Across the district, it’s estimated that there are 50,000 empty seats, as 68 of the district’s 332 schools are under-enrolled. Of those, 46 are elementary schools, 17 are middle schools, and five are high schools.

“This process probably should have started about 10 years ago,” Mr. Licata confessed at the Feb. 22 town hall meeting, adding, “We have some time to catch up, but we got to do it quickly.”

Methods proposed to address the decline in enrollment are to combine schools by merging the under-enrolled facilities into one school. One possibility is combining two of the under-enrolled elementary schools to create K-8 or 6-12 schools.

Another proposal is to repurpose some under-enrolled locations by turning all or part of a facility into a space to provide community services. Another consideration is selling or leasing properties to address community needs, such as affordable housing.

Closures are also possible, in which case students will be reassigned to another school.

Also considered is the idea of reconfiguring attendance zones.

‘Many Choices’

According to statistics presented in the 2024-2025 BCPS Budget Workshop on Jan. 30, attendance at Broward’s traditional public schools fell from 221,000 students during the 2014-2015 school year to 197,000 in the 2023-2024 school year, a decline of more than 20,000 students. In the meantime, enrollment in charter schools has grown, rising from 41,000 to 50,000 during that same decade.

The largest increase is the number of Broward students taking advantage of Florida’s Family Empowerment Scholarship—used to pay for private schools or homeschool programs—increasing to 26,000 in the 2023-2024 school year from just 3,000 during the 2014-2015 school year, more than eight times what it was 10 years ago.

Virtual learning programs are another option.

According to Public School Review, Broward’s virtual instruction program currently serves 403 students. While the number may seem small, it is a 444 percent increase from five years ago.

Homeschooling is another choice. Data compiled by Brighterly shows that Florida ranked second in the nation (22.5 percent) for the number of home-school students in 2023. Data provided by the Florida DOE showed 10,412 (around 6.8 percent) of Broward’s students were being home-schooled during the 2021-2022 school year. For the 2022-2023 school year, that number fell to 6,182. However, with the decline in enrollments and fewer students in the BCPS system, the percentage of homeschooled students dipped only slightly to 6.36 percent.

Charter schools are also drawing students away from traditional public schools in Broward.

Data from the Florida Department of Education shows that charter school enrollment has increased steadily over the past decade.

During the 2013-2014 school year, 229,428 students were enrolled in charter schools.

For the 2022-2023 school year, charter school enrollment hit 382,367 students.

More charter schools were created to accommodate the increased enrollment, growing from 658 in 2019 to 726 in 2023.

“We must acknowledge that our community’s educational needs and expectations have changed over the years and will continue to change,” Mr. Licata said at the Feb. 22 town hall. “BCPS is no longer the only option. Parents and students have many choices.”

On April 3, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 543 into law, making his state the 26th to join the constitutional carry movement and the first state to take America officially over the halfway mark in becoming majority constitutional or permitless carry. The law took effect on July 1.

On April 25, lawmakers in Nebraska passed Legislative Bill 77 (pdf), making the Cornhusker State the 27th constitutional carry state. Over the past two decades, more than half of U.S. states have passed laws allowing for constitutional carry or permitless carry.

While the terms constitutional carry and permitless carry are often thought of as interchangeable, there are subtle differences.

As explained by the United States Concealed Carry Association, constitutional carry means the state’s laws do not prohibit its citizens who qualify to possess a firearm legally from carrying one either openly or concealed, eliminating the need, time, and expense of applying for and obtaining a permit.

While gun merchants are required to provide the U.S. government with data on who purchases a firearm—as well as what, when, and where they purchased it—going constitutional carry eliminates the requirement for a permit to carry that weapon, therefore eliminating the need to supply the United States government with data on which of those gun owners may be carrying their concealed handguns in public places.

In most states, constitutional carry is conditional. Most set the age requirement for concealed carry without a permit at 18 or 21. In states like Georgia and Oklahoma, civilians must be 21 years old to conceal carry without a permit. But members of the military can conceal carry at 18 without a permit. In April, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signed HB 1339 (pdf) into law, which allows non-residents to concealed carry in the Peace Garden State.

Permitless carry includes constitutional carry states, as well as states like Tennessee that require individuals to meet specific qualifications, such as no DUIs in the last decade. Other states allow open carry. However, the rules vary by state.

While open carry is currently legal in Alabama, it’s illegal to open carry in a vehicle without a permit. When carrying a firearm in a vehicle the firearm must be unloaded and locked up.

In the 1800s, as noted by the National Association for Gun Rights, constitutional carry was the law of the land in all 13 of the first states in the newly formed United States of America. However, by the 20th century, 49 of America’s 50 states had enacted bans on concealed carry rights, with Vermont being the lone holdout.

According to the Supreme Court, most states passed their Constitutional or permitless carry laws starting in 2015, with a spike coming during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and 2022.

“Nationwide, these permitless laws don’t mean that every adult can carry a concealed firearm anywhere they want,” the court states, noting, “There are still bans on guns in specific facilities such as K-12 schools, and states typically ban people with a record of serious criminal offenses from carrying guns. But it does mean that eligible adults no longer have to go through the process of applying for a permit.”

In Pennsylvania, legislators passed Constitutional Carry in the State House on Nov. 17, 2021. At that time, Republicans controlled the State’s House and Senate. On Nov. 22, 2021, SB 565 was passed by the State Senate and handed over to Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf, who vetoed the measure on Dec. 2, 2021.

With a new Democrat governor, Josh Shapiro, and a newly minted Democrat-controlled House pushing no less than four gun control bills—HB 338, HB 731, HB 1018, and particularly HB 714—it is unlikely that the Keystone State will see constitutional carry passed any time soon.

Conversely, while Louisiana’s Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed a constitutional carry bill, SB 118, in June of 2021, the swearing-in of pro-Second Amendment Republican Gov. Jeff Landry on Jan. 8 has prompted predictions that Louisiana will join the Constitutional Carry club in 2024.

As previously reported by The Epoch Times, the tide is turning on tolerance for transgender ideology. Biological science has been replaced by internal feelings and chosen identities. The clarity of one’s sex has been blurred by the ambiguity of “gender.”

There are now an infinite number of pronouns. Failure to use the correct pronoun can result in losing your job. Men are claiming titles, trophies, scholarships, and accolades in women’s sports. Men are named Woman of the Year and crowned in women’s pageants.

The backlash started when Anheuser-Busch chose a transgender influence to become a spokesperson for Bud Light. It became a revolt when Target took aim at children. Now, recent surveys confirm that Americans have had their fill of harmful transgender indoctrination and “woke” corporate pride campaigns.

According to a recent survey conducted by Summit.org, in partnership with McLaughlin and Associates, 61 percent of likely voters believe that “introducing young children to ideas like transgenderism, drag shows, and LGBTQ+ themes hurts their emotional and psychological development.” Still more, 63 percent believe that the activists pushing transgenderism, drag shows, and LGBT themes to children have an ulterior motive.

Conversely, the survey also found that 50.3 percent of TikTok users believe introducing children to transgenderism, drag shows, and LGBT themes is helpful for their emotional and psychological development. Only 33.8 of Facebook users feel the same. In addition, 44.9 percent of TikTok users say introducing children to transgenderism, drag shows, and LGBT themes is “motivated by a desire to help children.” Only 31.4 percent of Facebook users believe the effort has altruistic intentions.

What is striking about the opinions of TikTok users is that data compiled by Statista in April shows that the majority of TikTok’s users (38.4 percent) are young females (20.9 percent) and young males (17.5 percent) between the ages of 18 and 24, nearly the same age group of “AFAB people” cited by Virginia Tech researches as showing the sharpest increase in gender dysphoria. The majority of Facebook users (41.9 percent) are between the ages of 24 and 44. The smallest audience, 22.3 percent, is among those between the ages of 13 and 24.

‘Americans Are Waking Up’

According to Mark Meckler, president and co-founder of Convention of States Action, the reason why we are seeing such a spike in the number of youth identifying as transgender “is very clear.”

According to Meckler, it’s the radical and blatant evolution of the transgender movement that has pushed the American tolerance level beyond its breaking point.

“Americans have been brainwashed by our own tolerance,” Meckler told The Epoch Times. “What we’re told to do is to tolerate anything, even if it’s cruel. That’s a problem because tolerance is an important part of the American ethos. It’s the reason why we’re able to live together over the long term with such an ideologically diverse population. Unfortunately, that tolerance has now extended to the toleration of things that are clearly wrong and evil. I think Americans are waking up to that, and the thing that is waking them up is the children.”

As Meckler explained, “It’s one thing to say that a consenting adult should be able to chop off healthy body parts, which I think should be illegal, and no doctor should be allowed to do that. But it’s an entirely different matter to say it’s okay to do this to children.”

Meckler also noted that it’s important to remember that a child is classified from a legal perspective as mentally and emotionally incapable of consenting.

“Nobody would say that a child under the age of 18 can consent to having sexual relations, especially with an adult,” he said. “We have laws against that. But now they’re saying they have the ability to give consent to having their genitals removed or being chemically castrated or having healthy breast tissue removed. The idea of children being groomed into this ideology has broken out into the mainstream, and people are naturally finding that abhorrent. Going for the kids has caused a turning point.”

The Bud Light-Target Backlash

A June 2023 Nationwide Issues Survey (pdf), conducted by Trafalgar Group in partnership with Convention of States, shows that 40.8 percent of respondents said they have “boycotted a company for taking progressive or woke stances.”

Only 24.5 percent said the same for companies taking a “conservative or MAGA” public stance.

In addition, the survey revealed that far more Republicans had boycotted a company for taking progressive or woke stances than Democrats have for companies taking a conservative or MAGA stance—60.4 percent to 45.1 percent, respectively.

The survey also revealed that, in light of the Bud Light and Target backlash, the majority of Americans believe businesses should stop making statements during pride month. While Meckler is pleased that Americans are finally waking up to what is really happening in the trans movement, he says there is still a lot that Americans need to understand.

“I agree the backlash is happening, but we’re not there yet,” he said, adding that “there’s a misunderstanding” in the public as to where the corporate involvement in pride campaigns is coming from.

I’m thrilled about what’s happening to Bud Light,” Meckler confessed, noting that the boycott of the product has bled 20 percent off of their year-to-year sales.

“That’s incredible. It’s complete brand destruction. I would argue that it’s permanent, irreversible brand destruction,” Meckler said. “That was the number one beer in America, and it will never be the number one beer in America again. It’s now a joke.”

According to reports, Bud Light is no longer America’s top-selling brand of beer, a status it held for over 20 years. In May, the beer plugged by transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney was replaced by Modelo Especial, a Mexican lager brewed near Mexico City. As Meckler explained, “brand” is short for “how you feel about something.”

Budweiser was once known as “the king of beers,” Meckler said. “Bud is now the Dylan Mulvaney brand. It’s the transgender brand.”

Target has also suffered from its decision to join the transgender push by aiming at children. Along with suffering a $13 billion drop in Target Corp.’s stock, the company was downgraded by KeyBanc Capital Markets, according to MarketWatch. That followed the downgrade already imposed by JP Morgan.

“Most people in America are not in with that agenda, so they’ve killed their brand,” Meckler surmised, suggesting that other brands are going to start learning the same hard lessons as Anheuser-Busch and Target if they continue to interject woke politics into their branding.

Kohl’s was the next company to suffer the outrage of shoppers fed up with the transgender campaign when it decided to sell onesies for infants with messages like “Belong, believe, be proud” and “Ask me my pronouns” printed on them.

In all, Axios calculated a combined loss in stock value for Anheuser-Bush, Target, and Kohl’s of at least $28 billion. Other companies facing boycotts during pride month are The North Face and PetSmart.

‘A Healthy Thing’

Meckler also drew attention to the fact that ESG policies are also facing resistance. ESG is the initialism for “Environmental, Social, and Governance.”

As reported by Forbes, ESG criteria were first forced into corporate and financial evaluations in 2006. By 2020, S&P Global reported that ESG was “all the rage.” But the tide is turning there as well.

“A study was done recently about what is being said at shareholder meetings,” Meckler said, explaining that “the use of ESG terms is down dramatically.”

As explained by Riskonnect, a corporation’s ESG score indicates its willingness to comply with shareholder demands to establish policies that promote climate change initiatives as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in the interest of “achieving the greater good.”

In its July 2022 study, “As You Sow” reported a “Historic Year” of ESG Shareholder Resolution filings. However, that report showed that support for shareholder ESG resolutions at U.S. companies actually dipped by 5.4 percent—falling from 32 percent to 26.6 percent from the previous year—as asset managers backed away from supporting tougher investor demands. Meckler also explained that the decision by corporate CEOs to capitulate to ESG isn’t organic. It’s forced.

“It’s coming because giant investment funds like Vanguard and Blackrock are opposing the ESG scores on these companies,” he said, explaining that a company’s ability to raise capital is based on these scores. So when they do this stuff, they’re checking investment banking boxes.”

Ultimately, Meckler believes the growing backlash against transgender ideology is “a healthy thing for the United States of America” and that corporations, in particular, are finding there is no upside to pushing woke ideology into their brand.

“It’s a downside for them, and we’re starting to see that driven down into corporate behavior, and I think that’s going to continue,” he said.

In a recent appearance on “CBS Mornings,” Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth bemoaned the backlash stemming from the company’s decision to use Dylan Mulvaney as a spokesperson for their most popular brand of beer.

“I think the conversation surrounding Bud Light has moved away from beer, and the conversation has become divisive,” Whitworth said. “And Bud Light really doesn’t belong there. Bud Light should be all about bringing people together.”

In one respect, Meckler agrees.

“The truth is, it should be about having a beer and bringing people together, not about divisive issues,” Meckler proposed. “What we want is good products. Not products that divide us.”

Article cross-posted from our premium news partners at The Epoch Times.

Article from our premium news partners at The Epoch Times.

According to the “Pre-Election Observation Report” released by Floridians for Election Transparency (FFET) and obtained exclusively by The Epoch Times (pdf), there are numerous flaws, inconsistencies, and violations of Florida election laws that raise serious concerns about the election system.

FFET contacted the supervisors of elections in 28 of the state’s 67 counties for the study, and 18 agreed to participate. Ten others declined to comment.

FFET is a committee under Florida for America First, which is backed by Gen. Michael Flynn’s organization, The America Project, founded by Flynn, his brother Joe Flynn, and Patrick Byrne, founder and former CEO of Overstock.com.

Michael Thompson presented the report at a press conference in Naples, Florida, on Aug. 15.

With 30 “winner take all” electoral votes, Florida is now third in the electoral vote ranking, behind California (55 votes) and Texas (38 votes), and a recent surge in Republican voter registrations have made this swing state even more consequential in the upcoming 2022 midterms and the 2024 presidential cycle.

Despite Florida’s successful adoption of election integrity legislation and Gov. Ron DeSantis’s establishment of the nation’s first Office of Election Crimes and Security, FFET pointed out in its report that “public faith in the integrity and fairness of elections has decreased significantly in recent years.”

The Concerns of Election Supervisors

When the SOEs were asked if they had concerns about administering the upcoming elections, 39 percent said they were worried about “misinformation and disinformation on the security and integrity of the election process” being spread throughout their community.

The report stated that “one supervisor was concerned that the media will propose false narratives attempting to take away the confidence of the public in the security of the election process, and another worried about voters falling prey to media misinformation about election security.”

Another 28 percent of SOEs said they had no particular concerns about administering the upcoming elections, the second most common response to the question.

The remaining supervisors cited a myriad of other circumstances that SOEs must juggle while administering an election: redistricting, physical security, cyber security, voter education, the limited time available to adapt and train on new legislation and procedures, the tense political environment, and concerns that SOEs and poll workers might not respect the law or election integrity.

During the press conference, Thompson shared the concern expressed by Broward County Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott, who said he was most worried about physical security for election workers and feared that some voters might see it as “their patriotic duty” to “storm” the elections office to stop the workers from counting the votes.

Broward County made national headlines in 2018 after Gov. Rick Scott ousted former Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes for “misfeasance, incompetence and neglect of duty.” Snipes had a long history of losing thousands of ballots, allowing illegal immigrants and felons to vote, failure to report vote-by-mail counts on time, opening vote-by-mail ballots without the presence of a canvassing board, and illegally destroying thousands of ballots that were subject to a public records request.

Inconsistent Voter Roll Management

To get a better understanding of the process of updating voter rolls, FFET asked the election supervisors how often they updated their voter rolls, such as removing those who have died or moved out of the county. Unfortunately, the answers they received—once every two years, once every year, twice a year, every four months, and “not sure”—reflected a troubling inconsistency that has proven to elevate the potential for voter fraud.

Considering Florida’s high concentration of retirees and the elderly, with 20.5 percent of the population being over 65 according to the U.S. Census Bureau, so-called “dirty” voter rolls can be particularly problematic.

Despite consistent reports that some Florida voter rolls are “suspiciously” inaccurate and bloated with inactive or dead voters, every SOE questioned expressed confidence that their voter lists are accurate and up to date.

One of the most troubling things FFET learned was the number of SOEs who said they rely on the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) for updates to their voter rolls.

The Problems With ‘ERIC’

ERIC is a nongovernmental organization created in 2012 by far-left activist David Becker when he worked for Pew Charitable Trusts.

Before that, Becker was a lobbyist for the advocacy group People for the American Way—best known for its Right Wing Watch project, which categorizes and attacks conservative politicians and movements—funded by George Soros. Before that, Becker was a Justice Department attorney.

Florida joined ERIC in 2019 under DeSantis and is among the 33 states and the District of Columbia that rely on ERIC for voter roll reports, but FFET recommends in its report that the state leave the voter registration system.

Third-Party Voter Registration

Rather than having new voters register in person, Florida is one of 25 states that allows third-party voter registration. This means nongovernmental organizations are allowed to register voters.

According to an official state website, there are hundreds of organizations of all political persuasions collecting voter registrations throughout the state. Florida is also one of only four states that allows unfettered access to the state’s voter registration database, but new legislation proposes to shield certain information from view, such as a voter’s date of birth, email address, phone number, and party affiliation.

Asked if they are “confident that third-party registration takes place without bribery, intimidation, or coercion, and are confident that only qualified voters are registered through these third parties,” less than half (44 percent) of the supervisors said yes.

About 17 percent were not confident in the integrity of third party voter registrations, and 39 percent were unsure.

Because third-party voter registration is conducted primarily by organizations with clear political agendas, and takes place without any oversight or security protocols, FFET believes it “damages voter confidence in the voter list and election process.”

Since the primary obligation of any election administrator is to ensure the integrity of an election in their area, FFET recommends that Florida only allow in-person voter registration at county election and administrative offices.

Voting in Nursing Homes

There have been numerous reports of rampant voter fraud in nursing homes across the country, including those Florida. Because Florida has a large population of senior citizens and residents in care homes, FFET asked the SOEs to explain how their office manages voting in nursing homes.

The most striking aspect of the responses was how much their answers varied.

One supervisor admitted treating a nursing home as an official precinct. Several said they simply sent blank ballots to the facilities and collected them after the election. Others said they only sent ballots if they were requested, and one admitted taking ballots to the facility and leaving them for the staff to distribute and return.

These practices are in violation of ballot chain of custody requirements as outlined in a 2021 report (pdf) by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. When divulging these illegal practices, none of the SOEs mentioned the presence of poll watchers, elections staff, poll workers, or any other security measures.

Voting Machines

Following widespread reports of what some described as a well-crafted endeavor to successfully rig the 2020 election in Biden’s favor, FFET asked how ballot tabulators were used in Florida’s elections.

When asked if voting machines are ever connected to the internet, 13 of the SOEs said no. However, five
said yes, and offered various explanations, such as:

• Results are transmitted by wireless modem on election night through a secure portal which sends encrypted results in a matter of seconds.
• They are only connected for a few seconds, using zero tunnel.
• They are not connected except on election night when the polls close and counts are submitted from precincts to the main election office.
• They are not connected, but there is a transmission with a virtual server, which receives data and uploads results;
• They are not connected, as it is more of an “intranet” than internet.

Manual Ballot Counting

FFET then asked the SOEs if they thought it would be a good idea to go back to a manual voting process. All said no or did not respond at all. When asked why they didn’t think manual counting was a good idea, “the responses were fascinating,” the report stated.

More than half of the SOEs were concerned that manual counting would be less accurate, and many said it would be slower. Conversely, one supervisor said machines are more accurate, but the machine counting process takes longer than hand counting. Another SOE, who said hand counting would take forever, also said it would be less accurate, but that the machines “could be hacked by a 10th grader.”

One supervisor said the state cannot go back to manual counting because Florida law requires machine counting. However, according to Florida Election Law, it is optional, not required.

According to Florida Statute 101.5604, “the board of county commissioners of any county, at any regular meeting or a special meeting called for the purpose, may, upon consultation with the supervisor of elections, adopt, purchase or otherwise procure, and provide for the use of any electronic or electromechanical voting system approved by the Department of State in all or a portion of the election precincts of that county.”

For those who do adopt the use of voting machines, Florida Statute 101.5612 requires that “all electronic or electromechanical voting systems shall be thoroughly tested at the conclusion of maintenance and programming. Tests shall be sufficient to determine that the voting system is properly programmed, the election is correctly defined on the voting system, and all of the voting system input, output, and communication devices are working properly.”

Ballot Issues

Concerns have been expressed about the production, secure storage, and chain-of-custody for extra ballots, so FFET asked several questions about blank ballots and marked ballots were handled.

First, FFET asked how many extra ballots were available in each precinct. Again, the responses varied widely.

One supervisor said he ordered 50 percent more than the total number of registered voters. Four SOEs said 5 percent to 15 percent extra. Three SOEs said they requested a percentage of the precinct total of registered voters of 90 percent, 70 percent, or 65 percent, respectively. Five said they print ballots on demand, a practice normally used only during early voting. One said 50 extra ballots, and another said 400 to 500 extra ballots.

One supervisor simply said he “pads a little to make sure there are enough.”

Adjudication

During the process of tabulating mail-in ballots, there are times when the machine rejects a ballot due to voter error (more than one bubble filled in or not properly filled in) or because the ballot is damaged or flawed. These ballots are put through a process called manual adjudication. FFET asked the participating SOEs to briefly describe how ballots are adjudicated in their counties.

Most said their adjudication rate was between 0.5 and 1 percent, with Lee County being the outlier at 3 percent, and that they were adjudicated by a three-person canvassing board, as Florida election law requires.

But a few said they used two contract workers representing opposing parties. The law states that “during each meeting of the county canvassing board, each political party and each candidate may have one watcher able to view directly or on a display screen ballots being examined for signature matching and other processes.”

More than half said they have no poll watchers present during the adjudication.

Poll Watchers

According to the report, “poll watchers play an important role in deterring malpractice and reassuring the public that the voting and counting processes are free and fair, but there is increasing concern that the political parties are failing to recruit, train and deploy sufficient poll watchers to perform this essential function.”

Unfortunately, only a fifth of SOEs surveyed said they had poll watchers from both parties at every polling place. Most didn’t know how many poll watchers were present to observe elections in their counties, but the Bay County supervisor estimated 40 percent of their poll watchers are Democrats and 30 percent are Republicans. In Broward County, the supervisor said there were no Democrat poll watchers. And in Calhoun County, the estimate was about 30 percent Democrats and 10 percent Republicans.

One supervisor stated that poll watchers come out for the first day of early voting but often end up leaving.

Analysis and Recommendations

According to the FFET report, there are several steps DeSantis can take to improve the accuracy of Florida’s voter rolls and help rebuild public confidence in the state’s elections, with the following recommendations:

• Florida should follow the example of Louisiana and withdraw from ERIC.
• The governor must mandate that election supervisors conduct a comprehensive voter registration audit to accurately assess the quality of the voter lists, and to determine if there are areas that need improvement.
• To enhance transparency and enable oversight, Florida should publish its voter list online, a measure promoted by the National Democratic Institute as international best practice.
• Florida should adopt the international best practice of only allowing in-person voter registration at county election and administrative offices.
• The Florida Department of Elections should develop standard procedures for voting in care homes and institutions with poll watchers present.
• The Department of Elections should also review international best practices in manual elections, and prepare a plan for the legislature to revert to manual elections.
• Poll watchers from both parties should be present during ballot adjudications.

The Video Evidence

Victoria White

According to Police1, the “#1 resource for law enforcement online,” which promotes “the highest standards of business ethics,” police are trained to target large muscle groups like legs, chest, abdomen, and arms with batons. Intentionally striking areas like the head, sternum, and spine are considered to be the same act of deadly force as firing a gun.

However, a video shows Jan. 6 defendant Victoria White being beaten over the head 35 times with a metal baton and punched in the face by an officer of the Metropolitan Police of the District of Columbia. White, seen wearing a Trump hat, is unarmed and posed no threat to the officer. She raises her hands in defense during the brutal attack, collapsing more than once, only to be stood up by other officers to be maced and beaten again.

According to a Use of Force report filed 1/7/21 by Officer Dante Price, obtained exclusively by The Epoch Times, “approved strike areas” for use of a baton “include arms, legs and large muscle groups.” Injuries suffered by Dante’s victim required hospital transport. Another report of an injury caused by use of a baton, filed 1/8/21 by Officer Ryan Kendall, states “approved target areas” include the “upper abdomen.”

“To add insult to injury,” her legal team said at a Jan. 6, 2022 press conference, “she was indicted for being pushed into the tunnel entrance and for daring to put her hands up in a defensive posture while getting beaten by the police.”

White has filed a $1 million lawsuit against D.C. Police Chief Robert Contree and seven unnamed officers, including one known as “Officer Whiteshirt,” given the moniker as it is believed his clothing identified him as an officer in a position of authority.

Roseanne Boyland

Another video obtained by The Epoch Times shows D.C. Metro Police Officer Lila Morris beating an unconscious 34-year-old Roseanne Boyland of Kennesaw, Georgia with a steel baton and then with a large wooden walking stick. According to witnesses, Boyland lost consciousness and stopped breathing after being crushed beneath the weight of other fallen protesters. Being unconscious, Boyland was no threat to the officer.

A DC medical examiner claims Boyland died of an accidental overdose of Adderall, a suspicious ruling that sparked outrage from Boyland’s friends and family. Her father, Bret Boyland, said his daughter had been taking Adderall for about 10 years to treat an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The Epoch Times reported on Feb. 10, an investigation by the department’s Internal Affairs Bureau cleared Morris of any wrongdoing and deemed her beating of the unconscious Boyland as “objectively reasonable.”

A separate report describes how Morris first used the wooden stick while beating Boyland to strike 41-year-old filmmaker Luke Coffee on the left elbow. A second swing missed before she sprayed him in the face with pepper gel. “Morris then inexplicably turned her fury on the motionless Boyland, striking her in the ribs once and twice in the head,” the report said.

Ashli Babbitt

Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old unarmed Air Force veteran and ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump was shot and killed by U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd. While news media has labeled Babbitt as a violent “insurrectionist” who was trying to breach the Speaker’s Lobby, a frame-by-frame analysis of the video from The Epoch Times shows Babbitt tried to stop the violence against the Speaker’s Lobby at least four times before she was fatally shot.

Two reports, filed by two officers who were with Byrd at the moment he shot Babbitt, were also obtained exclusively by The Epoch Times.

According to a report by Paul McKenna of the United States Capitol Police (USCP) Uniformed Service Bureau, as protesters “began pounding” on the “East door of the lobby” and breaking the glass, he drew his weapon along with Byrd and Officer Reggie Tyson. He “yelled ‘stay back’ ‘get back’ several times during the incident.”

“A woman climbed through the far left window pane, which had been broken out by the group,” McKenna attested. “Lt. Byrd fired one shot hitting the woman. She fell back out of the window and I continued yelling at the group to get back and away from the doors.”

McKenna claims the incident happened between 1430 and 1500 hours (2:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.). The report was signed by McKenna on June 9, 2021. It was signed by his supervisor five months earlier, on Jan. 7, 2021.

In the second report, filed Jan. 7, 2021, Tyson said he heard “shots fired” over his radio some time after 1440 (2:40 p.m.). In an attempt to protect himself, Tyson said he withdrew his weapon and made his way to the lobby east side of the capitol along with Byrd and McKenna. “A protester tried to climb through the broken window where she was shot one time as she fell back.” Tyson claims the time of the incident was around 1500 hours (3:00 p.m.).

In another report, USCP Officer Tyler Stoyle claims he responded to “a shots fired” call over their his radio at “1400 hours” (2:00 p.m.), 40 minutes earlier than Tyson claimed to have heard the call of “shots fired.”

A separate report filed by USCP Officer Jason McGinnis, said he “responded to the North side of Crypt” at “approximately 1400 hours” and drew his baton to “hold the line of unscreened individuals that were trespassing.”

However, it wasn’t until “after the initial surge had ended” and McGinnis “was moving trespassers out of the South Door” that he claimed “there were reports of shots fired in the Speaker’s Lobby Stairs to the second floor.”

During an interview with NBC, Byrd also claimed to hear “shots fired.”

However, Byrd was the only one to fire a weapon on Jan. 6, 2021. This, and the conflicts in times reported by police regarding when they heard “shots fired,” raises questions.

According to a July 25 report by The Epoch Times, Stan Kephart—a 42-year law enforcement veteran and former director of security for the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics who has testified in court more than 350 times as an expert witness on policing issues—said Babbitt was “murdered … under the color of authority.”

However, a review of the reports filed by Tyson and McKenna, the Bureau Commander found “the circumstances support the Use of Force” and did not recommend any further investigation.

Byrd also told NBC he yelled verbal warnings so hard that his throat hurt for days after. Neither of the reports filed by Tyson or McKenna corroborate his claim. Byrd cannot be heard shouting anything on the video either.

Byrd insisted he opened fire on an unarmed Babbitt only as a “last resort.”

“I know that day I saved countless lives,” Byrd said.

In August 2021, the U.S. Capitol Police investigation cleared Byrd of any wrongdoing.

Use of Force Reports

According to a report released March 7 by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), “the January 6th attack on the Capitol raised concerns” about the preparedness of USCP “to respond to violent demonstrations.”

Key findings from the report:

• Eighty officers “identified concerns related to use of force, including that they felt discouraged or hesitant to use force because of a fear of disciplinary actions.”
• Approximately 150 Capitol Police officers reported 293 use of force incidents on Jan. 6. All were deemed justified by the department.
• These incidents involved pushing (91), batons (83), withdrawing a firearm from its holster (37), chemical spray (34), other physical tactics (22), pointing a firearm at a person (17), less-lethal munitions (7), a diversionary device (1) and firing a firearm (1).

Of the 293 Use of Force (UOF) reports filed, The Epoch Times has obtained 161 of them, including the ones filed by Tyson and McKenna regarding the shooting of Babbitt by Byrd.

‘Less Than Lethal Munitions’ UOF Reports

According to one UOF report, dated 1/7/21, Officer Adam Descamp said he was ordered by Deputy Chief Eric Waldow “to deploy less than lethal munitions on an overwhelming number of rioters at the U.S. Capitol.

“I deployed multiple FN303 projectiles from the FN303 launcher, administered strikes with the PR-24 baton and utilized the Sabre red pepper spray to gain compliance from the rioters that were aggressively attacking officers on the police line and throughout the Capitol complex,” Descamp wrote of his actions at “approximately 1215 hours” (12:15 p.m.).

Waldow was incident commander of the Civil Disturbance Unit on Jan. 6, which was reported to be highly disorganized and woefully unprepared.

At “approximately 1215 hours,” Officer Melissa Lee also reported on 1/7/21 that she “was ordered to the scene by Deputy Chief Waldow to deploy less than lethal munitions on an overwhelming number of rioters at the U.S. Capitol Building,” using nearly the same, identical verbiage as Descamp.

“I deployed multiple FN303 projectiles from the FN303 launcher to gain compliance from the rioters that were aggressively attacking officers on the police line and throughout the Capitol complex,” she wrote.

A report filed by Officer Matthew Flood, also “at approximately 1215 hours,” also states he was ordered by Deputy Chief Waldow “to deploy less than lethal munitions on an overwhelming number of rioters at the U.S. Capitol.”

“I deployed multiple projectiles from the FN303 launcher, and chemical agent spray,” he wrote, using language remarkably similar to that of Descamp and Lee, “to gain compliance from the rioters that were aggressively attacking officers on the police line and throughout the Capitol complex,” he wrote on his report, also date 1/7/21.

“At approximately 1215 hours,” Officer Tina Cobert also reported on 1/7/21 that she “was ordered to deploy less than lethal munitions on an overwhelming number of rioters at the U.S. Capitol by Deputy Chief Waldow.

“I deployed multiple projectiles from the FN 303 Launcher to gain compliance from the rioters that were aggressively attacking officers on the police line and throughout the Capitol complex,” she also wrote.

Also “at approximately 1215 hours,” Officer Christopher Sprifke reported he “was ordered to deploy less than lethal munitions on an overwhelming number of rioters at the U.S. Capitol by Deputy Chief Waldow.

“I deployed multiple PepperBall projectiles to gain compliance from the rioters that were aggressively attacking officers on the police line and throughout the Capitol building,” he wrote in his 1/7/21 report.

“At approximately 1215 hours,” Officer Shauni Kerkhoff said she was also “ordered by Deputy Chief Waldow, Eric to deploy less than lethal munitions on an overwhelming number of rioters at the U.S. Capitol.

“I deployed multiple projectiles from the PepperBall launcher to gain compliance from the rioters that were aggressively attacking officers on the police line and throughout the Capitol complex,” she wrote in his report, also dated 1/7/21.

In February 2021, the U.S. Capitol police union issued an overwhelming no-confidence vote for a half-dozen of the force’s top leaders, including Waldow.

Instead of leading his team of officers, Waldow chose to physically engage rioters, a move many of his fellow officers saw as wrong. In October 2021, Waldow submitted paperwork for his resignation.

At “approximately 1400hrs,” Officer Patrick Kahl reported that he “discharged multiple 40mm baton rounds after individuals began and continued fighting with USP Officers while trying to gain unlawful access to the United States Capitol Building through the Rotunda Door.”

At 1500 hours, Officer Justin Green reported launching a flash bang “to disperse the crowd” in an effort to “rescue” one of the department’s sergeants who was “pinned in the center of the crowd.” He fired a second flash bang as demonstrators were “breaching the Rotunda door.”

Conflicting Reports

These UOF reports contradict the report issued by then-Capitol Police Inspector General Michael Bolton, who said the CDU was ordered by supervisors not to use less than lethal munitions and that “heavier, less-lethal weapons,” including flash bangs, “were not used that day because of orders from leadership.”

In addition, every report filed by police regarding the deployment of munitions claims there were no injuries. However, a witness said 55-year-old Kevin Greeson, an unarmed pro-Trump protester who died of a heart attack on Jan. 6, was struck by a projectile fired by Capitol Hill police just prior to his death.

Despite claims that munitions were launched to “gain compliance from rioters that were aggressively attacking officers,” numerous videos show tear gas and flash bangs were launched into a peaceful crowd, even into an area where women, children, and elderly people were standing behind police barriers. Several reports, including one by The Epoch Times, suggested the use of munitions was an intentional effort to incite violence, not to “gain compliance.”

Video footage, analyzed by Ray Dietrich of Red Voice Media, shows the violence began on Jan. 6, 2021 “the moment either stun grenades or tear gas canisters were deployed into the crowd of protestors.”

“The question I have, after a 20-year career in law enforcement, is why were these munitions deployed?” Dietrich asked rhetorically, saying he had “picked this video apart” and “cannot see why the USCP used this force against the crowd.”

“There is no fighting and no violence, so why did they target these people with less-lethal weapons?” He asked, noting that “what happened next” was “chaos” and “violence” as “the crowd fought back” and “the Capitol was breached.”

EpochTV’s documentary “The Real Story of Jan. 6” contains a number of new videos showing that munitions were used on a primarily peaceful crowd, injuring many people.

Contradictions between videos and police UOF reports regarding munitions also raise questions.

None of the officers involved in these UOF attacks, some of which resulted in hospital transport or death, faced any charges.

Considering the evidence, The Epoch Times reached out to the GAO, asking how the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) could determine that every use of force was justified.

Gretta Goodwin, a director in GAO’s Homeland Security and Justice team, told The Epoch Times they “reviewed Capitol Police use of force and crowd control policies, procedures, and training materials,” and “analyzed officer use of force reports for January 6, 2021, which describe the types of force used, as well as supervisors’ determinations on whether the force was justified.”

“As you noted, and as we reported, Capitol Police determined that each the 293 use of force incidents reported from January 6, 2021 were justified,” Goodwin explained. “According to Capitol Police policy, officers are required to complete a use of force report for any incident that meets one or more of three criteria: (1) unintentional firearm discharge; (2) the withdrawal of a weapon from its holster or pointing a weapon, including a firearm, at an individual or animal; or (3) any use of force greater than, and including, empty hand control techniques. Further, its policy requires officers to complete the use of force report, if possible, prior to the end of the officer’s tour of duty (i.e., the day of the incident).”

None of the reports were completed and submitted on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Capitol Police policy calls for use of force reports to be reviewed by the reporting officer’s supervisor for accuracy and completeness,” Goodwin stated further. “The supervisor is required to indicate whether the use of force was supported by the circumstances, or whether more investigation is needed. For either designation, the supervisor is to forward the report to the Office of Professional Responsibility for final investigative review. According to the Capitol Police, Office of Professional Responsibility investigations that identify wrongdoing can result in disciplinary actions and criminal investigations. Of the 293 use of force incidents reported, one incident required more investigation by the supervisor. This incident was the sole use of force incident involving the firing of a firearm, which the Capitol Police determined to be justified after additional investigation.”

This was the shooting of an unarmed Babbitt by Byrd. No explanation was provided for why the actions of Officer Morris and “Officer Whiteshirt” were deemed justified.

“We made five recommendations in our report,” Goodwin said, “some of which focus on ensuring that the Capitol Police take actions to better understand officers’ comprehension of the department’s expectations and policies related to the use of force, and as appropriate, make changes to policy, guidance, and training. Capitol Police agreed with all five of our recommendations, and when we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to our recommendations, we will provide updated information on our website.”

The Epoch Times also reached out to the USCP’s OPR but received no response.

Joe Hanneman contributed to this report. Article cross-posted from our premium news partners at The Epoch Times.