Sheriff under fire for raid on J6er's home

By John Labriola - The Citrus County Sheriff's Office is facing strong criticism over its involvement in the recent arrest of a Jan. 6, 2021 protester as the official narrative of an "insurrection" on the U.S. Capitol begins to unravel.

Jesse Rumson, 37, of Lecanto, was arrested in a pre-dawn SWAT-style raid on his home on Feb. 27 over his participation in the pro-Trump demonstration in Washington more than two years ago. 

Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergast announced his office's cooperation with the FBI in the arrest on the department's Facebook page later that day in a post which remains published.

"Our office will always partner with both our state and federal partners to bring criminals to justice no matter where they live or where they believe they can hide. As a true American patriot, I protect those who uphold their first amendment rights - but do so without causing a dangerous mass riot and ensuing mob that placed other individual's lives in jeopardy," his post reads. 

Prendergast concluded: "I believe the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division's Counter-terrorism Section will ensure justice prevails as they work to bring these criminals to justice."

The post’s seeming vote of confidence in the Biden Justice Department drew a flood of angry comments from residents who contrasted the Democrat administration’s praise of Black Lives Matter rioters with its treatment of Jan. 6 protesters, many of whom have been languishing in jail cells for two years without a trial.

"Are you serious right now? If anyone should be arrested for putting lives in danger it should be the DC cops, they are the ones who opened entry to the Capitol and not to mention murdered a woman [Ashli Babbitt] in cold blood," Annie O'Rourke Williamson wrote in reply to Prendergast's post. 

Added Mike Parsons: "Sheriff, if you believe that everything the DOJ and the FBI are telling is true then I will be voting for another Sheriff in the next election." 

But others like local liberal Democrat Party activist Kathy Gates were pleased: "No matter how hard Tucker Carlson lies, we thank you for the arrest," she gloated in her Facebook comment.

Carlson, who hosts Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight, has helped undermine the official narrative of what happened on Jan. 6 by airing newly released video showing peaceful crowds milling around the building as Capitol police stood calmly by.

Rumson was released after his arrest and is awaiting trial on multiple counts including disorderly conduct, obstructing law enforcement and assaulting an officer. He denies the charges, saying he entered the Capitol building unwillingly as he was swept up with the crowd and was then beaten by Capitol police without provocation before being carried away to safety by outraged onlookers. The media branded Rumson “Sedition Panda” because of the panda mask he wore that day, which he said symbolized his solidarity with Hong Kong citizens against the Chinese Communist Party.

Rumson spoke at the March 14 meeting of the Citrus County Trump Club and described his experience in Washington and his recent arrest on the Real America's Voice network this past Friday during a live broadcast of the American Sunrise show from The Villages. (His interview begins about halfway into the video.)

"They showed up at my house with two armored cars and full SWAT teams with gear at 4:30 in the morning and concussion-grenaded my house. I came out to [machine gun] green dots all over me. It was absolutely insane," Rumson said. 

Trump Club President Billy Cayce blasted Prendergast in a blistering March 16 mass email in which he contrasted Rumson's "shock and awe" arrest with the February 2021 arrests of Jan. 6 protesters Connie and Kelly Meggs in neighboring Marion County, which took place during daylight hours with a knock on the door instead of a full-blown military-style raid. 

"Shock and Awe raids like this on peaceful January 6th Rally Participants are meant to intimidate and have a chilling effect on Americans to exercise their First Amendment Right to protest Big Government," Cayce wrote. "It appears we have a County Sheriff prepared, willing and able to cooperate with the DC Swamp and not be the Gatekeeper of our Rights as he has pledged to do so on many occasions."

Prendergast called his accusers "g**damn liars" and denied he had a say in the pre-dawn flashbang raid.

"When a federal judge issues an arrest warrant, they don't have to ask for permission," Prendergast said. Regarding the treatment of Jan. 6 prisoners, he said he has “no feelings about it” because he doesn’t know the evidence in their cases.

But Calvin Adams, Prendergast's opponent in the upcoming 2024 sheriff's election, expressed disapproval of the Biden Justice Department's handling of Jan. 6 prisoners and said a sheriff does have discretion regarding how arrest warrants are executed, adding he wouldn’t have authorized a SWAT team raid in Rumson’s case based on the information he's seen.

“Before any SWAT team barges into anybody’s house, they’re going to have to come through the sheriff and they’re going to have to say why. Is it an imminent public health threat? Is it a flight risk? If it doesn’t fit into any of those issues, then there’s going to be an amicable way of dealing with the person that may have a warrant,” Adams said at the March 14 Trump Club meeting.