U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz has called on Florida’s governor to remove Pasco County's Sheriff who was sued this week by four residents claiming an intelligence program run by the top cop’s agency violated their constitutional rights.
In a tweet on Thursday, Gaetz, a Republican congressman from Florida’s Panhandle, said Gov. Ron DeSantis had the authority to remove Sheriff Chris Nocco and should consider doing so.
The intelligence program was the subject of an investigation by the Tampa Bay Times.
I don’t care that this is being done by a GOP Sheriff.
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) March 12, 2021
Its awful to harass citizens because you think they may commit crimes, hoping to “make their lives miserable.”@GovRonDeSantis has the authority to remove @ChrisNocco & should consider doing so.https://t.co/oHlpMjgubX
The newspaper revealed that the intelligence program used arrest histories and information from police reports to determine which residents were most likely to break the law.
This week, four people sued Nocco in federal court. According to the Times, they say deputies came to their homes for “suspicionless, warrantless” searches and fined or arrested them if they did not cooperate.
