EXCLUSIVE: Cops Confiscate Innocent Dad’s Guns, Kidnap Son — for Trolling on Reddit
Florida has enacted a new law that is now being applied across the state and it is being used to strip citizens of their constitutional rights.
A college student recently became the law’s target after he made three anonymous comments on Reddit and was reported by one of his fellow students. Chris Velasquez, 21 a student at the University of Central Florida, was the first person taken into custody by Orlando Police under the state’s Risk Protection Order Act (RPO), which was signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott on March 9. Police began their investigation of Velasquez long before the RPO Act was signed into law.
On Feb. 10, he replied to a group chat that suggested people are too weak to be school shooters with the comment, “Maybe for now but not forever.” With reference to Las Vegas Mandalay Bay shooting suspect Stephen Paddock, Velasquez commented, in jest, “R.I.P. my hero.” And in a thread about Parkland shooting suspect Nickolas Cruz he wrote, “Cruz is a hero!”
Those three simple comments made under the pseudonym “The Real U.C. Chris” drew the attention of the thought police, the public, and were reported to the UCF Police, who took Velasquez in for questioning on March 5. Following the interview with UCF Police, in which Velasquez did not have an attorney, the authorities determined that Velasquez was a danger to himself or others and using Florida’s Baker Act, the young man temporarily lost his freedom while his mental health was evaluated by a psychologist.
He was admitted involuntarily to a mental health facility while UCF Police, Orlando Police, and a special agent with the FBI went to Velasquez’ home and confiscated a revolver that belonged to his father. The family has since hired a lawyer who claims UCF police coerced comments out of Velasquez.
According to a report from the Orlando Sentinel, Kendra Parris, attorney for the Velasquez family, described Velasquez’ treatment by police as “shameful.”
“Officer [Jeffrey] Panter took a handful of online comments—none of which was an actual threat—from a forum in which people are known to troll and act like ‘edgelords,’” she said.
Parris also used the term “coercive” to describe how police arrived at the conclusion her client had “homicidal ideations.”
Predictably, police praised their actions as having been able to further protect the community. UCF Police Department spokeswoman Courtney Gilmartin issued a statement in which she said, “We should all sleep easier at night knowing that a firearm was removed from his household and that he is barred from purchasing any others.” That statement is only partially true.
Velasquez did not own a weapon and the only gun taken belonged to his father, leaving the rest of the Velasquez family entirely defenseless and unable to protect themselves against home intruders or criminals who may target them. For posting three comments online, Velasquez had his freedom temporarily taken away, was forced to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, and was later told not to return to UCF, an action taken known as being “trespassed.”
He is still a student at the university but now is the focus of a campus-based investigation to determine whether he will be allowed back on campus. UCF is determining if Velasquez broke the university’s code of conduct—presumably for exercising his rights to free speech in a public forum and using a fake name.
The Orlando Sentinel obtained the original petition for an RPO against Velasquez. Orlando Police Sgt. Matthew Ochiuzzo wrote in the petition, “Due to the respondent’s admissions of detailed homicidal ideation, your petitioner is gravely concerned that a real or perceived life event could unpredictably cause your respondent to obtain a firearm and commit a mass shooting.”
The temporary RPO was granted but a subsequent review by the same judge who signed it found there was no probable cause to allow for a permanent RPO that would last for one year. Parris said she has come to the conclusion that police were responsible for “dragging an innocent student with zero history of violence or mental health issues through the mud.”
In her motion to dismiss the case, Parris claimed her client’s constitutional rights were violated. “There is a long list of jurisprudence which constitutes a threat,” Parris told The Free Thought Project in an exclusive interview.
After being forced to spend the weekend in a mental health facility, doctors also concluded Velasquez posed “no threat to anyone.” Parris said her client was engaged in “constitutionally protected free speech.”
“There’s another thing that is absolutely bonkers about this, anybody can buy a gun in a private sale in this state. This law is not stopping anybody from purchasing a firearm. What it did do was trample on my client’s constitutional rights,” Parris said, noting that her client was simply a victim of the “thought police.”
Stopping short of calling Orlando Police detectives “liars,” Parris told TFTP that she believes the police were “extraordinarily reckless” and that no less than four parts of the petition for a permanent RPO were patently false:
- Officer Ochiuzzo was “100 percent false” when he claimed Velasquez fantasized about becoming a school shooter since he was in middle school.
- Parris said her client was recorded saying he could never see himself doing that (committing a mass shooting).
- Velasquez never said he would use an AR-15 style gun, even in a hypothetical scenario where he might be mad enough to harm someone.
- Velasquez also never said he wanted to feel the rush of adrenaline of being a school shooter.
Parris was also critical of the Orlando Sentinel who she says was tipped off to what the Orlando PD were planning to do to Velasquez, attempting to make a show of their power to enforce the RPO Act. “Another problem with the reporting (Orlando Sentinel) is that Mr. Velasquez had the pistol locked in a safe and Chris had no access to the firearm,” Parris said.
“The media doesn’t care. They just write what they want.” Parris is working with the family to file a lawsuit against the City of Orlando, Officer Ochiuzzo, the University of Central Florida, and UCF Police.
“This was an inappropriate case to bring pursuant to RPOs,” Parris said, adding that she hopes that after taking the case to court, the resulting judgment will set a precedent that could bring down the new Florida law. “There are substantive problems with due process concerns and this new law,” she concluded.
Orlando’s first attempt to enforce their first RPO has ended in complete failure. Not only was no crime committed but a citizen’s constitutional rights were violated, his father was forced to surrender his weapon (which was inside a safe), and the suspect was kidnapped against his will and held in a mental hospital. Parris told TFTP that her client’s reputation has been permanently damaged as a result of police actions.
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It makes me angry as Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Cheney, and others, took guns, and more, and history cycles, we see that, and that is why we learn history lest we repeat it, and they slowly take away guns, rights, free speech, and more, step by step, as we are zombie frogs in boiling water, and we are dying, and we are fighting back, and we must get involved more on local levels, town halls, in voting, in calling, and more, in America, and even in other countries. Many good and bad things are all happening all the time all around the world. Hop on the global revolutions if you haven't already, everybody.
I like your website, The Free Thought Project. One article you have that is vital is in how Facebook Bribed Government, and that is something many people forget. It is good to ask people, "What do you think about all the money Facebook Bribes Government with?" We can get more people red pill, but slowly, with questions and lots of patience. Use memes, parables, funny things, to introduce it all to them. I love the Drudge at http://DrudgeReport.com and love the #InformationWar we are all in. Thanks for sharing, hehe. I'm Oatmeal Joey Arnold. You can call me Joey.
The Free Thought Project:
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thanks for the thoughtful comment and for checking out our site Joey!
Ex post facto application of the law.
You dont have to burn the constitution if nobody reads it,...
You dont have any rights that your lawyer doesnt claim for you.
what a cluster fuck, they fuck up by not using the laws already on the books that allow someone like Nick Cruz to be legally committed or arrested so then they pass new laws and use them to harass innocent people for perceived thought crimes, brilliant. We need to have a march for our lives.
yeah they didnt take advantage of the laws on the books that could have prevented the tragedy, but they want more laws now
And they are getting those laws in many states and yet when the next one happens they will call for more. They passed more laws in Illinois after the Florida shooting, it is insane.
Police aren't known for their diplomacy, intelligence, or discretion. How hard would it have been to gather some information BEFORE the arrest? LOL. Always going in full force guns a blazing, pathetic.
lol good points
Clearly a obvious violation of his rights what happened to innocent until proven guilty. Was he even charged with a crime, ridiculous.
They've got to take your guns before they can start moving forward with Agenda 21.
Is this what people want? Idiots marching in the streets so our freedoms can be taken away for safety. But now we are less safe.
I bet those cops are patting themselves on the back for violating this mans rights - although his comments were stupid - I don't believe that they were enough to put him in a mental institution and take his fathers gun. Obviously the press twists the story around to make it seem like we are all safer now- something they put a lot of stock into - the idea of FEELING safer , while nothing at all has been done to make us safer and in fact has helped to make less safe as they move to disarm us.
yes..too many are willing to trade the illusion of safety for freedom
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