‘Extremely concerning’: Lawsuit against FWC alleges illegal data access

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) - A debate surrounding government surveillance is at the center of a new federal lawsuit that accuses a state agency of illegally accessing data.

What started as a dispute between alleged poachers in a “hunting incident” and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission has turned into a debate about access to driver’s license data and just how easily the government should be able to access it.

FWC says it’s received threats like “Whoever came up with the plan should be shot,” and some even worse.

But, environmental activists say government criticism of the authorized bear hunt is no reason to look at their driver’s license data, especially when who actually made the threats is redacted.

“And we found out about two months ago when we did a public records request, and this is, like I said, extremely concerning that they seem to be targeting people who are just simply exercising their First Amendment rights of the Constitution, freedom of speech,” Katrina Shadix from Bear Warriors United, said.

The activists learned their information had been searched thanks to the Beaches, a prominent Taylor County family.

Dustin Beach was cited for four counts of the introduction of any seed, plant or animal, the placement or use of surveillance cameras, and two counts of the use of an ATV. He was eventually convicted for resisting arrest without violence.

After this article was published, Shawna Beach said the couple wasn’t poaching at all.

Shawna Beach was initially charged with hunting or trapping on district lands, and the use of firearms or archery equipment on district lands.

In short, she describes the initial encounter with FWC as a “hunting incident.” Ultimately, according to the Perry News-Herald, the charges were reduced to “Prohibited Activities in the SRWMD.”

They’ve filed a federal lawsuit saying FWC has gone scorched earth after the family criticized the agency.

“We started getting calls and we started getting messages and we started getting support and people saying, ‘Hey, this didn’t just happen to you.’ This is overreach and lack of accountability and taxation without representation that we have seen for years,” Shawna Beach, one of the plaintiffs suing FWC said.

FWC has responded forcefully, saying they take recent reporting “seriously.” However, FWC maintains “situational awareness, safety assessments and safety planning are a must in order for FWC to continue its mission.”

Activists, though, say the agency has crossed the line from preventative safety to monitoring their critics.

“We all have a right to speak out, to advocate for our wildlife, to advocate for our wildlands and wild waters. And the FWC is wanting to shut us down,” Shadix said.

The activists did provide a public records request showing their information had been searched by FWC. The reason listed is a “criminal investigation,” though Shadix maintains she’s never threatened anybody.

According to documents provided by the activists, FWC accessed Shadix’s driving records on a number of occasions. FWC checked her record detail, driver’s license detail and addresses on May 5, 2023.

On that occasion, the FWC personnel listed “Specific Agency Function” as the “purpose code.” Fast forward to Febuary of 2024, another FWC employee accesses the same information plus a “Photo and Signature Array,” but this time as part of a “criminal investigation.”

Shadix maintains she’s never been charged with a crime. The example threats provided by FWC are redacted, so we cannot verify who made the threats.

Just a few months after FWC authorized an August bear hunt, that Shadix strongly opposed, FWC accessed her “record detail, vehicles, photo and signature array and driver’s license transaction details” again for a “criminal investigation.”

She now worries she might be followed through government access to cameras, and changes her location frequently.

“And so I’ve had to live in fear. I’ve had to live looking over my back, wondering who is tailgating me in this darkly tinted window vehicle,” Shadix said.

While the case filed by the Beach family is the only one formally in court, their story is also more complicated. According to the Perry News-Herald, Shawna Beach was cited by the FWC back in 2022 for her first bow kill of a deer.

Shawna Beach shot the buck from a deer stand that was later determined to be on government land. In an interview with Gray Media, the Beaches maintained the crime was an accident, and that they hadn’t been in trouble with game wardens before.

Dustin Beach, her husband, was later charged with two felonies for making threats against FWC. But, those charges were dropped, Shawna Beach said, and he later entered a plea to resisting arrest without violence, per online court records. As part of that plea, Dustin Beach admitted the government had enough evidence to convict him, but he didn’t formally admit guilt.

Either way, the Beach family tells Gray Media that they felt unfairly targeted by FWC, and so they made complaints to the inspector general. Rather than address the complaints, the Beach family alleges FWC retaliated by accessing their personal driver’s license data.

“And that’s whenever he started filing the complaints. Saying, ‘Hey, this was wrong.’ And sending text messages and pulling public records, sharing public records, all protected activity,” Shawna Beach said.

The Beach family also strongly objected to a condition of Dustin Beach’s bond, which for 19 days prevented him from accessing the internet.

“It’s to make sure that they come to trial and not for punishment,” Dustin Beach said. “And that’s what the internet ban was.”

The full response from FWC is below: