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The video of law enforcement serving of a search warrant at the home of a former sate data scientist last week has been viewed tens of thousands of times. Today, as Mike Vasilinda tells us,  the Commissioner of the Department of Law Enforcement defended his agents actions.

The Department of Law Enforcement says its agents waited for more than 20 minutes before Rebekah Jones, suspected of sending an unauthorized message on a state platform, opened the door for police to serve a search warrant. On body cam video she is heard to say “He just pointed a gun at my children”.

On twitter she has called them Gestapo, and attacked their motives. 

Today, FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen pushed back, saying “Nowhere in anyone of those videos did you see an agent pointing a gun at a child’s head.”

Now the Department of Law Enforcement is saying it is standard procedure for guns to be drawn every time a search warrant is served.

“During that 23 minutes, every hard drive in that apartment could have been wiped” says Swearingen. “They could have been arming themselves. They could have been barricading themselves.”

Fand Swearingen says Jones has a history of attacking police, citing a 2015 incident when she refused to leave her office at Louisiana State after being dismissed.

“When he advised her she was under arrest, she resisted. She kicked him in the groin.”

And Jones continues to fight a 2019 misdemeanor stalking charge over an encounter with a former lover.

The Governor today praising the way agents acted. “I mean, when they are smeared unfairly, that’;s not something that we want.”

Only Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who oversees FDLE as a cabinet member has doubts.

“And when there are children in the home, the highest level of concern needed to have been addressed” says Fried.

FDLE would not comment on the specifics of the case or what they have found on the computers they seized, saying only the investigation is on going.

Jones did not return our text or call seeking a response.