'He thought there were migrants on the bus': Guard officer pursues, confronts senior citizens
'He thought there were migrants on the bus': Guard officer pursues, confronts senior citizens
A tour bus bringing senior citizens to their East Falmouth hotel on Sept. 19 was aggressively pursued by a National Guard officer from Joint Base Cape Cod who thought the bus was carrying migrants because of a Tallahassee, Florida, sign on the side of the bus.
The off-duty officer, Lt. Col. Christopher Hoffman, 51, of the Massachusetts Army National Guard, who recorded his pursuit of the bus on Facebook Live, thought the bus was part of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' effort to bring migrants who crossed the southern U.S. border to Cape Cod. He can be heard praising DeSantis on the live stream video.
The nighttime pursuit, mainly along Route 28 south, continued for 10 or more miles from the vicinity of the Bourne Rotary to the Admiralty Inn & Suites, 51 Teaticket Highway in East Falmouth, terrifying the passengers.
When the bus reached the hotel, a verbal altercation occurred between Hoffman and the passengers on the bus, said Michael Vaughn, driver of the bus and owner of Mikes Limousine, a Tallahassee-based transportation company that provides buses for tour groups.
"He thought there were immigrants on the bus," Vaughn said. "He was totally wrong."
Hoffman's pursuit of the bus comes after DeSantis sent about 50 South American migrants to Martha's Vineyard unannounced on Sept. 14. The migrants were moved to Joint Base Cape Cod a few days later where the state set up a temporary shelter at the direction of Gov. Charlie Baker.
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The Times attempted to contact Hoffman on his work cellphone. His voice mailbox was full and could not accept a phone message. He did not reply to a text sent to his work cellphone number.
Hoffman 'wouldn't leave me'
Vaughn said the truck had its high beams on during the pursuit. "He was literally five feet off my bumper," said Vaughn, "He wouldn't leave me."
Vaughn tried slowing down and changing lanes on Route 28 to let the pickup truck pass to no avail.
"He harassed us to death," said Vaughn. "Everybody was scared to death."
The Facebook video, which was shared with the Times, shows Hoffman driving at times and the bus ahead of him at other points. The bus can be seen switching lanes but when the bus switched lanes Hoffman did as well, according to the video. Hoffman has since removed the video from his Facebook page, according to police.
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Vaughn was driving 37 senior citizens from Memphis, Tennessee, who were touring Cape Cod. Once the bus pulled into the parking lot at the Admiralty Inn & Suites, Vaughn said Hoffman got out of his truck and was filming the bus with his phone.
Falmouth police called to scene of the altercation between Hoffman, tourists
Falmouth police were called to the hotel parking lot by someone associated with the bus tour. Falmouth public information officer Lt. Michael Simoneau identified the pickup truck driver as Hoffman and said no charges have been filed against him as of Tuesday morning.
According to information from the Massachusetts National Guard, Hoffman, who works full-time for the Guard, served in Afghanistan from 2010 to 2011. He is stationed at Joint Base Cape Cod. His LinkedIn profile lists his job title as administrative officer.
“The Massachusetts National Guard considers the conduct of this soldier to be inappropriate and inconsistent with our military values," Col. Mark Kalin, Commander, Massachusetts Army National Guard, said in a statement to the Times. "We are currently working to ensure our service member is evaluated and receives any services he may need, while also reviewing appropriate disciplinary actions. The incident is currently under investigation and no further information is available at this time.”
In a video recording from Hoffman's Facebook live, Hoffman films himself following the bus on Route 28, south of the Bourne Bridge.
"Look at this," he said. "Tallahassee, Florida. A busload. Look at this. I'm following it all the way to the end. DeSantis bringing the border to your place."
In the video, Hoffman seemed to indicate that he saw the bus by chance.
Related:Migrants staying at Joint Base Cape Cod settle in as they determine where to go from here
"I saw it coming over the bridge, I'm going to follow it," he said. "I was supposed to turn it off and go home, but here we go."
In the Facebook Live video, Hoffman seems agitated about the current immigrant situation and expresses frustration about trying to bring someone from Afghanistan to the United States.
"I have an Afghan I can't even get into the country," said Hoffman. "He helped us in 2005 and 2010."
'These are senior citizens on the bus
After both vehicles arrived at the parking lot of the Admiralty Inn & Suites, Vaughn said he got out of the bus and confronted Hoffman, who appeared to be filming the bus using his phone. He said he told, Hoffman, "these are old senior citizens. You're going to give them a heart attack."
A video that was made in the parking lot captured Hoffman's encounter with Vaughn and passengers on the bus. The video was shared with the Times on the conditions that it not be published and that the name of the person who shared it not be published.
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"You're interfering with my tour," Vaughn can be heard saying.
"I want to see what's going on," Hoffman, who was not in a uniform, said.
"It's none of your business what's going on," Vaughn said.
"I have every right as a U.S citizen to see what's going on," Hoffman said. "You know what I'm talking about."
Vaughn tried to explain that it was a tour bus full of older people.
"If it's 80-year-old people, I will walk away," Hoffman said. "Do you not see what's gone on on Martha's Vineyard?"
At one point, Hoffman boarded the tour bus. "He was walking right up on the bus uninvited," said Vaughn. At that point, the passengers began yelling at Hoffman.
"These older Black women were on his a--," Vaughn said.
'I served in Afghanistan'
In a video from the bus, Hoffman tells the passengers, "I served in Afghanistan, and I'm trying to get an Afghan, and I can't get him into the country. So don't tell me you don't know what I'm talking about."
As an angry response from passengers continued, Hoffman appeared to realize that the bus didn't contain migrants.
"I am sorry," said Hoffman. "I didn't respect you guys. I am sorry."
'People need to feel safe':Support team to help resettle Afghan evacuees in Falmouth
Shortly thereafter, Hoffman left the bus and encountered Falmouth police.
In the video filmed in the inn parking lot, Hoffman is asked if he had been drinking by a police officer. "No," replied Hoffman.
The Falmouth Police Department report about the incident, written by Det. Christopher Bartolomei, said Hoffman may have been impaired and perhaps was suffering from some sort of mental health situation.
"When he looked at me, he looked through me not at me," the report says.
"He was not making sense and he attempted to control the conversation and talked about him trying to get someone from Afghanistan to the United States. The way he talked it made it sound like he was connected somehow with the migrants on the base," the report says, later adding, "Something seemed very off with him."
After calming down a bit, Hoffman told police what had happened. "He stated he was driving and saw the bus go around the rotary on the highway. He stated he got upset because the bus had Tallahassee on it, and he thought it was more migrants coming from Florida and began following it. He stated he got upset and followed the bus. He spoke about a friend that he could not get over from Afghanistan and he got emotional about this and was mad that the migrants were here and not his friend. He seemed passionate about this."
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The police report also mentions Hoffman's Facebook Live video. "I informed Hoffman he was on Facebook Live, and he wanted help taking it down. I informed him I did not know how to do that and would not do that. He eventually figured it out and took it off."
The video from the live stream that was shared with the Times was copied prior to Hoffman removing the video from his Facebook page.
According to Vaughn, Hoffman was taken away by ambulance and his truck was towed.
Vaughn was incredulous at the turn of events. "This is crazy," he said. "2.3 million miles of driving a bus and I've never been stalked."
'People need to feel safe': Support team to help resettle Afghan evacuees in Falmouth
Assad Jung Cape Cod Times
A group of Afghan evacuees is expected to be resettled in Falmouth, thanks to a newly formed local organization of about 100 volunteers.
The Afghans have been living at a military base in the U.S. after they were evacuated from Afghanistan to escape the the Taliban following the U.S. military withdrawal.
Accommodations for two couples and a family are being prepared in Falmouth, said Marga McElroy, who formed Neighborhood Support Team Cape Cod in early September to help Afghan evacuees. Exactly when they will arrive is not known, she said.
“The primary thing is people need to feel safe, and these people have not felt safe for a long time,” McElroy said. Details about the evacuees and their new homes are not being disclosed due to privacy and security concerns, she said.
A need to empower
The Neighborhood Support Team, a group of Falmouth residents, came together to help just a few of the thousands of Afghans who were evacuated out of their country.
The Falmouth team applied for three housing placements through Ascentria Care Alliance, a human service organization working to resettle 400 Afghans in Massachusetts and others in New Hampshire, chief community services officer Aimee Mitchell said.
The process has not been without its difficulties. Due to Trump administration policies, and the impact of COVID-19, refugee resettlement agencies took a major hit, McElroy said.
“We’re building the airplane while flying,” she said.
McElroy said the volunteers are from all walks of life: teachers, techies, lawyers. They will mobilize when the Afghans arrive, to help with necessities like transportation and fundraising.
They will also assist with employment searches, financial literacy and English tutoring, McElroy said. The team is still looking for Dari, Pashto and Farsi translators.
“We need to rekindle their confidence and empower them to rebuild their lives themselves,” McElroy said.
900 Afghans to resettle in MA
Afghan evacuees were brought to U.S. military bases with a temporary “humanitarian parole” status. This initially means they would not be given the same benefits as people defined as “refugees.”
However, federal legislation passed Sept. 30 granted “humanitarian parolees” refugee benefits, like reception and placement services, health care, food stamps and cash assistance.
As of earlier this month, about 52,000 Afghan evacuees have been living at eight U.S. military installations scattered across America, according to The Associated Press. But that figure was expected to grow as thousands more Afghans overseas are expected to come to the U.S.
In mid-September, the Biden administration announced that about 900 Afghans were expected to be resettled in Massachusetts.
A unique technique that Ascentria uses to relocate refugees is to allow them to pick where they want to live after seeing profiles of neighborhoods and support teams, Mitchell said.
Many of the evacuees have had traumatic experiences fleeing the Taliban, Mitchell said. Allowing them to choose where they live is an important step to combat that.
So far, the Falmouth Neighborhood Support Team is the only one on the Cape that is working with Ascentria, though Mitchell said the organization would be open to working with more neighborhood support teams on the Cape.
One of the challenges with relocating Afghans has been transportation off military bases, Mitchell said. There are over 52,000 Afghans on U.S. soil, and trying to move such large numbers leads to bottlenecks. But she said she expects the number of people taken off the bases for resettlement to increase in the next week or so.
Other challenges have been the lack of funding for resettlement, Mitchell said.
“Many of these organizations have not had infrastructure in place to figure out how to scale up for the level of crisis where we’re at,” she said.
Mitchell said that interpreters who helped the U.S. in Afghanistan previously have had their families targeted due to their service. Agencies are also seeing Afghan mothers and single women who don't want to return to Taliban rule.
As an example of their grit and desperation, she also spoke about a mother throwing her baby over a fence at Kabul airport.She said the courage for a mother to save her child when she can't save herself is staggering.
“These folks have endured more than we can even fathom, it's part of what makes them such spectacular people,” Mitchell said.
Material from The Associated Press was used in this story.
As new COVID infections near 47,000, local officials decry Gov. DeSantis' lack of action
Florida saw 46,923 new infections Wednesday as test lines in Palm Beach County swell with people fearful they've contracted the respiratory ailment.
With COVID-19 cases skyrocketing, testing sites jammed and school children set to return to class next week, Palm Beach County officials on Wednesday joined a growing chorus of Democratic leaders who are criticizing Gov. Ron DeSantis for not addressing the latest surge.
Since the omicron variant fueled a roughly 1,000% increase in infections statewide in the last two weeks, DeSantis hasn’t held a news conference or announced any plans to help curb the spread of the highly contagious strain of the coronavirus.
He continued his silence on Wednesday when the CDC reported a record-shattering 46,923 new infections throughout the state. The latest daily tally was nearly 18,000 more than the previous one-day record which was set 24 hours earlier.
“Gov. DeSantis clearly doesn't believe COVID exists anymore. He doesn't talk about it,” said Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay. “The governor is playing Russian Roulette with public health. So far, the wheel has been spinning in his favor, but we all know at some point the gambler will begin to lose.”
Test sites:COVID tests: New site to open in Riviera Beach as cases surge in Palm Beach County
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Local officials say DeSantis stripped them of power to take safety measures
Like McKinlay, other local officials said DeSantis’ refusal to address the state’s mounting infection rate is frustrating because he robbed them of their ability to implement safety measures to protect their constituents.
Laws that DeSantis pushed through the GOP-controlled legislature bar local governments from imposing mask mandates other than in government buildings.
Further, under a measure the Republican governor signed last month, businesses, government and schools are prohibited from requiring proof of vaccination. Schools can't force students to wear masks.
"I feel like the ability to do what is best has been taken away from us," said School Board member Debra Robinson, a retired physician. “Right now, I would do a mandatory mask requirement temporarily."
She applauded Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried for writing a letter to DeSantis on Tuesday, urging him to address what Robinson labeled a “public health crisis.”
In the letter, Fried, the only Democrat on Florida’s Cabinet, blasted DeSantis for ignoring the surge that threatens the elderly and puts millions of school children and scores of teachers at risk when classes resume Wednesday.
At a minimum, Fried said DeSantis should take steps to reduce hours-long waits at testing centers by opening additional ones throughout the state.
"Despite your recent assertion that you 'don't think there's any evidence' that testing 'has done very much to interrupt' the spread of the virus, health experts agree that testing is crucial," wrote Fried, who will try to unseat DeSantis in 2022.
Long lines at testing centers become problem for local agencies to solve
Without state action, the responsibility to reduce long lines at testing centers has fallen on local officials.
Riviera Beach on Wednesday announced that a drive-thru testing center would open Thursday at Wells Recreation Center. The county health care district opened one at Lakeside Medical Center in Belle Glade last week, and the county is exploring the possibility of adding one in Boynton Beach.
At the same time, County Mayor Robert Weinroth wants to make it even easier for county residents to get tests. At Tuesday’s commission meeting, officials said Weinroth plans to propose using federal money to purchase home testing kits and send them to every household in the county.
Dr. Kitonga Kiminyo, a Boynton Beach infectious disease specialist, said lengthy waits at testing centers are only part of the problem.
“We need more mass testing sites because the current long lines confirm there is still an unmet need,” he said. “More importantly this problem exposes the fact that those people who are not mobile will have a more difficult time getting tested, and these are our more vulnerable populations.”
In addition to trying to figure out ways to open more testing sites, County Administrator Verdenia Baker is considering reinstituting mask requirements in county buildings to protect workers and visitors. County Tax Collector Ann Gannon has already done so at her six locations.
But government workers represent only a small slice of those impacted by the omicron variant. Various business people, including restaurant owners and retailers, say their staffs have been decimated by the variant.
County Commissioner Gregg Weiss said the lack of leadership from DeSantis and his hand-picked surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, is worrisome.
“I would hope there would be some leadership from those with the knowledge and access to resources to implement good public health policy,” he said. “It would certainly be a nice and pleasant surprise for the state to take positions to assist local government.”
Instead, like Desantis, the surgeon general, who has trumpeted his disdain for mask and vaccine mandates, has offered no guidance to those struggling to understand and combat the surge.
State surgeon general talks of antibody treatments but not COVID-19 tests
Christina Pushaw, the governor’s press secretary, referred questions about DeSantis’ response to rising case counts to the Florida Department of Health. It didn’t reply to an email.
She also highlighted a letter Ladapo on Tuesday sent the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In it, Ladapo complained about the federal agency’s decision to reduce the supplies of two monoclonal therapy treatments that have not proven effective against the omicron variant.
Instead, the federal agency is focusing on another therapy, manufactured by GlaxoKlineSmith, that does reduce the effects of the new strain. The CDC has estimated at least 73% of the new cases in the country are caused by the new mutation.
Still, Ladapo said, some infections continue to be caused by the delta variant and healthcare providers should have access to treatment that combats it.
“Florida is a large, diverse state with one of the highest percentages of seniors in the U.S. and we must empower healthcare providers to make decisions that will save the lives of Americans everywhere without the dictates imposed by the federal government," he wrote.
At least one hospital in the county, Boca Raton Regional, suspended its monoclonal therapy program until the GlaxoKlineSmith drug became available. The hospital’s chief medical officer said he couldn’t justify administering either of the other treatments, knowing they don’t work against the omicron variant.
In the letter to HHS, Ladapo trumpeted DeSantis’ “Seniors First” mantra for the state’s vaccination program. But, Fried said, Florida’s most fragile elderly are lagging behind when it comes to receiving critical booster shots.
Nationally, an average of 55% of nursing home residents have gotten booster shots, she said. In Florida, only 38% have gotten them, the third-lowest percentage in the country.
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