More activists learn Florida agency searched driving records
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Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi / Axios
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has accessed the driving records of nearly two dozen environmental advocates across Florida, records reveal.
Why it matters: The activists say they believe the searches are part of a strategy to discourage criticism of the agency.
Catch up quick: Last July, documentarian Brent Fannin received an anonymous tip saying the FWC was watching him and other environmental activists.
- Then, in May, he read a lawsuit alleging that FWC officers had illegally accessed a couple's driving records to stalk and harass them.
- After requesting a list of who had accessed his driving records, he learned that two FWC officers had looked him up in a law enforcement database seven times in April and June 2025 for a "criminal investigation."
The database, used by law enforcement for investigations, contains addresses, vehicle records, Social Security numbers and other personal information.
- He encouraged other activists — many of whom opposed the 2025 bear hunt or pushed for FWC commission reform — to find out if they'd been looked up, too.
- Now, 21 people say their records were searched, including those involved in Everglades restoration, Biscayne Bay conservation and manatee protections. Some searches date to 2022.
What they're saying: FWC Commission chair Rodney Barreto told the Miami Herald that people who signed up to speak at meetings were checked because commissioners had received threats during discussions about the bear hunt.
- Following media reports, the FWC defended the searches as necessary to identify "credible threats" and provided examples of threatening social media posts.
- FWC declined to answer when Axios asked why there were searches years before the bear hunt.
The other side: Sandy Moise, conservation committee co-chair for Sierra Club Miami, tells Axios that she's never spoken at an FWC commission meeting.
- She says she felt "physically ill" after learning that FWC accessed her records.
- "Here I am, a 60-year-old woman who has a clean record throughout my entire life, and this is happening to me because I'm speaking out for the environment," she adds.
Ben Olsen's records were searched 14 times by two officers in February 2024 — more than a year before the bear hunt debate.
- Olsen, who lives on his family's farm in Hendry County, has challenged the Western Everglades Restoration Project by providing data that it would flood the land and destroy critical panther habitats.
- He volunteers for FWC's python removal program and works with agency biologists to monitor panther activity.
- "This whole narrative that this is about the bear hunt is a lie," he tells Axios. "I was neutral on the bear hunt and I don't use social media."
The bottom line: Olsen says he wasn't a prominent activist when his records were searched.
- "If they went after me as a nobody, they've gone after hundreds of people as nobodies," he adds.