Jasper — State law enforcement officers on Jan. 14 raided the home of a Jasper man they say illegally taped a phone conversation with a state legislative aide.

At 7:30 a.m. more than a dozen officers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, along with two Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies, arrived at the home of Bob Burton and his wife Kathy Scott to serve a search warrant. No arrests were made at the 7676 S.W. 46 Ave. residence in Jasper. Seized, however, were a Sony Handycam, a cell phone and a laptop computer.

An illegally-taped phone call with a legislative staffer prompted the raid, say officials.

Burton, a deadhead logger, says he happened upon illegal activities by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, specifically the dumping of toxic waste into protected areas.

Burton says he taped a phone conversation regarding the matter with Ryan Tyson, chief of staff for state Sen. Charlie Dean, chairman of the Senate Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation, then posted a video containing the conversation on YouTube.

The conversation allegedly contained statements from Ryan implicating state officials in what Burton says are illegal activities. The YouTube videos have since been removed.

Scott stated she was in the shower when the officers arrived. After wrapping herself in a towel she then slipped on a robe. A female agent met her at the bathroom door and asked her to take her towel off, she said. Her first question was, “Where is Bob?” She was told he was outside in a police car.

“We’re just trying to expose the crime,” Burton said. “We put the name to the act.”

Burton and Scott say that Agenda 21, a United Nations course of action to manage growth and the environment, is behind some of the illegal activities he alleges.

When asked whether they had met with skepticism on this last claim, Scott replied, “they’ll believe it when their land is taken from them.
Taped call to legislative staffer leads to raid on couple’s home