Jailed For Role In Capitol Siege, Candidate Runs For FL House

FLORIDA — Of the hundreds of candidates running for Florida office in this year's general election, Jeremy Michael Brown, 48, of Tampa, inarguably faces the biggest hurdle.

The Republican nominee for the Florida House District 62 seat, Brown's resume looks pretty impressive — on the surface.

He served in the U.S. Army's elite Special Forces, better known as the Green Berets, from 1992 to 2012, attaining the rank of master sergeant with the 1st Ranger Battalion. In that time, he served in 17 countries on five continents, including combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He earned his bachelor's degree from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, and, upon retiring from the military, he started his own business in Tampa, BLU Moon Transportation Inc., a limousine service. In his free time, he served as a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician.

But he said the title he's most proud of is "father."

"My military awards and decorations pale in comparison to my greatest accomplishment and reward: my five intelligent, talented and caring daughters," Brown said.

Voters living in Florida House District 62, however, won't find a campaign website detailing Brown's experience or platform. There have been no slick pamphlets slipped into mailboxes touting his qualifications for office. And there is no Facebook page filled with photos of the candidate shaking hands and kissing babies.

That's because, for the past year, Brown has been in federal custody at the Pinellas County Jail following his Sept. 30, 2021, arrest at his Palm River home after being accused of taking part in the Jan. 6, 2021 siege on the U.S. Capitol.

Brown, who previously ran for Florida's 14th U.S. House District as a Republican against U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor but withdrew before the Republican primary on Aug. 18, 2020, was charged with entering a restricted building "to impede the official count of Electoral College votes for president and engaging in disorderly conduct on restricted ground."

The FBI released a series of surveillance videos showing Brown entering the Capitol in full tactical gear, and a series of messages through Signal1 chat, an encrypted chat application, in which Brown made arrangements with fellow members of the Oath Keepers to travel to Washington, D.C., to disrupt the congressional proceedings to confirm Joe Biden as president.

The FBI describes the Oath Keepers as a "right-wing extremist paramilitary organization" made up of mostly former members of the military committed to supporting and defending their interpretation of the U.S. Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic.

During a search of Brown's home, the FBI said it found several unregistered high-powered weapons, two hand grenades, more than 8,000 rounds of ammunition, a short-barrel rifle and a sawed-off shotgun.

But that's not the reason Brown has been held in jail while some of those accused of taking part in the siege have their freedom.

U.S. District Judge Sean P. Flynn said his decision to deny Brown bail was based on a handwritten sign Brown posted in his front yard after federal agents came to his home warning the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI that if they returned to his home, they should “bring a bigger tactical package.”

On the one-year anniversary of the siege on the Capitol, Brown was allowed to make a phone call, which ended up being broadcast over a loudspeaker to a crowd of supporters outside the jail.

“Today, Jan. 6, 2022, from the maximum-security section of the Pinellas County jail, I, Jeremy Brown, announce my candidacy for Florida state House of Representatives," he said to the cheering crowd.

He then proceeded to denounce the "tyrannical government" that held him prisoner and vowed to fight for "the liberty of every American."

Despite the obvious disadvantages of launching a campaign for office from a jail cell, Brown managed to collect enough signatures to qualify as a candidate and, as the sole Republican running for the office, is now on the ballot for Tuesday's general election.

While early voting ended in Florida counties over the weekend, residents with vote-by-mail ballots have until 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 8, to turn them in. Election day polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. statewide.

If you’re not sure where to vote, you can look up your polling station here.

Since Brown has pleaded not guilty and is still awaiting trial on the charges against him, there is no legal reason to prevent his run for office.

Brown acknowledges that his chances of winning are slim. But he said he's not running to win. He's running "to wake American people up to what's going on."

"I should be in my RV retired, but my state and nation need leaders that believe in our foundational principles," Brown wrote in his candidate's survey for Ballotpedia. "Like George Washington, I will serve until I’m no longer needed or wanted."

His message has managed to resonate with like-minded extremists who have donated $22,773 to his campaign, $12,308 of which Brown has spent.

During his year in jail, he said his perception of the justice system has changed.

"As you may or may not know, I am currently incarcerated as a political prisoner for exposing the illegal actions and corruption of the FBI," he said. "I am surrounded by story after story of the violations of the rights of Florida citizens and the results of decades of failed government policies whose 'good intentions' have paved many roads to the hells that are many of these inmates’ lives. When citizens break our society's rules, we must do a better job as a society to help them, not just house them until their trip around the revolving door that our justification system (not justice) has become. We owe it to them and our communities. No human should be given up on."

Ironically, it's an opinion that closely aligns with his Democratic opponent, Michele Rayner's views on the justice system.

Rayner, a civil rights attorney, was elected to the Florida House as the representative for District 70 in 2020.

She's now running for re-election in District 62 due to redistricting following the 2020 U.S. Census, which altered the boundaries of both districts.

District 62's boundaries previously were entirely within Hillsborough County, stretching from South Tampa north to Citrus Park.

Now the boundaries include Palm River, Clair-Mel, Progress Village and Port Tampa in East Tampa, a portion of west Brandon, Gibsonton and part of Riverview.

The district then crosses Tampa Bay to include a small portion of southeast St. Petersburg at Greater Pinellas Point.

Rayner defeated veteran politician Wengay Newton and newcomer Jesse Phillippe in the Democratic primary in August, garnering 53 percent of the vote.

In contrast to her opponent, she's raised $118,231 in campaign contributions and spent $116,909.

Rayner grew up in a working-class family in Clearwater and said she knows how it feels to live paycheck to paycheck.

She's advocating for a 10 percent tax cut for families making less than $400,000 a year.

"Even a small tax break for families can go a long way to eliminating multi-generation poverty," she said. "That is going to make a real difference for 98 percent of the families right here in Pinellas County."

Rayner said she also wants to see legislation passed that will ensure no one is denied health care coverage due to a pre-existing condition.

"Everyone deserves access to affordable health care," she said. "The last two years have really magnified how critical access to health care is for everyone in our country. Despite that, nearly 87 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured."

She said she'll be leading the charge to expand Medicaid coverage for about 900,000 Florida residents.

As for the justice system, Rayner said noted that she originally ran for office to rally against Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law "that has been used to excuse the murders of too many innocent people," she said.

Additionally, she's a proponent of allowing women to make their own health care decisions without interference from the government and said she will fight for LGBTQ rights by passing comprehensive anti-discrimination policies.

Florida polls close at 7 p.m. local time Tuesday. However, since Florida has two time zones (Central and Eastern), preliminary election night results will not be released until 8 p.m. Eastern Time.