Imagine you are going about your day, any normal day, and that afternoon, your youngest (3

months at the time) granddaughter and her father return home from the day. You are asked to

look at your granddaughter’s shoulder as it is swollen with no bruising, and she is fussy. Like any

caring human being, you agreed with the father that he needed to take her to the hospital and get

it checked out. Twenty-four hours later, your entire family and life are now under the control of

DCF, the state, undertrained investigators whose mission is to get the children into the system

regardless of facts. What you are about to read is a personal account of what it feels like to be

inside this situation.

We’ve found that our situation is just like that of thousands of families in this country. To the best of my ability, it is written chronologically from copious journal notes, contact with the multiple groups involved, and recordings. It is written as we have lived it and are still living it. As you read through this nightmare, understand this is still going on with no resolution in sight.

DCF’s strategy is to apply maximum pressure and control on you to keep you silent, and if you challenge them, they will try to apply leverage against you to get you back in line. Their strategy is to fracture your family and wear you down until you either give up or give in. What you will read happens every day across this country.

It is known publicly that this happens, yet no changes will ever happen because

those in the position to make the change have never experienced it.

We want our voices to speak for our family and to be heard so that the thousands of other

families who find themselves in a similar situation can be spared from the heartache we are

experiencing. Our story is long and takes you through the corruption and desperate attempts

made by the system to take away children. We implore you to listen to our story and

understand the pain our family and others feel.

It can happen to anyone, anytime and anywhere. It leaves us asking every day, “How is this

happening to our family?”.

You may ask yourself, why would we share our private lives publicly? We have asked ourselves the same question, but we have not been given a choice. We are fighting against an evil system for our lives and for our children and grandchildren. Without them, our lives mean nothing.

On January 24th, 2024, my husband and I were at home with our granddaughter, Rylee. Our daughter Kiana was at work, and Colby was next door with their three-month-old baby girl, Laney. I walked over to our guest house where they live to say hi to Laney and noticed something was bothering him. When I asked him what was wrong, he showed me Laney's shoulder, which was red and swollen. Concerned, I carefully picked her up and brought her to my house to examine her shoulder more closely. After looking at it again, I told Colby he needed to take her to the emergency room because something was wrong. Colby called Kiana, who left work to meet him at the hospital.

Meanwhile, my husband and I stayed home with Rylee and waited for an update. Later that evening, around 9 PM, Kiana called and informed me that the hospital suspected Laney had a broken shoulder but couldn't be sure. They prepared to transfer her to Orlando Children's Hospital by ambulance for further testing. My husband and I then packed a bag and immediately headed to Orlando, where we found a hotel room close to the hospital and waited for them to arrive. It was close to midnight before they finally arrived at the hospital.

Thursday, January 25th, 2024

I received a message from Kiana at 5:36 AM informing me that a nurse had forcefully grabbed Laney's injured arm to insert an IV, causing Laney to scream in distress. Mike, Rylee, and I headed to the hospital to check on them. Multiple doctors and nurses came in and out that day, asking questions and conducting tests. We were hopeful that this would help us understand Laney's condition better.

Mike and I decided to take Rylee home that night. After sitting inside for a while with Rylee, we noticed an SUV parked in our driveway. Upon further inspection, we realized that there was also a Daytona police SUV parked on the side of the house. We walked outside to meet a woman, later identified as "Child Protective Investigator (CPI)" Bridgejae Thomas. She exited her vehicle and rudely asked if Kiana and Colby were home. She told us she needed to speak to them. We explained that they were not at home and that they were still at the hospital with their baby, where the medical team was trying to figure out what was going on.

Bridgejae did not provide any specifics, but it was evident from the information she had that the hospital in Daytona filed a report with CPS. She did not even know that Kiana and Colby were in Orlando with the baby. The hospital did not report to her that they had transferred Laney to Children's Hospital in Orlando. Consequently, Child Services and the police arrived at our home, confusing Mike and me. We did not understand why she was there or why the police were present. After a brief conversation, Bridgejae stuck her phone in Rylee's face and started taking pictures without any explanation. I asked her what she was doing, and she told us that she had to document everything. I requested her to notify me before she takes any photographs of my grandchildren in our home. I offered to take her and the officer to see where Kiana, Colby, and the babies live. She walked through the house, took pictures of everything, and commented on how nice it was. This was the first of many photos that would be taken of our home. Inside, she and the officer asked Mike and me if we suspected any child abuse, to which we replied no. We are a close family, saw the babies every day, and had never witnessed any signs of child abuse. We would have been the first to know and report, had anything like that ever occurred. They both apologized for the confusion and left after exchanging information in the driveway.

Around 11 PM, Bridgejae came back knocking on our door. We were surprised to see her back so late, but she explained that she had a safety plan that needed our attention. Although groggy and exhausted, we tried to focus as she outlined the plan's details. The safety plan stated that we were responsible for supervising the children at all times and that Colby and Kiana could not be left alone with them. We signed the plan reluctantly, as we were confused as to what was going on and felt we had no other option. We were worried that refusing to comply would result in the children being taken away from us. As we tried to settle back into bed, we had no idea this was only the beginning of a terrible journey ahead.

We returned to the hospital the next morning. Laney underwent several tests over the next few days, including X-rays, MRIs, and blood work.

On Friday, January 26th, Mike, Rylee, and I went back to the hospital. At 7:09 AM, we arrived and waited in the lobby to avoid waking everyone up in Laney's room. An MRI was scheduled for that morning, but it couldn't be done due to some levels in her bloodwork, which were concerning because she needed to be sedated. Later, they sedated her and did the MRI anyway, even though her levels hadn't returned to normal.

Friday morning was a turning point. The x-ray scans showed multiple fractures in different stages of healing, some of which had already healed. The medical professionals instantly determined that this was a case of child abuse, and this was documented on test results as possible nonaccidental trauma. We were all deeply concerned and troubled. We asked Kiana and Colby if there was anything at all that could have caused these injuries. We wanted to be fair and understanding. Both Kiana and Colby denied any wrongdoing. After hearing from doctors that the child had indeed suffered from abuse, we were all confused and hurt. We were desperate for answers. Laney was taken for an MRI around noon, and by 6 PM, we were informed that a CPT team would be joining the investigation. (The Child Protection Team (CPT) works with Sheriff's offices and the Department of Children and Family Services in cases of child abuse and neglect to supplement investigation activities). We hoped they could shed some light on this situation and help us move forward.

Saturday, January 27th

Kiana called us to inform us that a different CPS agent would be interviewing us at the hospital and wanted us present. Mike and I immediately got into our car with our granddaughter Rylee and returned to the hospital. During our commute, I contacted Bridgejae, our point of contact, to inquire about the new agent and whether speaking to them was necessary. She clarified that we only needed to talk to her or her supervisor. We explained that we had no problem speaking to anyone who could help clear this up and agreed to comply. In the same phone conversation, Bridgejae informed us that we needed to be present with Laney, our granddaughter, in the hospital room whenever the parents were present. It is important to note that we contacted her for clarification. We never received a phone call from her about this. There wasn't one call to us to tell us to head to the hospital other than the call from Kiana. It was more of an "Oh, by the way" from caseworker Bridgejae.

Shortly after our arrival at the hospital, another lady from CPS came in with an unsigned copy of the same safety plan, and she had Kiana, Colby, Mike, myself, and the charge nurse sign it again, all backdating it to January 25th. It was signed on January 27th with the date of January 25th. We were told that one of us had to stay in the room, and Rylee had to be with us. We asked when we could take Laney home and if they were done with testing. We were told that genetics would be in for a consultation on Monday morning, and we would have to wait until then. I asked if we could bring her back Monday morning, but we were told it wasn't allowed. They told us we could leave her there if we didn't want to stay. We made it clear that we would never do that. Out of curiosity, we asked how that works when someone does leave their child there alone. The nurse said she would stay in the room alone, and they would monitor her. Despite the severity of the situation, the lady in charge thought leaving our granddaughter alone in the hospital would be an easy solution. My husband and I, however, knew we couldn't leave her side. We instructed our family to go home, rest, care for our dogs, and bring some things back since we weren't prepared for a hospital stay. Although it was a difficult decision, it made sense for them to leave since there was no room for all of us to sleep. There was only a small couch for Mike, Rylee, and me to sleep on. The rest of the weekend was spent in a small hospital room with both of our granddaughters, with one of us in the room at all times. On Saturday night, we requested to speak to the hospital supervisor. The charge nurse, the head doctor, and someone else entered the room around 11 o'clock PM. We explained that holding us at the hospital for a simple consultation on Monday morning was unacceptable. They stated that getting a quick appointment with genetics is challenging unless you're in the hospital, so we reluctantly agreed to stay. We knew it was worth figuring out what was wrong with our granddaughter. We expressed to them that we were highly displeased with the behavior of one of the doctors on duty, who stormed into our granddaughter's room the day before and started yelling accusations of child abuse at Colby and Kiana. What's worse, we overheard the same doctor, Dr. Rivera, loudly in the hallway of the hospital, claiming on the phone that it was undoubtedly a case of child abuse. We were puzzled when Dr. Rivera ordered more genetics testing despite already making it clear to all of us that he believed it was child abuse. This created a lot of undue stress and turmoil for our family. However, we were grateful to the team in the room, who apologized and promised to schedule an appointment for Monday so we could leave. They also offered to move us to a more comfortable room and provide us with any necessary accommodations.

We realized in the hallway that a red hand was next to Laney's name. This means a DCF case. You are immediately treated and looked at a certain way by everyone. It was absolutely humiliating on top of the stress and anxiety we already felt over the situation.

The very next morning, the hospital staff made good on their promises. They moved us to a new room and gave Rylee a bag of toys to keep her entertained. We received frequent updates from doctors and nurses throughout the weekend, but our family wanted more than just updates. We demanded answers, and we made sure to speak with several doctors to figure out what was wrong with our granddaughter, but still with no answers. Meanwhile, instead of resting, Kiana and Colby worked tirelessly throughout the night to research and develop a list of possible explanations, which they brought back to go over with the doctors.

One of the doctors explained that in order for us to leave on Monday, we needed a release from CPI Thomas. Both she and I had tried to contact Bridgejae. On Sunday, January 28th, at 11:01 AM, I texted, "Good morning, doctors in here and would like to speak to you." However, I didn't receive any response throughout the day. Mike and I were in the hospital with our granddaughters, trying to figure out how we could go home, but we couldn't get any information. On Monday morning, we were told that we couldn't leave the hospital until CPS and the doctor cleared us and genetics came in. Unfortunately, for the entire weekend, we couldn't get through to CPS as they were not answering our calls, and we were being told different things by everyone involved at the hospital. On Monday morning, I sent another text message at 8:12 AM to her, but there was no response.

On Monday, we had the consultation that trapped us in the hospital all weekend with Genetics, which lasted about 15 minutes, and we were finally allowed to return home. The next day, Tuesday, we received a message from Bridgejae stating that they needed to examine Rylee and asked us to bring her to the CPT office at 2 PM.

I talked to Bridgejae, who informed me that she would have to call Rylee's father and let him know what was happening. Since we had recently concluded a custody case about a month prior, I questioned whether involving him at this stage was necessary. She responded that she had no other choice. Irrespective of the damage that would be caused, her conversation with him disclosed their false findings of child abuse. Luckily, at this point, we were able to explain the situation to Rylee's father and his parents. They have stated numerous times that this could not be child abuse. Several phone calls were captured on our cameras from the other grandmother, stating that we were a good family and that she knew this wasn't child abuse. She also said that she knew how good we had been to Rylee. During the same conversation with Bridgejae, she made it very clear that if anything were found with Rylee, Mike and I would also be investigated.

Kiana, Colby, the babies, and I arrived at the CPT office in Daytona before 2 PM. While we were waiting, Rylee fell, and a huge knot appeared on her head instantly. The receptionist witnessed the incident. At 2:15, I heard a group of ladies laughing and chattering. I asked the receptionist if they were with another patient and explained that we had been at the hospital for several days and were exhausted and ready to complete this. She went to the back, and the same ladies came out laughing. One of them approached us immediately and started telling us what they would do without introducing herself. I interrupted and introduced the parents, the babies, and myself. She asked me to bring the babies to the back, but when Kiana asked if she could come along, she was told firmly that she couldn't. I assured Kiana that I would take care of them and everything would be fine. Kiana was understandably upset at how she was being treated.

Upon entering the room, they weighed Rylee, and the nurse asked me to undress her. However, she did not ask about any injuries. She took pictures, including a picture of the knot on the back of Rylee's head, which happened while we were waiting in their office. The knot was documented by Bridgejae and witnessed by their receptionist. Then, she asked me to remove Rylee's diaper and lay her on the bed. I was surprised when she covered Rylee's privates with a small post-it note-sized piece of paper to take pictures. When I asked her what she was doing and if it was necessary, she said she had to take photos of all injuries. I had to explain to her that the mark on Rylee's leg was a birthmark, not an injury, and if she had asked me beforehand, I would've told her. Instead, I had to stand in the room and watch as this happened to my crying granddaughter. As far as I know, no other injuries were documented during that visit.

There were three ladies in that room with Rylee, Laney, and me, and I found their behavior absolutely humiliating. Bridgejae, the nurse, and the other lady who walked into the waiting room showed zero respect or sympathy toward the situation. They continued their conversation and laughter even as I walked out of the room in tears with Rylee and Laney.

In the waiting room, I confronted Bridgejae and asked her how she would've felt had that been her child. She expressed that she understood, and I asked her to document how we were treated and how the nurse started taking pictures without even asking what the supposed injury was.

While Rylee was having her exams, Kiana and Colby were taken aback by an unexpected interrogation from two investigators from the police department. They cooperated fully and explained that they did not know what happened to their baby. They requested the video of the interrogation but did not receive a response.

(To this date, no charges have been filed by the police department, because there has not been a crime).

After leaving the office, we took Laney to her primary pediatrician. The parents requested a bone density test several times, but the pediatrician explained that it was uncommon in babies at this age. We left with no help from that visit.

At around 7 o'clock that same night, I sent a message to Bridgejae, and this is what it said. "Hi, can you please send me the names of the ladies (the nurse and the other lady) who were in the room today for the exam and their supervisor as well? I want to confirm that it was noted in your case file how that was handled in the lack of sensitivity to myself and my granddaughters. It is important that that is noted that she has a birthmark and that the bump on Rylee's head was documented as a fall in the waiting room. We want to avoid what's been happening in this process, where people's opinions are taken as fact. Thank you for your continued attention to this matter. We all want to get to the bottom of this, and most importantly, we want it to be resolved with facts. Also, we missed the cut-off for walking in for an x-ray today, but I will be done first thing in the morning." (The full body scan x-rays were ordered for Rylee by the same nurse that took pictures, Anna Veins)

I received no response to this message and still have yet to learn the names of this group's supervisors.

At 8 AM on Wednesday, January 31st, my family and I arrived at Advent Hospital for Rylee's full body scan. Unfortunately, we were informed that her insurance was not accepted for this, and we would have to pay $270 out of pocket. I immediately contacted Bridgejae for assistance but received no response. We were then directed to the emergency room, where Rylee's insurance would be taken. The process was lengthy, and Rylee was taken to the pediatric side of the emergency room, where X-rays were ordered. The experience was traumatic for Rylee, who was held down and crying as her entire body was x-rayed. We weren't treated like concerned family members but rather humiliated, as everyone in the department knew what we were there for. We have videos of the ordeal, as our entire lives are now documented.

After a week of being pushed around, our family was tired. When Bridgejae called me while we were at the hospital (immediately after about a 30-minute body scan with my granddaughter being held down and screaming), I asked her what the next step was, but she refused to answer my questions. She offered to remove me from the safety plan and made it clear that I needed to stop asking questions. I refused to be intimidated, and when her supervisor demanded that I leave the hospital and bring the kids to her office immediately, I had enough. We hired an attorney and informed Bridgejae and her supervisor of this. They then called us and explained that since an attorney was involved, they would have to change the safety plan because they could not have direct contact with me and Michael. So the children would not be taken away, we agreed that the attorney was representing Kiana and Colby, not us, and that they could contact us directly whenever they wanted to. They made it very clear that we were not to ask any questions.

Later that day, Rylee's exam came back completely clear.

During this period, our family strictly followed the ordered safety plan. We made sure that our grandchildren, Kiana and Colby, were always under the supervision of either Michael or me. One of us had to be in the same room with them at all times, and we were told that not even a bathroom break was acceptable if only one of us was with them. To ensure that we could document any accidents that occurred in our home, we installed more cameras. (This was very useful later when Rylee ran through the kitchen and hit her head on the side of the refrigerator. Consequently, when Bridgejae came to take a picture of the girls, she asked about it. Luckily we installed cameras.)

Our family had planned a trip to celebrate Kiana's 21st birthday on the weekend of February 5th. Despite considering canceling the trip due to the current situation, we went ahead as we had family and friends coming in from out of town. We followed all safety plan measures during the trip. Unfortunately, the situation consumed the weekend, leaving us overwhelmed, stressed, and missing my daughter's milestone birthday celebration.

On Tuesday morning, while on our way back home, we informed Bridgejae about our arrival time, as they insisted that someone needed to be present when we arrived home to take pictures of the girls. We also emailed the investigator from the police department for an update but have yet to receive a response.

Later that day, Bridgejae visited and took pictures of both girls. She then returned and explained that she needed more house photos. With threats of them taking the girls if we didn't comply, again, we agreed.

On Wednesday morning at 10:45, Kiana sent me an urgent message - the genetics test results were in, and everything came back negative. I immediately relayed the news to Bridgejae. She requested that Kiana send the report directly to her, which was done promptly. Later that evening, my family and I were trying to breathe and have some time at our cabin in Crescent City when Bridgejae called me. She asked if we were home or would be home soon. I responded that we could be home in an hour. When I asked her if there was anything I should be worried about, she replied with a vague "No, there's nothing for you to worry about." Her response only increased our anxiety levels, and the hour-long drive home was highly nerve-racking and stressful. We assumed that since two weeks had passed since signing the safety plan, she would have us renew it. However, we were in for a big surprise.

When we arrived at the house and found nobody there, we were all struck with a sense of unease. Colby, Kiana, Mike, the girls, and I all felt anxious and uncertain as we waited in the living room, unsure of what was happening or what we should do next. When I spotted an officer outside the bedroom window, I immediately instructed Kiana to call her attorney, hoping he would help us make sense of the situation. As the minutes ticked by, our anxiety only grew. When two more SUVs arrived, and the attorney finally showed up, we were relieved but still deeply concerned. Bridgejae and another lady soon informed us that they had probable cause to remove the children from the home, and our hearts sank.

However, they could not produce any documents and claimed they would file them the following morning at 9 AM. When asked why Kiana's children had to be removed, we received a flimsy excuse, stating that Kiana and Colby lived in the house and had to be separated from the children. According to Bridgejae, there was no justification given for the injuries, which posed a significant risk, and thus, they had to remove the girls. Kiana's attorney and others present in the room opposed this, stating that Colby and Kiana could leave the house and requested that the children be allowed to stay. They insisted that one of Kiana's children, Rylee, be sent to her father's house while the other child, Laney, be sent to Colby's parent's house. After negotiations, it was finally agreed that Laney could stay in the house, provided Colby and Kiana left. However, Rylee was still ordered to go to her father's house. Despite my offer to drive Rylee to her father's house so she wouldn't be scared, Bridgejae refused it outright.

Mike and I had to go through several rigorous procedures that night. We had to undergo a drug test, which involved being followed into the bathroom. We had to fill out extensive paperwork and complete a lengthy phone interview, which made us feel like we were actually adopting Laney. The interview questions were focused on Laney's future and our financial situation. However, some of the questions left us feeling confused, including asking if we would be willing to adopt Laney if that's what it came down to. Imagine trying to process all of this.

We were scheduled to get fingerprinted the next day.

In tears, Kiana and Colby packed bags, kissed the girls goodbye, and headed to our cabin so Laney could stay home with us.

Later that night, it was time for me to escort Rylee to the car. I walked her to the car door, which Bridgejae told me to open. The car seat was so loose when I placed Rylee in it that it turned on its side. I confronted her and asked if she expected my granddaughter to ride in that unsafe manner. She and another lady laughed before finally tightening the car seat. Bridgejae started her car, and music immediately started playing with a lot of cuss words and f-bombs. I asked her to turn it off and play Cocomelon to comfort Rylee. (It was the only thing I could think of at the time to try and comfort Rylee, as she was about to be driven away by a stranger). The music was inappropriate, and there was no sympathy or conversation. Bridgejae closed her door, made a U-turn, and drove away with my granddaughter.

It is essential to mention that Bridgejae had initially planned to leave that night with a three-month-old infant and a toddler. Her car had two forward-facing toddler seats, which is quite concerning for someone in her position and as a stranger who has the authority to take children from their homes and drive away with them.

My heart was heavy as I stepped inside and collapsed to my knees, tears streaming down my face. As all parties present knew, the events of that night were recorded. This video shows our family was in agony, crying and pleading with those who were taking our children away. It was heartbreaking to see them being snatched away, knowing there was a medical explanation for what had happened to Laney. I can only imagine the pain and confusion that the parents and our grandchildren were experiencing. I talked with Kiana for a long time that night, and we cried uncontrollably for hours. CPS had another person go to the cabin that same night to confirm that was where the parents were. None of us slept.

CPS can came to the house without a court order to take the children . The only way they can do that is if they perceive imminent danger, which there was no evidence of that. In fact they were accompanied by the same Daytona Beach officer as the first night. A police officer who is clearly trained and experienced in identifying imminent danger apologized to us several times that this was happening.

CPS can take your children on a feeling and get a court order later.

The next day, we realized there was a misunderstanding and that the attorney only represented Kiana, so another attorney was hired for Colby. This would be attorney number two for our family and this case.

A zoom hearing was held the next day to determine if Child Protective Services (CPS) had sufficient evidence to remove the girls. Everyone involved, including Rylee's father, had to be on the call. With little evidence from CPS's investigation or medical history research, the judge determined that there was probable cause to remove the girls and that the plan would stay in place. It is clear that these calls are completely one-sided. The family is not given an opportunity to present any evidence, while a group accuses them of child abuse and presents their side to a judge in order to justify the removal of the children. The decision is clearly predetermined, and the call is just a mere formality.

The judge did emphasize to Rylee's father not to use this against anyone and to ensure that Rylee could visit her mother and us, explaining how important that was for Rylee, which would later be ignored by all other parties involved. Michael and I agreed to supervise the visitation, and Rylee's father and grandmother decided at the time to keep her on the same schedule to avoid any emotional trauma. The judge also permitted Rylee to spend the night at home with us whenever we agreed, which we thought would make the situation a little better for her. We all agreed that it was crucial that we came to an agreement on her schedule. By sticking to her regular schedule and spending every other Friday and every other weekend with her father, we could ensure that she has a stable routine and experiences minimal stress throughout this process. This resolution is in the best interest of everyone involved.

Kiana and Colby were only allowed to be at the house under supervision and were not permitted to spend the night, as was made clear during the hearing. A CPS member stated during the hearing that Colby had failed his drug test that was administered in the hospital, but the team made no effort to clarify that the medicine he took for his severe arthritis could have caused a false positive on the drug screen. The drug test was used to falsely make it appear that he had used drugs. Colby later underwent multiple drug tests, including a hair follicle test, which proved that he was negative for all drugs. However, this evidence was ignored to influence the decision. It should be noted that the drug test administered in the hospital was not in a sealed package, and he was simply handed a cup.

Furthermore, during the call, it was mentioned that an expedited TPR (Termination of Parental Rights) had been scheduled. After researching, it was discovered that this was a hearing scheduled 45 days later to determine whether Kiana and Colby's parental rights would be terminated permanently. Kiana's attorney mentioned on the call that he had emailed multiple people on this case but had not yet received a response from any of them.

We were informed about the worst possible outcome with termination of parental rights: Rylee would possibly go to her father's house permanently. Laney could either be adopted by her grandparents or taken out of state where she would be adopted, and we would never see her again. If Kiana and Colby decided to have more children, that child would be taken away immediately. It's hard to imagine that just two weeks ago, our family was at home, and our grandchildren were with us, and now we're being told that this is the worst-case scenario, and our grandchildren and children could be taken away forever. Forever. Our heads were just spinning. A hearing for this was scheduled for March 22nd.

The following day, Kiana and Colby made their way to the hospital in Orlando in an attempt to speak with the geneticist. However, they were informed that an appointment would need to be scheduled for a thorough review and further testing. Subsequently, appointments were booked with Laney's doctor for follow-up tests. Back at home, we began researching on our own using all of the available medical records in our possession.

Thursday, February 8th, Mike and I got fingerprinted.

The homestudy person, Kim Medina, arrived at our house that Friday. As soon as she got out of her vehicle, she began inspecting the outside of our home with a clipboard and badge, writing notes, and taking pictures. I went to greet her and requested that she come inside. I explained that we are trying to keep this matter within our family and do not want our neighbors to think we are under investigation. It has been brutal and humiliating enough for our family. However, she insisted on taking pictures of every inch of our house and explained basic things such as how to give children a bath, where they should sleep, and how to keep firearms out of their reach. We tried to explain that we had already raised three children and that these grandchildren were always with us. But she said it was protocol, and we had to sign papers acknowledging that we understood these essential things. It was just another humiliating experience for us, and we were to keep our mouths shut and sign the papers.

In just a matter of weeks, it became abundantly clear through both verbal communication and legal documentation that we were no longer merely grandparents, but foster parents with the care of the state's children. We were stripped of any decision-making power and had no choice but to comply with the state's directives, no matter what we thought was best. We explicitly declined the monthly check they offered us, yet they still sent us a check. We promptly returned it.

On Saturday, we devoted our entire day to conducting research. As we delved deeper into the topic, we discovered a correlation between certain factors that could lead to weakened bones in infants. Later that evening, on February 10th, we documented our initial findings and concerns:

Laney was born with low levels of Vitamin D. Her primary doctor became concerned and prescribed Vitamin D drops when she was only six days old. Laney was breastfed for the first 1.5 months of her life, with a little bit of formula, then switched to formula completely. Despite being on formula, her Vitamin D levels were still low during her hospital stay in Orlando on January 25th. Kiana and Colby informed the medical staff at Orlando about Laney's low Vitamin D levels. Still, the staff dismissed it as "Rickets is a third world issue" - a statement also heard by Laney's maternal grandparents, who were present during the discussion. We learned that deficiency occurs months before rickets are evident on physical examination. Therefore, Vitamin D deficiency can cause problems months before rickets develop, and Laney is only three months old.

Moreover, other abnormal lab results could indicate low iron (anemia), which is also present in maternal and paternal family history. However, the hospital never discussed this issue, and the abnormal test results were never addressed.

Our concern is that Vitamin D deficiency can lead to a loss of bone density, which can contribute to osteoporosis (a condition present in Laney's father's family history) and fractures. The doctors dismissed this concern. Laney's Vitamin D deficiency has been a concern since she was six days old, and it continues to be low even though she is on 100% formula. This deficiency, coupled with her being breached and delivered via c-section, could have caused the multiple fractures that the doctors have referenced, which are either healed or in various states of healing.

________________

Our family then started researching vitamin D-deficient experts and bone density experts around the world.

On February 12th, a call at 11 AM was meant to introduce the new team, as the case had been shifted from investigations to case management. It was a simple introduction to everyone involved. At noon, I picked up Rylee only to notice that I had missed a call from the new case manager. I immediately called back while driving Rylee home and explained that I had just picked her up and would stick to her regular schedule. He said that it was great that we were able to come to an agreement. He asked to schedule a visit that same day (which was later rescheduled for February 13th). Later that evening, I received a call from Rylee's other grandmother stating that they were informed that Rylee couldn't stay with us as much as she was and that we couldn't stick to our agreement and let her stay on her regular visitation schedule. I contacted the case manager and explained the situation to him. He agreed to speak with his supervisor on this matter. I also informed him that the judge had no objections to the custody arrangement, and during the call that same day with everyone involved in the case, we were told that everything was fine. After that call ended, I fell to my knees and cried again, thinking about Rylee leaving again that day, not knowing when she would be able to come back home.

Every day, it seems like there's a new heartbreak. We were doing everything we could to ensure the baby's well-being. We hoped that CPS would consider the emotional toll this is taking on Rylee being separated from her home and the people she was with every day and allow us to stick to her regular visitation schedule. Rylee is an innocent child who has already been through so much. We were pleading with CPS to give her a sense of stability and let her stay with us as agreed.

We spent the rest of the day conducting further research on Laney's condition.

Monday, February 12th

It came to my attention that there was no discussion of the complications that Kiana faced during her pregnancy with Laney. Below is the added documentation:

Pregnancy complications include gestational diabetes, severe anemia leading to iron transfusions twice a week, possible vitamin D deficiency that is linked to gestational diabetes; the baby had vitamin D deficiency at three days old, breech baby C-section, low blood pressure, low amniotic fluid that leads to decreased fetal movement (decreased fetal movement and intrauterine confinement as contributing factors to temporary brittle bone disease and suggest that normal, unconstrained fetal movement during pregnancy is important for normal fetal bone formation.); a request has been put in for all doctor records for Kiana's pregnancy.

Multiple complications during pregnancy could have contributed to weakened bones in the infant and/or injuries during pregnancy.

Multiple doctors asked at the hospital in Orlando if there were any complications during pregnancy, and they were told yes, but it was never looked into. They did not look at the pregnancy or the birth records.

The CPT team never requested records from pregnancy or birth.

________________________

The following day, we had a meeting scheduled for our new case manager and his supervisor to arrive at 11 AM, followed by the guardian ad Leitem, who was expected to come at noon. After that, I had to return Rylee to her father's custody, hoping that it wouldn't be too long before she could come back home. We moved Mike's office downstairs the previous night and made a room for the girls on our side of the house. I spent the night next to Rylee's toddler bed, holding her hand while Laney slept in her bassinet by our bed, as she does every night now. Mike watched over Laney. Kiana and Colby visited us for several hours, had dinner, and then returned to Colby's parents' house.

6 AM note from myself

Our family has been going through a tough time. It has been three weeks since we have been struggling with this situation, but it feels like a terrible nightmare. I have been up since 2 AM documenting and researching. We cannot let this situation continue any longer. There was not a thorough investigation done, and this case should be closed. But every day, we wake up, and it hits us all over again. It's been emotionally draining. The notes show that the focus has been taken off of what is wrong with Laney and put into everyone's efforts of a child abuse conclusion. It's frustrating, and the truth isn't being revealed. We must continue to be strong until our grandchildren are back home where they belong. We cannot give up now. We must use our strength and determination to fight until this is clear and our grandchildren are safe from this evil. We have had multiple visitors at our home and cooperated with everyone. It is as though our entire house has been taken over by the government, and at any moment, they can come in and take our children without doing extensive research and looking at all of the medical records.

It is a heartbreaking truth that in our research, we have found that numerous families have faced the unimaginable situation of having their children torn away from them for months and even years. These families, who have done nothing wrong, have been cruelly separated by the very government that is supposed to protect them. As a result, they have taken over so many homes and our lives, leaving them in a state of despair and hopelessness. This is unacceptable and needs to be addressed immediately. These people must be held accountable for their actions, and justice must be served for these innocent families.

It is concerning to discover that investigators working for CPS are only required to have a bachelor's degree, regardless of its relevance to social work or psychology related to family matters and certification. Given the gravity of the cases they handle and the possibility of separating children from their families, it is imperative to have highly educated professionals who treat families with respect and empathy instead of treating everyone as if they are child abusers. Children should be protected by qualified and compassionate individuals who can make thoughtful decisions regarding their well-being.

Minimum Qualifications according to

https://www.myflfamilies.com/about/careers/job-opportunities/child-protective-investigator

• A bachelor's degree.

• Bachelor's or master's degree in social work or related field preferred. (When applying please attach required education, certification, or licensure).

• Must obtain provisional Child Welfare Certification from the Florida Certification Board within 12 months of hire. All Investigators must maintain certification as a condition of employment. Information regarding certification can be found at: Florida Certification Board

• Valid Driver License; and

• Must possess operational private vehicle for use in the performance of daily work activities. Selected applicants are required to provide proof of vehicle registration and documentation of the appropriate insurance coverage. The Department provides a Vehicle Insurance Allowance to assist with the cost of insurance coverage due to the use of private vehicle for work purposes.

• Ability to attend an 8 - 12 week mandatory training course. This training could be scheduled during day, weekend, and evening hours.

• This position will require night, weekend, and holiday work; including working on scheduled off duty days and various shifts. This position has also been designated as an essential position. Incumbents are expected to work during emergency situations or natural disasters and may be required to work before, during, and beyond normal work hours/days.

I do not doubt that Bridgejae planned to take the children away from their home from the start. I am also convinced that she and her supervisor, Paris, orchestrated the attempt to alter Rylee's schedule with the sole intention of completely removing her from the family. Furthermore, I have discovered that Child Services has a quota for adoptions, and a large amount of money is involved when children are adopted out of state. This process has left me feeling disillusioned with our government and system. However, once we are reunited with our family, I will aim to help other families and expose this corrupt system. The past three weeks have been a nightmare.

_________________________

February 13th, 2024

We met with the new case manager at 11 o'clock, and his supervisor joined us to discuss our case. The supervisor went over the paperwork with us, and we were informed that we would be visited by the case manager once a week from now on. During the meeting, the supervisor expressed her confusion after going over the case as to why our case went straight to TPR (termination of parental rights). However, she clarified that the judge is known to be strict, and we must establish a visitation schedule with Kiana and Colby immediately. The supervisor emphasized that sticking to the visitation schedule is non-negotiable. She said we could add extra visits but must follow the exact schedule. We must show the judge that we're committed to providing our children with a safe and nurturing environment and meeting their best interests. We now had to prove ourselves.

The Guardian ad litem assigned to the case was scheduled to meet at noon but arrived while the case manager and his supervisor were still there. She listened in, and once the case manager got to Rylee, who was present then, she explained to us that her father now has 100% custody throughout all of this and that they were removing the schedule the families all agreed on so that Rylee could stay home. I had to return Rylee to her other grandmother that day, and she stated that she needed to spend at least 90% of her time with her father. The case manager supervisor expressed that now is the time for him to bond with his daughter and take responsibility, despite the last weekend before this meeting being the first whole weekend Rylee had spent at his house. She said that Rylee's father told her he spent a lot of money to get the visitation that he wanted and that they wanted to keep her on her schedule. When I met the other grandmother with Rylee, she agreed that they wanted to stay on the same schedule and did not understand why the state was stepping in and doing this. The case manager's supervisor waved her paper in our faces and said she did not care what the other judge told us or what we agreed on. This is how it will now be.

I was devastated when we were told that Rylee might be taken away from us, and my heart broke again. However, after the case manager and his supervisor, Arkesha left the guardian ad Litemm made it clear that the case manager's decision is not always final. She assured us that she would call her attorney and explain that staying with us was in Rylee's best interest. The guardian recognized the strong bond between Rylee and us and promised to do everything she could to keep her at home. We were hopeful that we could escape one of the many harsh realities we faced. However, our hope was shattered when we realized it was a complete lie and there was no true concern. I didn't hear from her on the 13th, so I sent a message and called the next morning on the 14th. She explained to me that a new plan was in place, which meant that Rylee was taken from her home again and away from the people she was with daily. It was made clear then that they did not have the child's best interests in mind, and it was like the conversation we had with her never happened. Unfortunately, there was no schedule for us to see her at that moment.

It's crucial to note that during her second visit, Rylee was home again, and she confirmed that she also observed a significant change in Rylee compared to the first time she was there. Upon my inquiry about her having any children, she replied that she had none, but she had previously worked in a daycare.

Which is quite similar, isn't it?

February 14th, 2024

Every morning when you wake up, the reality hits you all over again. I don't know how we even managed to shed any more tears. I can't seem to bring myself to clean up Rylee's toys the way she left them yesterday, or even look in the pantry at her snacks, in the fridge at her drinks, or at her Valentine's bear that she left on the table. It's all very sad.

We've spent all morning doing more research on what could possibly be wrong with Laney since it was not a concern of anyone on the case, emailing more experts, and scheduling appointments.

There is a work trip coming up for Mike's company. Unfortunately, even though we are Laney's grandparents and this trip was planned before the current crisis, we still need approval to travel to our house in Nashville. While this isn't the most important thing, trying to maintain somewhat of a normal life while fighting for our family every day is. It feels like they control every aspect of our lives, and it is all designed to wear you down.

We have all experienced significant emotional distress at this point.

February 14th, 2024

Kiana and Colby met with the new caseworker today, and the supervisor made it clear that their case may not be resolved until 2025 if it goes to trial. She said she didn't want to show Kiana and Colby the paperwork because she didn't want to upset them, so they had no idea what the final order was until they spoke to Mike and me.

Today, I received a call from the case manager supervisor informing me that Laney needed a full body scan and more X-rays at Advent Hospital and that she had an email from the nurse on the CPT team. I agreed to take the baby to the hospital at 4 PM. However, when Mike and I arrived at around 3:30 PM, there was no order for the scan. I tried calling Gary, the case manager, but he did not answer. After some time, he finally picked up and informed me that he needed a moment to speak with the supervisor. He promised to call me back later but never did. I tried calling him again, but there was still no progress. We asked him to send us the order to immediately as we were there waiting. He apologized and promised to get it to us as soon as possible. We remained in the waiting area for quite some time, and he finally explained that there was a miscommunication and the order was not sent over. We received a simple apology from the CPS team for yet another mistake. Unfortunately, our time, stress, and emotions do not matter to them.

Kiana and Colby visited us after meeting with their attorneys. They were told different things from what we were informed by the case management team. We were advised not to leave the county as they could take Laney away from us. We were also warned that they might try to trick us. Furthermore, we were told that we could not take Laney to a specialist without permission since she belongs to the state. We felt that we were not allowed to ask questions, get an attorney, leave with the baby, or take any action without some form of a threat to take her. They expect us to sit here and wait for them to take our baby girl away. All while being surrounded by constant reminders of our family being ripped apart.

Our son Kody plans to come home tomorrow and spend the weekend with us. I have sent two emails to ensure we have provided all the necessary information, including his name and date of birth, so he can be cleared to come home and be with his family. However, I have not yet received a response to those emails. It is currently 8:14 PM on February 14th.

I had a conversation with the case manager supervisor, Arkesha; it was mentioned that Kody should not be left alone with Laney until he gets approved. We agreed to comply with this and requested a written confirmation via email. Arkesha also informed me that Kody needs to be added to our home study and get fingerprinted. I was advised to contact CPI Paris, who she thought was conducting our home study, for more information. However, I explained that Paris is not the person I have been in touch with regarding the home study. From my understanding, Paris is Bridgejaes supervisor, and we have been told several times that they are no longer involved in the case since it has been transferred. I explained that Kim Medina is currently conducting the home study.

It's disconcerting to observe that there seems to be a massive lack of communication among the multiple people involved in our case and personal lives. The situation is highly sensitive, as it affects not only our homes and families but also our children and grandchildren. It's deeply concerning that with something so crucial, there are so many mistakes being made.

During the phone call with Arkesha, I asked again about the order for Laney's body scan. However, her story changed completely. She now claimed that Paris had called her earlier that morning and informed her of an order from the CPT team for Laney to get a body scan. This differed from what she told me earlier when she stated that the CPT nurse emailed requesting us to take Laney for a full body scan.

It is indisputable that their stories are consistently changing, and significant mistakes are being made.

I promised to take Laney over as soon as we received the order. She informed me that if it was inconvenient, they could come and pick her up, but I declined the offer. Not once did I say it was an inconvenience. We only needed the order, but they never sent it. However, we were informed by a member of our legal team that CPS did have the order for the body scan. Therefore, we believe they deliberately tried to make us miss the appointment. We are now at home, trying to figure out which corrupt system we are in and their ultimate goal. We are still living a nightmare, concerned about the well-being of Laney and the time she may be missing for treatment, with no answers, no plan for moving forward, and no end in sight.

February 14th, 2024 10:22 PM

Laney's very first Valentine's Day. I promised Kiana today that we would relive whatever events, big or small, that we missed during this nightmare

February 15th, 2024

2:25 AM

Notes:

During the first hearing, the judge had to determine whether removing the children from their home was necessary. After listening to the state's attorney, the judge determined that there was probable cause to do so. However, it was made clear that Rylee's dad would not use this situation against the family and had to keep her best interests in mind during visitation. The judge also considered Rylee's relationship with her grandparents and her mother. It was agreed that Rylee's regular schedule would be maintained, which meant that she would visit her father every other weekend and every Friday night. For the rest of the time, she would stay with us.

However, the case management team disregarded everything the judge told us about visitation. They stood in our kitchen and told us that whatever was determined in the first hearing no longer mattered. They decided that Rylee was to stay with her dad instead. They picked the part out of the first hearing that benefited them and their case, which was their probable cause for the children to be removed, but ignored everything else. So, the fact that she said there was probable cause matters. The fact that she said that Rylee needed to stay stable and we needed to do what was best for her and come up with our own agreement did not.

___________________________

We were informed several times that the case had been transferred to the case management team, and the CPI team was no longer handling it. However, there have been conflicting communications regarding the X-rays and the home study. The new case management supervisor is still in contact with Paris, who is the CPI supervisor. Last night at 9:32 PM, she sent me a screenshot that reads:

However, to answer your question yes he would need to complete fingerprints and his information we need to be sent to us so that we can complete emergency backgrounds. If you can obtain his information, we would greatly appreciate it. (concerning Kody coming home)

The case manager supervisor said underneath that this was from Paris.

My response

That is fine. We need the order for fingerprinting. He won't be left alone with her, but he is coming home tomorrow. Let me know if there's any further information, and as soon as I get the order for fingerprinting, I'll schedule him for tomorrow afternoon if he makes it here in time. If not, it will be first thing Friday morning. What is the other information that they need from him?

She responded, "Can you send over his driver's license? I think that's all."

I responded, "sure, I'll get him to send it right now."

Her response was "cool thanks, good night."

I sent a copy of his driver's license.

The current situation has left us feeling powerless and vulnerable as we live in a state-controlled environment.

Personal note:

Laney is sound asleep. Kiana called me earlier in tears. Kody and his girlfriend have been reaching out to us all day to help with research. Rylee's other grandmother just called and informed me that Rylee is OK and is currently sleeping. Mike is currently working hard in his new basement office, which we relocated to make room on this side of the house for our girls. As for me, I'm here documenting our lives. Our new reality. My family is being ripped apart by pure evil.

When I woke up in the morning, I was hit with an unbearable wave of grief and despair. The absence of Rylee is heavy. Even though we have Laney here, who I'm grateful for, everything in this house and everything I do reminds me of Rylee. She was with me every day before this started.

When we took Laney to the hospital this morning, we were waiting for a response again. Feeling helpless and frustrated, we went into the hospital gift shop to grab some crackers. But even the most minor things, like the bag of goldfish by the counter, made me break down and cry uncontrollably.

The attention has been completely taken off of what is wrong with our granddaughter and strictly focused on what they can do to rip our family apart. She needs to be treated for whatever is causing her little bones to break, and we are getting nothing.

As if that isn't enough, we are watching our family endure tremendous stress. I watch my daughter say goodbye to her girls daily with tears in her eyes. I walk into their home next door to the cold silence and break down. I've stopped going over there. I try not to even look in that direction. It's dark and sad, and it's as if every day, we're being lied to and dragged around with no end in sight. It's hard not to feel like that's their plan, to break us down. I'm hoping for a break, a moment of relief, or even a glimmer of good news, anything to ease the burden we're carrying.

I confided in Mike today that I need to start therapy. We all need to find a way to cope with one child being taken away and the fear of losing another one. It's a level of pain and helplessness that we never knew was possible, and it's hard to imagine ever feeling anything different. We are stuck in the middle of a huge corrupt system that's like something straight out of a horror movie. It feels impossible to navigate, and every turn feels like it leads to another dead end. I feel like we are living in a nightmare, and I'm just waiting for someone to wake us up and tell me it's all over.

Will update anything further tomorrow.

__________________________________________

February 15th, 2024

Mike had a discussion with the guardian ad litem today regarding the well-being of the children. He mentioned that the children's best interests were not being considered due to various reasons, including the disruption and stress caused by recent events. Mike also explained the sensitive and sad situation involving Rylee being taken away.

The attorney from the guardian at litems's office called us at 10:57 AM, and we had a 24-minute phone call. He was unaware of the situation and did not understand why we were told that Rylee had to spend most of her time with her father. Upon reviewing the order, they found nothing was mentioned about it, and it was only verbally communicated by the case manager supervisor. We explained that Arkesha, the case manager supervisor, also noted that she would use this time to encourage Rylee's father to "step up and be a responsible father" without knowing him, the situation or considering the impact it might have on everyone involved, including Rylee. He said this was nowhere on the court order and he would look into it and get back to us.

Kim Medina, who is in charge of the home study, and I had a lot of contacts this morning, mainly about Kody's visit. I explained to her that my son's home is always open for him and that I was not telling him he could not come home. She asked me several questions, including where Kody sleeps when he comes home, how long he stays, how often he is around the kids, and how many times he visited last year. I explained to her that our family is not on a set schedule; we do multiple family vacations, Kody visits as often as he can to see his family and the babies because he has a close relationship with them, and that Michael and I frequently travel up to Statesboro or Savannah to meet with him as much as we can. I also told her that he doesn't plan when he's leaving and stays as long as he can, so I could not give her a time when he would be leaving. I made it clear that she had overstepped the boundaries by questioning my son's return home when they were already monitoring our entire lives. She asked that I provide immediate access to his Social Security number, driver's license, and fingerprinting. I also included Kody's girlfriend's driver's license and Social Security number, as she often visits with him and is a huge part of our family, and we were told that they would need this information to allow that. I have scheduled an appointment for Kody's fingerprinting on Friday, February 16th. I explicitly told Kim Medina that they must clear him as soon as possible because he is coming home, regardless of whatever process they need to go through. When she asked where he would sleep, I told her he would probably sleep in his sister's room next door since my daughter was no longer there. She assumed that Michael and I were sleeping next door because the children's beds were over there and questioned why we weren't. However, it didn't matter, as Rylee wasn't home anyway and Laney had a bed in our room. Even if she was, we made her a room where Mike's office used to be. Kim Medina was unaware that we were told Rylee had to spend most of her time at her dad's house. I had to explain what the case manager supervisor, Arkesha, told us, as she had no idea. Again, no communication between the multiple groups involved. No clue what is actually going on.

I received messages from Rylee's other grandmother about meeting to get Rylee for a while, and we met at Target to pick her up at 12:30. As soon as I pulled out of the Target parking lot, Arkesha called and asked if I had received her email. She explained that any doctor's appointments require their approval since they are in the children's guardianship. Arkesha made it clear that we cannot be "sneaking around" with doctor's appointments for Laney, and we must seek their consent beforehand. While I acknowledged her instructions, I made it clear that we had no hidden appointments, nor were we used to asking for permission, but we would keep them informed. I explained to her that the only appointments that either child had been scheduled for so far was by her team. They had also scheduled Rylee for an evaluation at the Early Steps program.

According to their website for this:

Early Steps is Florida's early intervention system that offers services to eligible infants and toddlers, age birth to 36 months, who have or are at risk for developmental disabilities or delays. Early intervention supports families and caregivers to increase their child's participation in daily activities and routines that are important to the family.

On the same phone call, she asked me if we had scheduled a test for Laney yet, which was puzzling. I had to firmly explain that Laney was only three months old and that it was too early to schedule any tests like this for her. I also couldn't understand why they assumed that Rylee was at risk of any developmental disabilities or delays, as she is an exceptionally bright child. Although Rylee had fun with their games, (that she passed at above average), we knew it was yet another attempt to try and help their case.

While speaking to Arkesha on this call, I noticed a police officer behind me and immediately felt a sense of dread. I feared they would pull me over and take my babies away. TRAUMA.

Arkesha called and stated that she spoke to Anna from the CPT team (the same nurse that for no reason took pictures of my granddaughter naked while she was crying on the bed in front of me) and Anna forwarded an email stating that there was a correction. These were her exact words. "radiology and I confused two cases but this is the correct information for LG 20 24–029205 the family can go anytime to complete it. Please let me know if I can help in any other way."

It is deeply concerning that amidst a critical situation, children's cases are being mixed up, and families are being unnecessarily inconvenienced. Such errors can cause undue stress and delay for families already dealing with a difficult situation.

I drove Rylee and Laney to Dave & Buster's, where we met their mother and spent a couple of hours playing games and having lunch. While there, I received a phone call from Arkesha, who asked Kiana and Colby to send a message confirming that they were OK with us taking the baby with us to Nashville. I also received a text message from Kim Medina asking if I had scheduled fingerprinting appointments for Kody and Lili. I told them I was taking a break from all of this and spending time with Rylee. We were trying to enjoy our visit with Rylee, as we were unsure when we would see her again. The feeling of having limited visitation with my granddaughter and watching my daughter have limited visitation with her daughters was sickening. Although going to arcades and having fun with the children is supposed to be a fun and ordinary thing, today was anything but normal.

The situation was disheartening as I witnessed Rylee cry and call out to me when I took her out of the car upon reaching Dave & Buster's. Kiana captured the incident on video, which I shared with Mike, who forwarded it to the guardian at Leitem and her attorney via a group message. She was crying and screaming for me and desperately crying for a bottle. This situation should not have been taken lightly, but it was never addressed.

We arrived back home around 4:30. Colby arrived at the house for the regularly scheduled visitation hours that the case manager demanded we turn in.

At 4:39 PM, while I was sitting in the room with the children, Arkesha called me and informed me that Paris was also on the line. They asked me why Laney hadn't had her X-rays taken yet. I quickly reminded them that we had gone to the hospital yesterday as planned, but their team messed up and didn't give us the order for the X-rays. I made several phone calls, and there were several exchanged emails with Arkesha, who already knew this. Despite all the efforts, the X-rays were still not taken. Arkesha then told me that she would have to come and take Laney to the hospital for the X-rays because they hadn't been done yet. I told them that we should not have to pay for their mistakes. We had already taken Laney to the hospital yesterday and waited for an hour and a half, but they never sent the order. Today, I had some quality time with my girls planned, and I wasn't going to spend it waiting at the hospital again, not knowing if it would be successful.

When I asked them if they had a court order to take the baby, Arkesha responded that they didn't need one because they were the children's guardians, and the state had given them custody over the children.

She also mentioned that she was unaware that I was spending time with Rylee, as she thought we had already agreed on visitation. She was referring to the verbal understanding she had communicated to us, which was not an official order. It seemed to upset her that we had coordinated our visits with the other grandparents. During the conversation, I informed them that I had already called earlier and rescheduled an appointment for her the next morning at 7:30 AM. Paris instructed Arkesha to meet us at the hospital to ensure that the scans were completed. We would now be punished and need a supervisor to take our granddaughter for X-rays. The stress, anger, and emotional trauma from that phone call caused tears once again.

After receiving a threatening call to pick up Laney and take her to the hospital, Mike immediately contacted the guardian ad Litem once again. He explained the situation and how they had admitted to a mix-up but still tried to blame us for the confusion. The guardian asked for evidence, so we sent over the communication and email regarding the order. She assured us that it would be added to her files. There was no further mention from their office.

We returned Rylee to her other grandmother that evening.

Came home to a silent house. Got little Laney to bed.

X-rays tomorrow at 7:30 AM with Arkesha.

Friday, February 16th, 2024

We left the house at 6:30 AM. At 6:27 AM, we emailed Arkesha and Gary (case worker) to confirm that Laney would be taken to Advent Hospital. We explained that the original date was unsuccessful due to a mix-up and miscommunication within their department. They responded to our email at 7:23 AM. At 6:56 AM, Arkesha sent a text message asking if we could provide the address of the Advent Hospital we were going to because she was asked to attend.

At 7:03 AM, we were registered. Arkesha then messaged that a family support worker named Sarah Young would attend with us. She made it clear that they could attend any appointments. At 7:37 AM, a very young and nervous Sarah Young arrived. (We later found out that she was in training but was sent alone) She explained that she was sorry for being late, as she had just gotten out of bed and was told she needed to attend. She had to walk to the back with us, which was, once again, humiliating. However, they did not allow her to come into the x-ray room. Thankfully, Laney did great with the scans and did not scream most of the time, as her sister did.

We received no response from the guardian ad litem attorney after our conversation. So, we sent a few more text messages to the guardian ad litem and explained the situation again. We asked why no one was listening to us about the violation of the order that the judge had put in place. However, they have not addressed our concerns and have not responded to our last message.

Michael and I had a crucial meeting with an attorney today. Unfortunately, we had to hire the third one. We are deeply concerned that we are being deceived and manipulated into giving up Laney. Furthermore, we fear they are attempting to prevent us from seeing Rylee even more.

Our financial investment in this matter now exceeds tens of thousands of dollars.

This morning at 9:45 AM, the case manager sent us a text message stating that he had created a group chat to ensure direct communication about Rylee's pickup and drop-off. However, later that same afternoon, he sent us a schedule that was never discussed with us but only with Rylee's paternal grandparents and father. We received no response when we asked him to show us the court order that required this schedule. It seems that the supervisors were upset that we were able to conduct a schedule without their supervision, and they were determined to stop it.

Kody's return home for the weekend was needed. To make the most of the time together, we cooked out back with Kiana, Colby, Mike, and Laney. However, everyone strongly felt the absence of Rylee Ray and the presence of the evil around us.

Saturday morning, February 17th, 2024

Kody, Mike, Laney, and I spent the morning in the backyard together, feeling completely exhausted and still missing Rylee. The other grandmother messaged me, offering for Rylee to stay with us until Sunday. I accepted her offer without hesitation, and we picked her up at 2 PM. We all spent the rest of the day with her mother and Colby.

My message to Arkesha regarding Laney's new scan:

"Good morning. We usually see X-rays in the medical records when we login to advent but it isn't showing anything and I know cpt wanted it back quickly. Did they receive the X-rays? We called the hospital last night and they said they weren't read yet. There was urgency to get her there, so the team had them. Could you please let me know if they have them?"

Her response:

"I am not sure of that .. that a dcf thing not us

I did tell them .. the baby did it"

What always amazes us is the inconsistency in responses. "Thats a DCF thing not us" however on multiple occasions the case manager is involved in DCF issues and communications. They are part of DCF when it suits them and have nothing to do with DCF when it doesn't.

We were shocked to receive the scan results that evening. The latest scans showed that Laney has low bone density, which none of the previous radiologists could detect or report. We were relieved to find out that there was no mention of nonaccidental trauma in the report but saddened to see that there were new breaks in the scans that were not previously mentioned. When researching the previous scans, we were unable to find the radiologist who originally read them at the hospital in Orlando, except that she is now in another state and appeared to be pretty new in her job. This experience has highlighted the importance of medical professionals being more vigilant about their work. We can only hope that other radiologists take note of this and ensure accurate and timely diagnoses for their patients.

The CPT team ordered a scan, hoping to find more evidence to support their case. It did not.

Sunday morning, February 18th, 2024

I woke up this morning feeling somewhat relieved about an answer to move forward, and both babies are in the house, which took away some of my sadness. Now, we can try to focus on what's wrong with Laney and hope that it's just something minor. Rylee will have to return to her father's house today, but she will return to us on Tuesday and stay until Thursday. I'm praying that everything will be sorted out before we have to schedule any more exchanges with her.

At 9:33 AM, I sent a message to Arkesha asking if she received a copy of the new scan and let her know that it was received yesterday. As of 3 o'clock, there's still no response.

The parents consulted a genetics expert, who provided us with some crucial information. According to him, Laney's only true fracture is in her shoulder. A pediatric orthopedic specialist confirmed this finding, and we are eagerly awaiting the expert's report. We are particularly concerned about Laney's low bone density, as the expert has explained that it is likely to be relatively low if this is visible in an x-ray. In light of this, we believe it may be necessary to have Laney hospitalized. The delay in treatment has cost us a month of healing time, and we are worried that the damage may be irreversible. We are hopeful that Laney has not suffered any long-term harm despite the terrible mistake that has been made. We are awaiting his report after he has finished reviewing all of the information.

I would like to elaborate on our current situation since my last daily documentation was on February 18th. Unfortunately, I have been struggling with severe depression that has left me feeling drained and unable to function daily. Every day is a struggle, and I find myself breaking down at least once daily. There are short moments where I try to push it away and forget; there is no forgetting. No matter how hard you try, there is no escaping from what is happening. My heart aches for my family. It's a difficult reality to face. We wonder every day how we got here and how we're supposed to keep going in this reality.

However, many events have happened since then.

____________________________________

This is the first scan from when Laney was in the hospital:

Created by: Nadeen Abu Ata, MD Signed by: Nadeen Abu Ata, MD Signed on: 1/26/2024 8:24 EST Location: OSRR177

Narrative

EXAM: XR BONE SURVEY PEDIATRIC INDICATION: Arm swelling COMPARISON: Shoulder radiograph 1/24/2024 , brain CT 1/25/2024 FINDINGS: BONE DENSITY: Normal.

CRITICAL RESULTS: The finding of fractures concerning for nonaccidental trauma was discussed with Dr. FRANCISCO RIVERAPALACIOS MD by Nadeen Abu Ata, MD on 1/26/2024 8:31 EST.

To those who may not be familiar with CPS or medical terminology, "nonaccidental trauma" is a phrase used to describe physical harm that is inflicted on a child. It's a term that should never be taken lightly or overlooked. What's concerning is that in this particular situation, the doctor concluded that nonaccidental trauma had occurred without conducting any further tests or interviews. This was done before the doctor finished ordering tests or allowed the patient to go home. It is imperative that we acknowledge the seriousness of this situation and recognize the detrimental impact that this phrase can have when used indiscriminately against a family without proper investigation.

Several respected doctors have contradicted the hospital's previous statement regarding Laney's bone problems:

FEB

16

2024

Hospital Outpatient Visit

AdventHealth Daytona Beach X-ray

BONE DENSITY: Mild osseous demineralization

Signed by Jennifer Lynn Williams, MD on 03/15/2024 10:30 PM

Copy of the expert report. A copy of this has been sent to all attorneys, including the DCF attorney, CPS, and CPT teams, and has been ignored.

Laney also had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Raymund Woo, an experienced orthopedic surgeon who had also treated her during her hospital stay.

Progress Notes

Raymund Woo, MD at 2/20/2024 1:15 PM

Diagnosis: Osteopenia

Osteopenia is a decrease in the amount of calcium and phosphorus in the bone. This can cause bones to be weak and brittle.

It's worth mentioning that during our consultation with Doctor Woo, we inquired about the absence of bruises in a possible case of child abuse, as the fractures would have required a significant amount of force. Doctor Woo concurred that bruises should have been present, which is also consistent with Dr Pal's report.

We've urged the teams to acknowledge this new information and take the necessary steps to clear our family to ensure our granddaughter receives the best possible care. Even after we provided their teams with all the relevant details, we were left with no response or support for our family. Instead, we faced more harassment and intimidation. Based on our experience up to this point, we have observed that the individuals involved tend to respond only when presented with any details that could support their claims of abuse. It seems that they only take action and investigate when provided with reports from their doctors that align with their preconceived notions of what constitutes abusive behavior.

We were extremely cautious with Laney in the following weeks, as her health was our top priority. We went out of our way to ensure that any everyday activities we did around the house didn't cause her discomfort or harm. We researched extensively about her condition and all possible treatment options that could help her recover. We couldn't shake off the constant reminder of the time we had lost for her treatment, and the fear of potential long-term effects has haunted us.

We were thrilled to be granted permission to continue seeing Rylee and picked her up as usual. However, things took a turn when Arkesha told us that Rylee's father and other grandmother decided to limit our visitation to just two nights per week. This decision was the subject of a heated discussion during a pickup. Consequently, we had no option but to agree that all future exchanges would be held at the CPS office. Despite the challenges and the detrimental effects of the drive to the CPS office twice a week, we remained committed to ensuring our granddaughter could come home as often as possible. We were only able to have her from Tuesday at 10 AM until Thursday at 3 PM, leaving us with a mere two and a half days of precious time with our baby, with a few extra days given here and there. This meant no waking up on weekends with our family at home, taking her to the beach as we often do, or planning fun activities with her family that could only visit on the weekends. We felt a deep sense of helplessness every day she was gone, and we were powerless to do anything about it. In the brief period that Rylee was now with us, we had to dedicate an entire day to soothe her anxiousness, and the rest of our time was spent juggling appointments, answering CPS, allowing people in our home for visits, and providing round-the-clock care to Laney, who needed our attention just as much as Rylee did. Yet, amidst all the chaos and stress, we did our utmost to cherish every moment Rylee and Laney spent together at home.

And when they would sleep, we would cry.

Living with the constant presence of tears from overwhelming stress and grief has taken a significant toll on our mental and physical health. It's not a sustainable way to live and has left us feeling exhausted and hopeless.

During my conversation today with Kody, he confided in me about his overwhelming fear of having children because of this situation. He voiced his concerns about the safety of not only his future children but also everyone around him. This situation has caused him significant anxiety, and it's heartbreaking to see someone so young, only 22, worried about one day starting a family. As we spoke, I could sense the distress in his voice, and it was evident that he was genuinely worried. I shared with him that to me, the sight of pregnant women or people with small children used to be a beautiful reminder of new beginnings, but now it's become a trigger for anxiety. I instantly worry about the safety of these women and their children or unborn children, and it is a fear that has now taken hold. It's very concerning that this fear might overshadow the joy and excitement that should come with the arrival of a new baby into our family. Another heartbreak and scar that will never go away.

This conversation with my son made me think and should be a cautionary tale for parents everywhere. One inexperienced radiologist's opinion was all it took to turn our family and our granddaughter's lives upside down and brand our family as child abusers. The second scan, read by a seasoned radiologist, diagnosed Laney with low bone density and did not mention abuse followed by other experts and well-respected doctors. This raises the question: should a family's fate be determined by the luck of which doctor is on call that day?

Friday February 23rd, 2024

After experiencing over a month of excessive stress daily and having our lives disrupted, we finally decided to go ahead with our planned trip to Nashville. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't have been a big deal, but given the circumstances that now controlled our lives, this is what it had come down to. Just in case we forgot who was in control of our lives, we were reminded that if we wanted to travel, the state needed 14 days' notice, and then we would need to wait for approval from the judge. The following is my interaction with Kim Medina and Arkesha:

Hey, this is Dee Werblun. It is 4:10 on Friday. I know you mentioned yesterday, Kim that you don't work on the weekend so I want to catch you before 5. I'm just checking in with the message that I sent to Arkesha today about making sure our son is cleared to watch the baby for a couple of hours during the day. We have our work trip coming up, and we are flying out on Sunday, and he will be watching her during the meetings. If you need to have a phone interview with him, he is fine and available at any time. I will follow this up with our flight information and the address to our home in Nashville where we will be staying with the baby. I'll send the clearance from the doctor again.

Kim Medina: Denita, I have been with families and in meetings today. And still working at this time. I spoke to my supervisor and was advised for you to contact the case worker. As I am completing your home study and cannot add anymore frequent visitors or assess any additional people you want to help in caring for the child as this is last minute. Thank you.

Dee: okay, I just spoke to you yesterday and told you that I would have the completed list to you by next week. When we spoke to Arkesha when she did the home visit we were told that we had until next week and then yesterday you told me that you needed it soon not that it was over today . Again, All on recording on the videos that we have in our home . As of now there's only my son and the great grandmother, but we have other visitors as we often do there has not been multiple people added. There's two people and I'm still not getting an answer. It is not completed we have family coming in from out of town for the next several weeks which we always do. We have someone from out of town staying with us all the time and I have a complete list to send to you to get them approved. We spoke about this yesterday. I'm not sure why the story keeps changing. So is Arkesha the one to give me the OK for my son that is 22 years old that has been around this baby since she was born the okay to watch her for a few hours so that we can complete work meetings? If not, who is it that I speak to? Also, can you please send me whoever your supervisor is so that I know who I need to speak to about major issues like this? My understanding is in cases like this, that you are supposed to be helping the families not treating us as though we are criminals. I am trying to get my son cleared so that we can go to work meetings if we cannot do that please tell me who I speak to .

(I reminded them of the postion my husband holds as the CEO of his company. When they take over your lives, it does not matter that you try your best to try and continue to live as you did before or that you have anything else going on).

Messages Continued:

Who is it that is to give the clearance so everyone is on the same page kim?

Kim Medina: I understand your frustrations however I spoke to my supervisor, that was advised as she was not aware the case has been transferred. I was able to add your son as he live in the home and Marion as a frequent visitor.

Dee: okay, so our son is cleared as someone that can watch that by alone for now for a few hours?

Arkesha: Hey , Ms Dee , I spoke to my supervisor and for a few hours , it's fine as long as you know that you are responsible who you allow around the child

(Throughout this entire process, it has become apparent that whenever they are unwilling to provide an answer, their default response is to say they will or have spoken to their supervisor. This has been a common refrain from almost every person we have interacted with).

Please note: In the coming days, it will be shown that Kim Medina didn't actually close her study. It will take more than a month before her communication and queries about her home study are fully addressed.

March 7th

Kiana, the baby, and I drove Rylee to the CPS office to return her to her grandmother. As we left, I noticed they were walking back into the office with Rylee. I immediately sent a message to inquire about the situation. At 2:17 PM, I received a text that dismissed my concerns, claiming it was nothing and that the other grandmother had a question. However, at 2:18 PM, I received another text from Arkesha that read, "Hey, I saw that there was a red mark on her arm...did she get bitten by a bug or something?"

It was only a simple bug bite, but it was clear that Rylee was being thoroughly checked for any marks upon her return. Kiana and I both returned home feeling angry and hurt, and we spent the rest of the afternoon in tears.

We decided to hire a live-in nanny to stay in our guest house next door. After several interviews, we found the perfect person to help care for Laney, and after multiple messages and phone calls, we were surprised to get her cleared. We were later given permission for her to live in our home (which we pay for but is controlled by CPS). She gave us the much-needed break that we have been desperately needing due to our new struggles with our depression and mental health.

During my conversation with Kim Medina about this, she questioned our need for help and whether we could take care of Laney on our own. We explained to her that while we were capable of taking care of her, we needed some assistance due to the high level of stress in our home and family life. We also reminded her that even in everyday situations, parents of newborns are entitled to take a break. She reminded me that initially, we told her that we were flexible and could handle this. It's pretty disappointing that she conveniently forgot to inform us that the situation we agreed to handle would leave us completely drained and beaten down.

March 22nd, 2024- Hearing Date

We woke up earlier than usual, ready to attend the hearing that would finally put an end to the nightmare we were going through. We got to the courthouse at 8:30 AM, confident in our case as we had submitted all the necessary documents to CPS, and the DCF attorney that contradicted their false allegations of child abuse.

However, as soon as we were in front of the judge and everyone introduced themselves, the teams stated that they had yet to decide and were postponing the case until April 19th, 2024. This news devastated us, but we are determined to continue fighting for justice.

It's clear that the accused are deprived of their fundamental right to present their side of the matter prior to a trial, which could take several months. All decisions thus far have been based on the false claims presented to the court.

Easter Sunday, March 31st, 2024-

Imagine waking up on a beautiful Easter Sunday. You are excited to spend time with your family, cook a delicious meal, and enjoy fun activities with the kids. You are grateful that everyone is together.

This day was different for us.

Although there is sadness, I'm so glad to share that Rylee woke up with me, Mike, and Laney, and we had a visit from Kiana and Colby, who brought Eater baskets for the girls.

Let me give you some background on my relationship with my daughter. Our mother-daughter relationship is anything but typical. We love hard, argue just as hard, and have frequent conflicts. The issues we face are sometimes just minor, surface-level conflicts but other times rather deep-seated problems that have been present for a while. Despite these ongoing challenges, we are always determined to work hard to overcome them and to move ahead. Regrettably, the recent situation has made it even more challenging to repair our relationship, which was already fragile. Regardless, I love that child, and I would give my life for hers as I would for any of my babies. Despite this being a family business and family drama, we have been deprived of the opportunity to choose, just like the rest of this story.

We decided to take a break from the stressful house we now live in and went to a local restaurant for lunch. While we were there, Kiana and I got into a very heated conversation that should have never happened, but unfortunately, it did. The atmosphere grew tense, and I felt my anger and emotions boiling over. I shoved a tray across the table without thinking, causing a scene. I instantly snapped out of whatever came over me and, in tears, tried to calm the situation, but it was too late. People all around stared at us in shock, and we all had a very embarrassing exit. As we left the restaurant, the tension between us remained palpable.

That afternoon, some very ugly exchanges between us left everyone feeling heartbroken and regretful. Unfortunately, out of anger, the incident was reported and enlarged. After a phone call with Arkesha, I learned that they would place Laney in foster care until another family member could get cleared. I could not believe the news. It felt like everything was spiraling out of control, and the thought of my granddaughter going to foster care because of an argument with my daughter was devastating. The months of stress and pain we had all been through had finally caught up with us, and I felt like I had let my family down. The family I had been fighting so hard to keep together.

The family drama caused by the stress is irrelevant and must not undermine the profound impact that these people have had on our lives.

If only justice had been served with a thorough investigation in the beginning. If only we hadn't spent countless days and sleepless nights fighting for what was right and we weren't beyond exhausted. If only our family's health and well-being hadn't been compromised by the separation from our babies. If only the case hadn't been unnecessarily delayed, causing us to suffer immense stress and pressure. If only our family had been left in peace, we could have enjoyed a relaxed and happy Easter with our loved ones. Instead, we were pushed to the edge and forced to endure unbearable hardship. They broke us.

Justice must be served, and we will continue to fight.

The events on Easter Sunday left Mike and me feeling completely hopeless. We emailed all counselors that evening, making our position clear. We would later come to find this was a big mistake.

"We would like to know by Friday what the DCF plan is, and if there is no answer, we will schedule a call with you on Friday to coordinate with Arkesha another placement for Laney if this hasn't been resolved. We will not participate in any parenting plan, voluntary or not. Our advice is for another family member to get cleared this week to take responsibility for Laney and to supervise the parent's visitations, as we are no longer taking sole responsibility for that."

We had no clue that our request for resolution would be used alongside the events from earlier in the day to remove Laney. We were solely advocating for our family's well-being and trying to put an end to what had been causing us immense suffering. We had been persistent in requesting other family members who lived near us to get cleared from the start, hoping that it would help the pressure we were under. (Understandably, one would avoid dealing with such individuals and getting cleared, so I'll refrain from blaming anyone for their decision. I would never want anyone's mental and emotional state to be trampled on like ours have been by engaging with people who don't have our best interests at heart and who are trying to kidnap our children). We trusted that our communication would remain confidential and not cause further harm. We were desperate for answers and had had enough of our home and lives being controlled every day. However, our efforts were in vain, as we are now denied even the most basic of requests to see the girls, including simple Facetime calls just to know that they are okay.

April 2nd, 2024

Text message exchange between Myself and Arkesha

4:46 PM

Any word on a placement for my granddaughter? As I said to Gary, please actually note that she has a bone disorder, and everyone needs to be extra careful handling her. I know this has not been a concern with dcf, but it is a fact, and there are several appointments coming up that the mother can give to you.

Arrkesha: We are awaiting an order, so no as of yet. I will let know as soon as we get something .. I will let the placement know. Also could you speak to the sitter to get her things together so we come , it can be ready .. I'm thinking tomorrow as we she will leave ..

What things are we supposed to get ready for her to go to foster care? Clothing, diapers, wipes, car seat, strollers, toys, medicine, appointments, pictures of her with her family or a copy of the medical records with several doctors signing off that she has a bone disorder? I'm confused on getting her things ready? Send me a list I'll send it to our nanny.

Arkesha: All of that will be great except for the strollers.. we don't need that. We don't need a lot of toys either

So just to be clear, dcf now believes Laney is in danger but it may be today or it may be tomorrow? And also, is it normal for parents or grandparents that are having their children taken away for a medical condition to pay for items for the state to take?

Arkesha: You don't have to. It's fine

Wednesday, April 3rd, 12:43 PM

I received a text from Kim Medina asking me to call her. I assumed it was a question about a new home study, considering we were at home waiting for someone to show up and take Laney away. Her phone call, which was captured on one of our home cameras, was still part of our home study, asking if we would be willing to put a gate up around our pool. I said no and then explained the current situation to her. She told me she was sorry and had no idea. Out of curiosity, I asked her if, in a situation like that where they make demands in their home study, the state would pay for such things, and her answer was no. We were told in text messages on February 23rd that she was completing our home study and could not help with a simple request. Forty days later, on the day my granddaughter is getting picked up for foster care, she is still harassing us.

It is distressing that after Arkesha informed us that they were removing Laney from our care, they did not act promptly when we were told that they thought she was in danger and needed to be removed from the environment she was in. Although we did not want Laney to leave, It is unacceptable that it took two days for them to finally take action. On day two, when I contacted Arkesha for an update, she simply stated that they were still waiting on an order.

Remember, when their team originally arrived to take the girls, they failed to provide an order. However, they emphasized the urgent situation and the children's danger, making it clear that immediate action was necessary. It was based on their false claim of imminent danger.

Now, delaying action for two days on a child they said was in danger?

It would be the next day, April 3rd, late in the evening before someone came to get her. I will never forget her little eyes looking up at me right before she was taken.

When they sent the worker to pick up Laney, she did not arrive with a car seat, diapers, bottles, or formula for Laney. We provided her with a car seat and offered to pack things for pickup the next day.

The worker who picked up Laney was the only person since the beginning of this process who actually showed any empathy. She shook my hand firmly, looked me in the eye, and apologized for our family's difficult situation. She let Mike and I know that we still had rights and we were able to see the girls for a couple of hours a week.

Arkesha would later commuincate with me that this lady was new, knows nothing about the story and she was going to have a talk with her about saying that.

That particular night, I was experiencing an intense level of emotional pain and physical chest pains that were unbearable, and we were both in tears. I knew I needed something to help me, so I decided to take an over-the-counter sleep aid. The medication was only a temporary solution, but it was necessary to alleviate the pain and allow me to get a little rest.

We were told the next day that there was a new law in Florida, and if a child is in foster care for longer than nine months, it may be hard to reunite because the courts feel that it is detrimental to the child. (Not the false removal or the harm they cause to children and families).

However, when Rylee was taken away from her home of almost two years, that wasn't even a thought.

I repeatedly requested the case manager to place Laney with a caregiver who was aware of her bone issue before her pickup. These requests are documented in text messages, and I made sure to have several phone conversations with her as well. However, despite all our efforts, Kiana said that the foster mother claimed to have not been informed about Laney's condition. She was also told that Laney was sleeping in a room with a four-year-old child who had behavioral issues. Leaving a little baby with a medical condition alone with a 4-year-old child who has behavioral l issues is highly concerning and poses a significant risk to the baby's safety and well-being.

The foster mother told Kiana they had already switched her to a cheaper formula. Laney has been on a formula with extra vitamins. A cheaper formula lacks essential vitamins for her bones. Foster parents are paid for taking in children, which makes this even more unacceptable. Furthermore, they disregarded her sensitive skin, which Kiana notified them about, and opted for cheaper diapers. It is unacceptable that those in charge of making decisions for our babies are neglecting their best interests. Can you imagine the frustration and fear of having no control over vital decisions being made about your baby? It is a feeling of helplessness that no parent should have to endure. Being in such a position and still coming out with any shred of sanity is unimaginable.

There's so much frustration and disappointment regarding the lack of communication and access to my granddaughters. Despite several requests, my pleas for a simple FaceTime call have been denied, leaving me without any contact for almost two weeks. As the person Rylee is most attached to, this is emotionally difficult and distressing. Unfortunately, I don't have any contact information for the person Laney is currently placed with, which is unacceptable. When I reached out to Arkesha for assistance, she was unhelpful and told me to speak to my attorney, adding that I am no longer on the order for any rights to my granddaughters.

The one mistake I made out of anger and hurt, fueled by emotional trauma from these people, resulted in them now making me the bad person. This is my punishment.

Firday April 12, 2024

Today, I met with Kiana to have lunch and discuss some updates regarding the girls' situations. Arkesha recently informed Rylee's father and grandmother that a no-contact order was in place, which meant that I was not allowed to speak to the girls. I immediately messaged Arkesha and requested a copy of the order to be sent to my attorney for review. As of now, Arkesha has not produced the requested document. In a recent conversation, she said the lady who picked Laney up was wrong when she told us that we still had the right to see the girls.

During our conversation, Kiana also informed me that Laney had been placed in daycare during the week due to the foster parents' differing work schedules and the mother's need to sleep during the day. Kiana never had a plan for her baby to go to daycare. She and Colby decided it would be best for her to focus on their family for now, and he would work. This was taken away from them.

Upon meeting Laney and the trainee Sarah at the doctor's office last week, Kiana immediately noticed a musty/moldy smell on the baby and expressed her concerns. She also noticed that Laney was not properly secured in her car seat and demanded an explanation from Sarah, the young trainee who transported Laney to the office. Kiana asked Sarah about the base for the car seat, but Sarah's assurances that it was okay and that she just leaned the passenger seat tightly on the car seat were not enough to alleviate Kiana's concerns. Kiana firmly requested that they take the time to properly secure Laney in the car seat before leaving the office, emphasizing the importance of safety for her child. Kiana walked away sad, angry, and crying.

Yesterday, Kiana was told she could see Rylee today, but there has been no response or schedule provided as of 11 AM this morning.

Additionally, Kiana received a message from Gary this afternoon stating that the other grandmother had taken Rylee to the doctor yesterday for a fever of 102 degrees. Shockingly, she was never informed of this critical information, and the caseworker stated he only found out recently. Being kept in the dark about her child's health is unacceptable.

Kiana had been eagerly awaiting her visitation with Rylee, finally given permission to meet at the library. But her excitement turned to heartbreak when she arrived on time, only to wait for a stranger to arrive with her child 30 minutes late. When it was time to leave, Rylee was in tears, begging to go with her mom. Kiana was heartbroken. She called me crying and inconsolable. No mother should ever have to endure such pain.

She was later given the chance to see Laney, where she noticed scratches on her face and a fever blister on her chin. Laney was also sucking on what was clearly a used pacifier. Not only was that a concern, but she rarely took a pacifier before she was taken.

Pictures taken the same day:

I can't help but feel that this was tailor-made for this very situation.

Rylee, Kiana and I often sang this before bed, and we started singing it to Laney.

As the birthday of our granddaughter Rylee approaches, I can't help but reminisce about the day she was born and the 27 hours of labor my daughter Kiana endured. I was there every second, and I still remember the overwhelming joy I felt when I laid eyes on Rylee for the first time. It was a privilege to help my daughter raise her first child and witness all of Rylee's firsts. We already had big plans for her birthday celebration before this started, but due to the circumstances, Kiana may not be able to see her own daughter, and Mike and I won't even get a phone call.

We will miss out on all of Laney's firsts, and there's no way to bring those moments back for Kiana and Colby. We will have to accept that those cherished memories are lost forever.

It's evident that these groups failed to conduct a proper investigation into my family. Instead of gathering all the relevant facts, they chose to cherry-pick evidence that supported their claim of child abuse and keep our family under extreme stress. Had they conducted a thorough investigation, it would have been apparent that this was not a case of child abuse and would have been dismissed without further ado. The police department has not filed any charges because there has not been a crime.

The pain of losing our girls and our family is unbearable. Each corner of the house reminds us of their absence, and we can't even bear to enter the quiet and empty house next door, filled with items that the girls will eventually outgrow.

The words in this story cannot possibly convey the depth of emotions surrounding our reality. There are so many emotions that can't be expressed through words alone. Countless conversations, feelings, and experiences have not been documented and cannot be adequately expressed through text. There's more family drama that has come from the stress, but it isn't important and should not take away from what these people have done to us. I don't think I'll ever be able to fully convey how we feel. The impact of this situation has been immense, leaving us all feeling physically and emotionally drained, with a profound sense of grief and loss. Our lack of sleep, the physical and emotional sickness we are experiencing, and the damage that has been done are indescribable. Our family was thrust into this nightmare without warning, and it has completely derailed our lives. We are all struggling with depression, and every day is a battle as we try to find a way to survive without our children. The pain and suffering we have endured are indescribable, and our lives will never be the same again.

Our journey has led us to discover a shocking truth - countless families in the United States wake up one day to find their children taken away from them because of a medical condition. It's a heartbreaking reality that so many suffer through, yet few know about. We've come across several websites dedicated to helping these families, and we've reached out to offer our support and share their stories. But this isn't enough. We must do more. We must come together to fight against the legal kidnapping of children by the government in our country. Once we regain our energy, our goal is to create a nonprofit foundation to help families in need and provide them with the support they deserve. We won't rest until our babies are home where they belong. If there is a positive in this, it's that I've realized how little our problems were before this happened. It's time to let go of any past issues and focus solely on the time I have with my family. Make the most of every opportunity to create special memories, strengthen relationships, and show your family how much they mean to you. It can all be taken away.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story. Although it's not something I ever wanted to write, it's a story that needs to be told.

My Family

More Information:

From Parentalrights.org:

The Corrupt Business of
Child Protective Services

Summary: This article’s author worked with around 300 cases in Georgia, along with hundreds across the nation. She shares heart-breaking stories of CPS corruption, including how children are being taken away unnecessarily and put in very abusive situations. Her conclusion is that “there is no responsibility and no accountability in Child Protective Services.”

For almost 100 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized the traditional role of parents in directing the care, custody, and control of their minor children. In Wisconsin v. Yoder, the Court declared that parental rights have been “established beyond debate as an enduring American tradition.” 406 US 205, 232 (1972)

Despite this, many government actors and agencies today are working overtime to substitute a parent’s decisions with the government worker’s own view of what is best for a given child. From schools to hospitals to child welfare investigators, “experts” think they know what’s best for your child better than you do.

And while this has been going on for decades, we have all become painfully aware of it since the recent pandemic, when many learned for the first time just how much power the government wants to have over our children.

Yet, every child is unique; no one knows or loves a child better than his or her own parents. Mom or Dad, you are the expert on your child.

https://parentalrights.org/child_protective_services/

According to parentingscince.com:

If babies are exposed to high levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, they are more likely to develop behavior problems and stress-related diseases later in life (Zijlmans et al 2015; Sanchez et al 2015; Asok et al 2013). In the worst case scenario, toxic stress may alter brain growth and shorten the lifespan.

https://parentingscience.com/stress-in-babies/#:~:text=If%20babies%20are%20exposed%20to,growth%20and%20shorten%20the%20lifespan.

THE HARM OF CHILD REMOVAL

SHANTA TRIVEDI ¥

ABSTRACT

When the state proves or even merely alleges that a parent has abused or neglected a child, a court may remove the child from the parent’s care. However, research shows separating a child from her parent(s) has detrimental, long-term emotional and psychological consequences that may be worse than leaving the child at home. This is due to the trauma of removal itself, as well as the unstable nature of, and high rates of abuse in, foster care. Nevertheless, the child welfare system errs on the side of removal and almost uniformly fails to consider the harms associated with that removal. Only two jurisdictions require courts to consider the harms that will occur when a child is taken from her family. And while recent federal law recognizes the importance of family preservation and the negative ef- fects of separation, it does not solve the problem by itself. This article is the first to comprehensively examine why the harm of removal should be a featured part of every child welfare decision. After doing so, it continues to analyze existing law and legal practices to demonstrate how consideration of the harms of removal can be built into existing legal frameworks to achieve the stated purpose of the child welfare system and truly protect our children.

Shanta Trivedi, The Harm of Child Removal, 43 New York University Review of Law & Social Change 523 (2019).

Available at: https://scholarworks.law.ubalt.edu/all_fac/1085

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207191/#:~:text=Delayed%20responses%20to%20trauma%20can,1%20outlines%20some%20common%20reactions.

Exhibit 1.3-1Immediate and Delayed Reactions to Trauma

Immediate Emotional Reactions
Numbness and detachment
Anxiety or severe fear
Guilt (including survivor guilt)
Exhilaration as a result of surviving
Anger
Sadness
Helplessness
Feeling unreal; depersonalization (e.g., feeling as if you are watching yourself)
Disorientation
Feeling out of control
Denial
Constriction of feelings
Feeling overwhelmed

Delayed Emotional Reactions
Irritability and/or hostility
Depression
Mood swings, instability
Anxiety (e.g., phobia, generalized anxiety)
Fear of trauma recurrence
Grief reactions
Shame
Feelings of fragility and/or vulnerability
Emotional detachment from anything that requires emotional reactions (e.g., significant and/or family relationships, conversations about self, discussion of traumatic events or reactions to them)

Immediate Physical Reactions
Nausea and/or gastrointestinal distress
Sweating or shivering
Faintness
Muscle tremors or uncontrollable shaking
Elevated heartbeat, respiration, and blood pressure
Extreme fatigue or exhaustion
Greater startle responses
Depersonalization

Delayed Physical Reactions
Sleep disturbances, nightmares
Somatization (e.g., increased focus on and worry about body aches and pains)
Appetite and digestive changes
Lowered resistance to colds and infection
Persistent fatigue
Elevated cortisol levels
Hyperarousal
Long-term health effects including heart, liver, autoimmune, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Immediate Cognitive Reactions
Difficulty concentrating
Rumination or racing thoughts (e.g., replaying the traumatic event over and over again)
Distortion of time and space (e.g., traumatic event may be perceived as if it was happening in slow motion, or a few seconds can be perceived as minutes)
Memory problems (e.g., not being able to recall important aspects of the trauma)
Strong identification with victims

Delayed Cognitive Reactions
Intrusive memories or flashbacks
Reactivation of previous traumatic events
Self-blame
Preoccupation with event
Difficulty making decisions
Magical thinking: belief that certain behaviors, including avoidant behavior, will protect against future trauma
Belief that feelings or memories are dangerous
Generalization of triggers (e.g., a person who experiences a home invasion during the daytime may avoid being alone during the day)
Suicidal thinking

Immediate Behavioral Reactions
Startled reaction
Restlessness
Sleep and appetite disturbances
Difficulty expressing oneself
Argumentative behavior
Increased use of alcohol, drugs, and tobacco
Withdrawal and apathy
Avoidant behaviors

Delayed Behavioral Reactions
Avoidance of event reminders
Social relationship disturbances
Decreased activity level
Engagement in high-risk behaviors
Increased use of alcohol and drugs
Withdrawal

Immediate Existential Reactions
Intense use of prayer
Restoration of faith in the goodness of others (e.g., receiving help from others)
Loss of self-efficacy
Despair about humanity, particularly if the event was intentional
Immediate disruption of life assumptions (e.g., fairness, safety, goodness, predictability of life)

Delayed Existential Reactions
Questioning (e.g., “Why me?”)
Increased cynicism, disillusionment
Increased self-confidence (e.g., “If I can survive this, I can survive anything”)
Loss of purpose
Renewed faith
Hopelessness
Reestablishing priorities
Redefining meaning and importance of life
Reworking life’s assumptions to accommodate the trauma (e.g., taking a self-defense class to reestablish a sense of safety)

Sources: Briere & Scott, 2006b; Foa, Stein, & McFarlane, 2006; Pietrzak, Goldstein, Southwick, & Grant, 2011.

From: Chapter 3, Understanding the Impact of Trauma

Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services.

Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 57.

Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (US).

Rockville (MD): Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US); 2014.

Copyright Notice

NCBI Bookshelf. A service of the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.

Take care of Maya documentary on Netflix ( Even though our story is horrific and has created depression and helplessness, it in no way reaches the level of the mother in this documentary)

Hundreds of parents say kids wrongly taken from them after doctors misdiagnosed abuse (nbcnews.com)

9don MSNIN DEPTH

Exclusive: New Jersey police officer falsely accused of child abuse still trying to get life back

Anthony Minguez, a New Jersey police officer accused of child abuse, says he's still trying to get his life back after a ...

8don MSN

'The spirit of subversion and hubris': Mom falsely accused of medical child abuse files multimillion-dollar lawsuit against hospital, police, and child welfare authorities

Sophie Hartman speaks about her daughter’s condition in a 2019 TV interview (Screengrab via KING-TV) A Seattle-area mother ...

8d

Washington woman who lost custody of adoptive daughter due to medical abuse claims sues hospital

Washington mom Sophie Hartman has filed a lawsuit against multiple Washington entities accusing them of falsely claiming that ...

9don MSN

Lehigh County is moving its child advocacy center out of LVHN. Here’s why

Lehigh County is moving its child advocacy center, which investigates claims of child abuse, from Lehigh Valley Health ...

Daily Mail21d

Philadelphia doctor, 68, will retire after multiple families sued her, claiming she falsely accused them of abusing their children in chilling echo of Netflix documentary Take ...

have launched a class action lawsuit over alleged child abuse misdiagnoses. Families have claimed that Esernio-Jenssen falsely accused them of abusing their children and regularly misdiagnosed ...

Florida's top child abuse pediatrician justifies questionable findings of abuse (youtube.com)

“The Department of Children and Families [does] not care about the worker and since they don’t care about how hard they work the worker, they don’t care about child safety,” another staffer wrote.

Stress, heavy caseloads drive DCF's high turnover rate (mynews13.com)

If you have been a victim and would like to share your story, please contact me directly. Rest assured that all information shared will be kept strictly confidential.

Dee Werblun

678-822-1151

dee@ryleeandlaneystory.com

UPDATE: Written May 17, 2024

𝙹𝚊𝚗𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝟸𝟺, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺: 𝙰 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎, 𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍.𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚘, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚃𝙿𝚁 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎; 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎.

𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎, 𝙻𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐.

...𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚍𝚊𝚙𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚜...

𝙼𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸, 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖, 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎, 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝚆𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝙲𝙵 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝙽𝙾 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝚃𝙰𝙲𝚃 𝙾𝚁𝙳𝙴𝚁 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝙼𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚞𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜—𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝙲𝙵 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚜 𝙽𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗. 𝙻𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝.

🅢🅟🅔🅐🅚 🅞🅤🅣, 🅐🅝🅓 🅨🅞🅤 🅢🅗🅐🅛🅛 🅑🅔 🅟🅤🅝🅘🅢🅗🅔🅓.

𝙱𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚒𝚝 𝚟𝚞𝚕𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢. 𝚃𝚘 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚔𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚊 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙸𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙰 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚑𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚞𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜. 𝙰𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍. 𝙰𝚕𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝙸 𝚍𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚔𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚊. 𝙸 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚒𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞.

𝚁𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚖𝚊 𝚒𝚏 𝙽𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚞𝚖 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔, 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝-𝚠𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝙽𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚞𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙿𝚘𝚙𝙿𝚘𝚙. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚖𝚊 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝙽𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚞𝚖.

𝙶𝚘𝚍, 𝙸 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜.

𝙸𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚞𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖. 𝙼𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚗𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘. 𝙼𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎. 𝚆𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚁𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎'𝚜 𝟸𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙺𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍. 𝚆𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙹𝚞𝚕𝚢, 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝙻𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚢'𝚜 𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑, 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚢 𝟺𝟶𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚍𝚊𝚢. 𝚆𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚛'𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟻. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 "𝚔𝚒𝚍𝚜" 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚍. 𝙼𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍. 𝚆𝚎'𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚜. 𝙺𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚊'𝚜 𝙵𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝙼𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝙳𝚊𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙻𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚢. 𝙼𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝙳𝚊𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜. 𝙼𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝙳𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢. 𝚆𝚎'𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍. 𝚆𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚜. 𝚆𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎. 𝙼𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜. 𝚂𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍.𝙼𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢'𝚜 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚢. 𝙻𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚐𝚗𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢. 𝚁𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙺𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚊 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎. 𝙳𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚜. 𝙳𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚆𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝚆𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝚁𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙻𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚢𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔. 𝚁𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚊 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚢. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝙸𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚋𝚢 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁.

𝙰𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢, 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜.

𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚐𝚘 𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚗.

𝚃𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜. 𝙸𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗, 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚘𝚢𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚜 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢 𝚓𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚢𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚑, 𝚗𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜. 𝙽𝚘 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚊, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜' 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚞𝚙. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚙 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛; 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚝𝚎. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚜𝚘 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝-𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙾𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎. 𝙸𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁.

𝚆𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎. 𝚆𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎.

𝚆𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗. 𝚆𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎'𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚢𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙻𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚞𝚖𝚊 𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍. 𝙾𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚢'𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚞𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗; 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚍𝚗𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝙿𝚃𝚂𝙳 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗.

𝚄𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢.𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝚂𝙷𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝙱𝙴 𝚃𝙴𝚁𝚁𝙸𝙵𝙸𝙴𝙳.𝚆𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚑𝚘𝚠, 𝚠𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚜, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝? 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙲𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝙷𝙰𝙿𝙿𝙴𝙽 𝚃𝙾 𝚈𝙾𝚄. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚞𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍. 𝙾𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍.

𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚞𝚜. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕-𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝. 𝙸𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜.

𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍; 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚢. 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚕, 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚢? 𝙳𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚔𝚒𝚍𝚗𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂? 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘? 𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜? 𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐? 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚝.𝚆𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜? 𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚞𝚗𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗? 𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎? 𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚘𝚛𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖? 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙸𝚁 𝙲𝙷𝙸𝙻𝙳𝚁𝙴𝙽. 𝚆𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚘𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚞𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎, 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚞𝚖𝚊, 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜?

𝚆𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑.

𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜.

𝑃̲.̲𝑆̲.̲ 𝐴̲𝑟̲𝑒̲ 𝑤̲𝑒̲ 𝑗̲𝑢̲𝑠̲𝑡̲ 𝑔̲𝑜̲𝑖̲𝑛̲𝑔̲ 𝑡̲𝑜̲ 𝑝̲𝑟̲𝑒̲𝑡̲𝑒̲𝑛̲𝑑̲ 𝑡̲ℎ̲𝑎̲𝑡̲ 𝑡̲ℎ̲𝑒̲𝑠̲𝑒̲ 𝑙̲𝑎̲𝑤̲𝑠̲ 𝑡̲ℎ̲𝑎̲𝑡̲ 𝑎̲𝑟̲𝑒̲ 𝑠̲𝑢̲𝑝̲𝑝̲𝑜̲𝑠̲𝑒̲𝑑̲ 𝑡̲𝑜̲ 𝑝̲𝑟̲𝑜̲𝑡̲𝑒̲𝑐̲𝑡̲ 𝑢̲𝑠̲ 𝑑̲𝑜̲𝑛̲𝑡̲ 𝑒̲𝑥̲𝑖̲𝑠̲𝑡̲?̲!

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞:

𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐟 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐎𝐟 𝐋𝐚𝐰

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲:

𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝟐𝟒𝟐 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝟏𝟖 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬.

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝟐𝟒𝟐, 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 "𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐚𝐰" 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥'𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬/𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬, 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬, 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫, 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐬𝐞𝐱, 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐩, 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐦.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦, 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲, 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐲, 𝐢𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲.

𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝟏𝟖, 𝐔.𝐒.𝐂., 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝟐𝟒𝟐

𝐖𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐰, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞, 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦, 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡, 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐬, 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬, ... 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞, 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐬𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧, 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐚𝐩, 𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡, 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡.

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐨𝐟, 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡, 𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬; 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬.

𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐢𝐳𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞, 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐎𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝.

𝐅𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

𝐍𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥, 𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐮𝐫𝐲, 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐖𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫; 𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐣𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛; 𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲, 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐚𝐰; 𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐮𝐬𝐞, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐒𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

𝐈𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥, 𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐰, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧; 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦; 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐛𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞.

𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝.

𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭-𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝟏

𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐨𝐟, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞. 𝐍𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬; 𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲, 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐚𝐰; 𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐬.

𝙿𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚂𝙴 𝚂𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚁𝚈 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚁𝙸𝙴𝚂 𝙾𝙵 𝙰𝙻𝙻 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙵𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙳 𝙵𝙰𝙼𝙸𝙻𝙸𝙴𝚂. 𝙲𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜, 𝚗𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎. 𝙳𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍. 𝙲𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚐𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚘𝚛. 𝚂𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚎. 𝚂𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜.

𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙾𝚄𝚁 𝙲𝙷𝙸𝙻𝙳𝚁𝙴𝙽.

If you have been a victim and would like to share your story, please contact me directly. Rest assured that all information will be kept strictly confidential.

Dee Werblun

678-822-1151

dee@ryleeandlaneystory.com