Tampa voter fraud suspects believed they could legally vote, bodycam arrest footage shows

TAMPA, Fla. - Body camera video released Tuesday by the Tampa Police Department shows convicted felons as they're taken into custody during Gov. Ron DeSantis' crackdown on alleged voter fraud.

The video was recorded August 18, as police served warrants to people charged with illegally voting in the 2020 election. In each case, the felons sounded stunned they were being charged with a crime they didn't know they committed.

"I guess you have a warrant," an officer told Tony Patterson in one video.

"For what?" Patterson asked.

"I think the agents with FDLE talked to you last week about voter fraud, voter stuff, when you weren't supposed to be voting maybe," the officer responded.

"What did I do wrong?" a shocked Patterson asked again.

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In another video, Romona Oliver was shocked as police serve her warrant.

"I know you're caught off guard. I understand, right? So you have a warrant. It's for voter fraud, okay?" the officer said.

"Voter fraud? I voted but didn't commit no fraud!" Oliver responded.

"That's the thing. I don't know exactly what happened with that, but you do have a warrant. That's what it's for."

Hours after the arrests were made, DeSantis held a news conference announcing the Florida Department of Law Enforcement crackdown on elections crimes by his new Office of Election Crimes and Security.

The governor touted his newly formed election police force as a way for Florida to keep elections safe and secure. He believes some prosecutors weren't properly holding people accountable when they violated elections laws.

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"Before we proposed this, there were examples of this seeming to fall through the cracks. So this is the opening salvo," the governor said at the time.

In 2018, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment restoring felons' voters rights. That law, however, excluded people convicted of murder or sex offenses.

Patterson served time in state prison for a sex offense in 2000. Oliver was convicted of second-degree murder in 1999.

Oliver said she was told she could vote when she was released in 2019.

"When I got out, the guy told me I was free and clear to go vote, because I had done my time," Oliver told an officer.

FOX 13 reached out to the governor's office for comment on the videos, but did not receive a response.