In the recent dispute against the FBI and Apple with regards to unlocking the iPhone to search for evidences in a particular case (in which the tech giant refused to do so), Florida’s Polk County sheriff has strongly sided with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Said sheriff also had a message for the technology firm stating that if an iPhone within his country needs to be unlocked, he will arrest Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, if he refuses to comply with the following task.
Florida Sheriff Strongly Sides With the FBI Over Dispute With Apple
The sheriff in question is Sheriff Grady Judd and he has issued his warning over Apple in the wake of the murder of 31-year-old Robert Banks. The person was a resident of Lakeland, Florida and was a reported drug dealer. He was allegedly beaten to death by his three brothers Brian, Anthony, and Nathan Johnson, along with their friend Michael Gunn. The four suspects are now facing charges for first-degree murder.
The aforementioned suspects have allegedly took pictures of the dead body of Robert Banks so that they could brag about it. The photographs in question are allegedly stored in one of the smartphones they have used at the scene of the crime.
Sheriff Judd stated that the suspects are already cooperating as they have already handed over the passcodes for their phones over to the authorities. However, when asked about a related issue with regards to the tech giant Apple in refusing the request from the FBI to open an iPhone which was used by a San Bernardino terrorist, the CEO of the firm had made his stance quite clear.
According to a report from Fox News, the Florida sheriff states, “You cannot create a business model to go, ‘We’re not paying attention to the federal judge or the state judge. You see, we’re above the law.’ The CEO of Apple needs to know he’s not above the law, and neither is anybody else in the United States.”
Even though the four suspects for the murder of Banks were not using iPhones, should the situation arise and Tim Cook refused to unlock an iPhone for the sake of his country, then the Florida sheriff will arrest the CEO himself.
Sheriff Grady Judd was not finished with his statement over his resentment over Apple as he continued, “I can tell you, the first time we do have trouble getting into a cell phone, we’re going to seek a court order from Apple,” he stated. “And when they deny us, I’m going to go lock the CEO of Apple up. I’ll lock the rascal up.”