AppleInsider Staff
Apple's firm stance against decrypting iPhones in criminal investigations could land CEO Tim Cook in jail, if the sheriff in one rural Florida county has his way.
"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. And when they deny us, I'm going to go lock the CEO of Apple up," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said, according to FOX 13. "I'll lock the rascal up."
"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,'" Judd added. "The CEO of Apple needs to know he's not above the law, and neither is anybody else in the United States."
It's not clear exactly how Judd would follow through on such a threat; in addition to the fact that Cook lives in California and is unlikely to ever set foot in Polk County, he has a formidable legal shield in front of him.
The sheriff's comments came during a press conference for a case in which the suspects — who are accused of beating, sexually assaulting, and murdering a man — took photos of their crime and showed those photos to others. The suspects then provided police with the phone's passcode.
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
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131 Comments
Grady plays to the crowd. Ignore it.
Ask the idiot sheriff what law Apple is breaking.
Not sure if anyone who comments here lives in Florida, but Polk County is unanimously known for having the worst, most un reasonable, above the law, full of themselves cops in Florida. This guy is a joke, and so is his county...
Grady should go back to sheriff school and learn that he is paid by Floridians to be of service to the people, not an obnoxious egoistic dick who can't bare others in not believing in his corrupt ideologies.
He finished up by stating that 'his momma and poppa are brother and sister' and asked the reporter to squeal like a pig!