Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida tagged the FBI in a short video clip on social media Wednesday morning and asked the bureau if everyone was safe at one of its offices in his district.
The video showed four vehicles in a parking lot — two of which were pickup trucks that were both badly damaged in the front.
It appeared as if both vehicles had been involved in front-end collisions.
Gaetz, who represents Florida’s first congressional district, said the video was taken by one of his staffers at a bureau office in the city of Valparaiso.
“Hey @fbi – our staff has been trying to get in contact with you. No response,” Gaetz wrote to the bureau on his X page. “The scene outside your Valparaiso office in my district is……alarming.”
The congressman asked, “Is everyone OK?
Hey @fbi – our staff has been trying to get in contact with you. No response.
The scene outside your Valparaiso office in my district is……alarming.
Is everyone OK?
Please check in safe. pic.twitter.com/Zx9uvRLHxz
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) February 21, 2024
He also asked the FBI to “Please check in safe.”
Do you trust the FBI?
It was unclear if the FBI had contacted Gaetz about the peculiar scene in Valparaiso as of Wednesday afternoon.
Many of Gaetz’s followers responded to his post with sarcasm about the FBI’s relentless pursuit of people who attended the rally at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, or who entered the building during the incursion that followed:
Just tell them you have information on a grandma who walked into the Capitol with a Trump sign and they’ll call ASAP!
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) February 21, 2024
They’re too busy locking up grandparents who took selfies in the Capitol on January 6th, 2021
— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) February 21, 2024
Sorry, Matt, I was busy stalking conservative parents and I missed your call. I’ll look into this…later.
— Burt Macklin (@BurtMaclin_FBI) February 21, 2024
Leave them a voicemail saying someone in a red hat yelled at you.
That’ll get a quick response.
— Joshua Walker (@RedsRepair95) February 21, 2024
Others just took an opportunity to troll the bureau over its recent targeting of conservatives and Christians:
Tell them you were misgendered – they’ll have SWAT teams dispatched in no time.
— Benjamin Martin 🇺🇸 (@Benjami69607595) February 21, 2024
Tell them some grandparents are in the parking lot singing hymns, they will be right on it.
— Shelly🇺🇸 (@SMHS1212) February 21, 2024
Just tell them someone is praying outside an abortion clinic. They will call you right back.
— Kathy Ellyce (@EllyceKathy) February 21, 2024
Valparaiso is located just east of the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport and is just minutes from countless popular tourist destinations along the coast of the Florida panhandle.
