A crane collapsed near AdventHealth in Orlando this week, injuring three people. According to Orlando fire officials, two people were treated at the scene while one person was brought to the hospital after having a traumatic injury.

The incident happened Tuesday at the AdventHealth Orlando construction site.

Rescue Team Evaluate Workers, Assess Property

According to health officials, the person who suffered a traumatic injury caused by the debris was brought to Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical center, Wesh reported.

The crane, according to construction workers, is used to raise segments of concrete from the ground. Most of the time, several people are on the ground near the crane.

Photo Credits: pixabay.com

After evacuating and assessing other workers, a rescue team eventually started to evaluate and assess the property.

Aaron Rhodes, Orlando Fire Department Special operations district chief, said that “once the area is deemed safe, the investigation will occur. Authorities who have jurisdiction over that will take that over. We won’t make any speculations about what caused it. Our main concern is making sure we’ve done everything we need to do make sure the area is safe.”

Construction Company To Determine Cause of Incident

Rhodes also noted that fortunately, only the crane collapsed at the site and that a complete and total failure of the building did not happen which may have been a whole different case.

AdventHealth also released a statement after the incident and said that they are working with other construction partners to determine what happened.

According to the news report by Welsh, the construction company leading the project, Finnrock, already dispatched engineers at the scene to identify the next steps.

Civil rights activist Desmond Meade – the man who has been fighting for the voting rights of felons in Florida – has finally won a prolonged battle. The Florida voting icon’s civil rights have been restored, allowing him to run for office, serve on a jury and take the bar exam.

Meade received the news on Saturday during his live broadcast on Twitter. According to Durham Herald Sun, the news was given to him by his family, who presented him with a letter from the Florida Clemency Board announcing that his civil rights have officially been restored.

“I feel great, another chapter in the journey,” he said after receiving the news. “It shows that you just got to keep pushing,” he added.

Desmond Meade Civil Rights Restored "Surprise" https://t.co/eADpy7Jjvv

— Desmond Meade (@desmondmeade) October 9, 2021

Meade is the founder, president, and executive director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, which raises voice for the civil rights of citizens coming back to society after completing prison terms.

The right activist of Orlando, Meade, led a grassroots effort for many years that got success in 2018 with the statewide passage of Amendment 4 to the Florida Constitution, restoring voting rights for as many as 1.4 million Florida felons, including him.

Desmond Meade. Image Credit: Twitter

However, despite approval from over two-thirds of state voters, the terms of restoration were the subject of debate, with GOP state leadership saying that returning citizens must pay all fees and fines before they could return to the voting booth.

What a moment for me and thousands of other citizens voting for the 1st time . https://t.co/UoDghp1CJq

— Desmond Meade (@desmondmeade) October 28, 2020

Meade, who was convicted of drug and firearms offenses and served a jail term, already has the right to vote and had cast his right in the 2020 presidential elections.

Governor DeSantis Denied Right In March

In March 2021, Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, for the second time denied a pardon for Meade, saying it was because of a serious allegation against him from the U.S. Army. DeSantis said Meade could go through the regular process to apply to have his civil rights restored.

On the very day, DeSantis and the Cabinet, sitting as the Clemency Board, adopted an “automatic process” to speed up the restoration of rights for felons who have completed jail terms or other offenses, including paying fines and fees. The move also abolished the five-year waiting period before felons can apply for restoration.

New Rules

According to new rules, the felons with outstanding legal financial obligations can still apply to have their civil rights restored, able to go before the clemency board, which can waive court-ordered fees and fines.

Meade’s rights were restored with that new rights restoration process that the FRRC pushed for. But the rights restoration rule does not apply to those people who are convicted of murder or felony sex crimes.

“It’s not a pardon, but it’s definitely a step,” Meade said in the video. “I can apply to the Florida Bar now, I can get a house, I can run for office if I wanted to run for office.”

MacArthur Fellow

According to WUSF News, Meade was made a 2021 MacArthur Fellow in September. He was also granted a sum of $625,000 as a “Genius grant”. Meade has said the money will be used to pay off law school loans and to continue his work for people convicted of felonies.

ORLANDO, Fla. — A man in Orlando, Florida hit the police and injured two officers with brick on Saturday morning. The police revealed that the culprit had set up a video live stream on Facebook before causing the incident. The attack took place when the officers were standing at Magnolia Avenue around 12:40 a.m. on Saturday “as part of a downtown detail”, police said.

The culprit was identified as William McClish, 27. A number of charges have been filed against him, including an attempt at the first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer with a weapon, said the police.

Credit: NBC Miami

Videos of the attack are doing rounds on YouTube, which was posted by the Orlando Police Department. The footage shows a man walking towards a police car while picking up something from the ground. Thereafter, the man moves towards the police car and starts ambushing them with the brick. A second officer comes to the rescue and starts punching the man to the ground. The dispute, however, continued but the camera couldn’t capture the whole of it. Subsequently, the squabble took attention and more police arrived on the scene.

Nearly four officers could finally arrest the man.

The YouTube description of the live stream by the Orlando police stated: “It was determined the man set up a camera to live-stream the attack to Facebook – that is the source of the video above.”

Further, police Chief Orlando Rolón also issued a statement citing that the incident marks the second unprovoked attack on Orlando police officers in one week.

Eyewitnesses reported that the officer was speaking with another officer when a man suddenly attacked without warning.

Rolón also stated: “One officer has a significant facial injury. The other was bit and nearly had his eye gouged out. Our officers will recover from their injuries, but individuals like this who take premeditated steps to harm law enforcement officers and other human beings must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

Another attack on the police had taken place just a few days ago when several individuals opened fire on two police officers.

According to a report by news station WESH, in a similar incident on Tuesday, two Orlando police officers were investigating a tip in an unmarked vehicle when three men opened fire on them. Officers returned fire.  None of the officers were injured. Three men have been arrested in connection with the shooting.

Rolón said: “We cannot wait for an officer or a citizen to be murdered. Prosecution and proper sentencing will be a deterrent for those who think they will only get a slap on the hand and probation soon after a short time in prison.”

While one officer hit with the bricks sustained severe nose injury, the second officer suffered profound eye damage with his left eye gouged out. He was bitten several times on his arm and hand.

McClish was later taken into custody following the attack.