Shelter from the storm?

Thousands of Floridians sought shelter from Hurricane Irma.

But a move by one law enforcement official in the region to make the shelter in Polk County safe from alleged lawbreakers has brought some blowback. A series of tweets from the Polk County Sheriff's Twitter account Sept. 6 mentioned “sexual offenders” and “predators” as well as people with a “warrant” arriving at shelters. One tweet reads: “If you go to a shelter for #Irma and you have a warrant, we'll gladly escort you to the safe and secure shelter called the Polk County Jail.”

Immigrant services company Nexus Services Inc. filed a lawsuit against Judd and Polk County. The county and sheriff, according a press release from Nexus, are “engaging in a practice of discouraging people from seeking emergency shelter through fear ...”

The statement also alleges the defendants conducted “unconstitutional pedestrian warrant checks” on Floridians seeking shelter from Hurricane Irma. The tweets, according to the lawsuit, led Nexus Services to assist people with transportation and lodging if they had to evacuate but were afraid to because of the remarks.

“Sheriff Grady Judd knew that people would be afraid because of his statements earlier this week,” Nexus Services CEO Mike Donovan says in the press release. “The Sheriff has sworn an oath to protect people, not endanger them. His actions are reckless and unconstitutional, and he needs to be held accountable for his actions.”

Polk County Sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Horstman declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying, “we haven't read it yet. We are still in hurricane recovery mode.”