XPost: fl.general, misc.immigration.usa, sac.politics   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: biden@drugs.com   
      
   OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A man with a long record of dangerous driving told   
   investigators he smoked marijuana oil and took prescription drugs hours   
   before he sideswiped a bus, killing eight Mexican farmworkers and injuring   
   dozens more, according to an arrest report unsealed Wednesday.   
      
   Bryan Maclean Howard, 41, pleaded not guilty to driving under the   
   influence-manslaughter and remained jailed without bond for Tuesday’s   
   crash. The Florida Highway Patrol says he drove his 2001 Ford pickup into   
   the center line on a two-lane road and struck the bus, causing it to veer   
   off the road, strike a tree and flip over.   
      
   The seasonal farmworkers were on their way early in the morning to harvest   
   watermelon at Cannon Farms in Dunnellon, about 80 miles (130 kilometers)   
   northwest of Orlando in north-central Florida’s Marion County, a rural   
   area of rolling hills with numerous horse farms and abundant fruit and   
   vegetable fields.   
      
   The Mexican consulate in Orlando was working to support the victims,   
   meeting with some at a hotel in Gainesville. Many were taken to   
   AdventHealth Ocala hospital.   
      
   Juan Sabines, the Mexican consul in Orlando, told Spanish language news   
   media that seven workers, three of whom were in critical condition,   
   remained hospitalized as of Wednesday afternoon.   
      
   Sabines said they had contacted the families of the eight workers who were   
   killed in the crash.   
      
   He also said inspectors from the Wage and Hour Division from the U.S.   
   Department of Labor were performing inspections at the work site, and the   
   consul encouraged workers to call the Occupational Safety and Health   
   Administration with anonymous tips if they had anything to report about   
   the employer. The Department of Labor did not respond to a request for   
   comment from The Associated Press.   
      
   Sabines said he spoke with the 44-year-old bus driver, also a Mexican man   
   with a visa.   
      
   “What he needs the most immediately is help with his mental health,”   
   Sabines said.   
      
   In the pickup truck driver's arrest report, state troopers say Howard had   
   bloodshot and watery eyes and slurred speech after the crash, which he   
   said he didn’t remember.   
      
   He told an investigator that he had crashed his mother’s car into a tree   
   while avoiding an animal a few days earlier, and that on Monday night he   
   had taken two anti-seizure drugs and medication for high blood pressure in   
   addition to smoking marijuana oil. He said he woke up about five hours   
   later and was driving to a methadone clinic where he receives daily   
   medication for a chipped vertebrae, according to the affidavit.   
      
   Howard then failed several sobriety tests and was arrested, the Florida   
   Highway Patrol said.   
      
   Responding to a judge by teleconference from jail on Wednesday, Howard   
   said he's a self-employed painter and drywall installer with $700 in the   
   bank, no other assets and no dependents. Howard’s head was bandaged and he   
   wore a protective gown typically given to inmates on suicide watch. The   
   judge denied bond, appointed a public defender and set his next court   
   appearance for next month.   
      
   Howard’s parents did not immediately respond to a Wednesday phone message   
   seeking comment, and the Marion County public defender’s office declined   
   comment.   
      
   Marion County court records show Howard has had at least three crashes and   
   numerous traffic tickets dating back to 2006, including one citation for   
   crossing the center line. His license has been suspended at least three   
   times, the latest in 2021 for getting too many citations within a year. In   
   2013, he was convicted of grand theft. A year later, his probation was   
   revoked after he tested positive for cocaine.   
      
   Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Wednesday morning that   
   44 Mexican farmworkers were on the bus, hired by a Mexican American farmer   
   to work on the watermelon farm under H-2A visas. Florida farms use about   
   50,000 H-2A workers each year, more than any other state, according to the   
   Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association.   
      
   Six of the dead have been identified: Evarado Ventura Hernández, 30;   
   Cristian Salazar Villeda, 24; Alfredo Tovar Sánchez, 20; Isaías Miranda   
   Pascal, 21; José Heriberto Fraga Acosta, 27; and Manuel Pérez Ríos, 46.   
      
   Jose Ventura told Univision that Evarado Ventura Hernandez was his younger   
   brother, and he had helped him come to work in the United States. He said   
   his brother left behind a young daughter.   
      
   “We just came for a better future, but now you can see what we found. We   
   found death,” he told the Spanish-language broadcaster.   
      
   He sobbed as he added, “I was supposed to take care of my brother because   
   he was the youngest.”   
      
   His sister, Norma Ventura Hernández, said she was angry.   
      
   “We are totally destroyed and it’s not right," she said. "Let justice be   
   done, and don’t allow all these deaths to go unpunished.”   
      
   More than two dozen people gathered at a memorial service for the victims   
   Wednesday evening outside the Farmworker Association of Florida office,   
   north of Orlando in Apopka, Florida. Some people held white crosses with   
   the names of those killed, some spoke and some sang songs in Spanish.   
      
   “Thank you to all who have reached out and offered condolences, help and   
   prayers” for the people hurt in the crash, Cannon Farms said in a Facebook   
   post. It said the bus was operated by Olvera Trucking Harvesting Corp.   
      
   No one answered the phone at Olvera Trucking after the crash. The company   
   recently advertised for a temporary driver who would bus workers to   
   watermelon fields and then operate harvesting equipment, at $14.77 an   
   hour.   
      
   A Labor Department document shows Olvera also applied for 43 H-2A workers   
   to harvest watermelons at Cannon Farms this month, again at a base rate of   
   $14.77 an hour, with promises of housing and transportation to and from   
   the fields.   
      
   The H-2A program allows U.S. employers or agents who meet certain   
   regulatory requirements to bring foreign nationals into the country to   
   fill temporary agricultural jobs. Getting to and from the fields can be   
   hazardous: Federal statistics show vehicle crashes were the leading cause   
   of job-related deaths among farmworkers in 2022, the latest year   
   available. They accounted for 81 of 171 fatalities.   
      
   Olvera’s vehicle, which the highway patrol described as a “retired” school   
   bus, did not have seat belts, Mexican consul Sabines said Wednesday.   
      
   The Labor Department announced new seat belt requirements for employer   
   vehicles used for farmworkers on temporary visas, among other worker   
   protections that take effect June 28. Florida law already requires seat   
   belts for farmworker transport using vehicles weighing less than 10,000   
   pounds. The Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association has called the new   
   federal seat belt requirement “impractical.”   
      
   Advocacy groups called for stricter laws and enforcement to protect   
   farmworkers, while a GoFundMe campaign organized by the Farmworker   
   Association of Florida to support accident victims and their families had   
      
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