Credit: Photo via Dave Bautista/Instagram

Credit: Photo via Dave Bautista/Instagram
Dave Bautista, a former WWE wrestler and "Guardian of the Galaxy" cast member, has offered a $20,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of whoever wrote “TRUMP” on the back of a Florida manatee.

The Tampa resident took to Twitter this week to declare the reward, and promised bonuses for helping catch the “MAGATs.”

"If there's not already a reward for the arrest and conviction of the low life scummy MAGATs that did this I'll throw in $20,000," tweeted Bautista, who is a registered Democrat. "And I promise there will be bonuses to that reward!"

When a commenter suggested that the person or persons should also be punched in the face, Bautista replied, "All I'm saying is that there are a lot of Floridians that don't appreciate people fucking with our manatees."

On Monday, the Citrus County Chronicle reported that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are currently seeking information regarding the MAGA'd manatee that was discovered near the Blue Hole on the Homosassa River. 

Shortly after, the Center for Biological Diversity announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to a conviction of the person responsible.

“Manatees aren’t billboards, and people shouldn’t be messing with these sensitive and imperiled animals for any reason,” said Florida director Jaclyn Lopez, in a statement.  “However this political graffiti was put on this manatee, it’s a crime to interfere with these creatures, which are protected under multiple federal laws.”

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This article appears in Jan 14-20, 2021.

Colin Wolf has been working with weekly newspapers since 2007 and has been the Digital Editor for Creative Loafing Tampa since 2019. He is also the Director of Digital Content Strategy for CL's parent...