Violent Insurrection Still Okay (Unless People of Color Are Present)
Bill Urgently Needed to Stop Violent Protests that Didn’t Happen in Florida (But Might!)
DeSantis Bids to Be “New and Improved” Trump: Same Great Racism With Better Execution!
Silent Majority Cheers, White Sheets Sales Soar
Key provisions of the new law:
- Immunity for people driving their cars into protestors and killing one or two.
- Anyone anywhere near anyone doing anything that looks at all like it might possibly become at any point in the future violent (according to a cop wearing combat armor) will be convicted of a felony and spend a year in jail. Includes people who had anything to do with anyone who had anything to do with planning anything. Sheriff Grady Judd assures the public the law will be used with great discretion — as long as we all “toe the line”.
- No bail for anyone arrested until they go to court so they learn an important lesson about the dangers of “stepping out of line” or “mouthing off” to Officer Friendly.
- Bill is critically important because the laws already on the books which make it a felony to damage private property just aren’t effective enough at clearing the streets for good citizens.
- Protects Confederate monuments by making it a felony with jail time to spit on them or give them dirty looks.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Florida’s controversial “anti-riot” bill into law on Monday, a measure that vastly increases law enforcement’s powers to crack down on civil unrest.
The bill, which passed mostly along partisan lines, has been criticized by Democrats and civil rights groups as unconstitutional for infringing on the First Amendment’s right to protest.
“If you look at the breadth of this particular piece of legislation, it is the strongest anti-rioting, pro-law enforcement piece of legislation in the country,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Winter Haven, surrounded by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, uniformed deputies and other law enforcement. “There’s just nothing even close.”
DeSantis also hinted that Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin, who he said last year had committed the “murder” of Floyd, might be acquitted and that the state was “prepared.”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” DeSantis said. “But I can tell you that case was bungled by the Attorney General there in Minnesota. They didn’t handle it properly. And so there may be people disappointed.”
Speakers including the governor described the law as something that would protect law enforcement and private property against rioters, despite also acknowledging that there was little violent unrest in Florida during last year’s George Floyd protests.
But critics claim the bill would have a chilling effect on all protests.
Democratic state Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park, said in a statement that the new law “undermines every Floridian’s constitutional rights, and it is disgusting that the GOP would rather empower vigilantes and silence voices than listen to the majority of Floridians who oppose this dangerous bill. The governor’s spectacle is a distraction that will only further disenfranchise Black and brown communities.”
The new law grants civil legal immunity to people who drive through protesters blocking a road, which Democrats argued would have protected the white nationalist who ran over and killed counter-protester Heather Heyer during the Charlottesville tumult in 2017.
“Just think about it, you’re driving home from work, and all of a sudden, you have people out there shutting down a highway, and we worked hard to make sure that didn’t happen in Florida,” DeSantis said. “They start to do that, there needs to be swift penalties.”
The law also creates a broad category for misdemeanor arrest during protests, and anyone charged under that provision will be denied bail until their first court appearance. DeSantis said he wanted that prevent people from rejoining ongoing protests.
But opponents say the law would make it easier for law enforcement to charge organizers and anyone involved in a protest, even if they had not engaged in any violent activity.
The new law also protects Confederate monuments along with other memorials, statues and historic property.
“We also saw around the country people toppling monuments of people like George Washington,” DeSantis said. “This bill protects all monuments in Florida. You have no right to go in and take down monuments, we’re not going to let the mob win the day with that.”
Echoing DeSantis, Republican state House Speaker Chris Sprowls and Attorney General Ashley Moody vilified other states and cities.
State CFO Jimmy Patronis claimed Portland, New York and Seattle “burned to the ground” last summer.
Judd held up photos of Black protesters standing in a street, which he said he would “encourage,” and pictures of violent unrest, which he said was unacceptable.
He also held up a photo of a Black family at the beach and of a family at Walt Disney World, saying law enforcement would help “guarantee an environment where you can come here and have fun.” There were no African Americans on stage for the signing.
But despite saying he welcomed people moving to Florida, Judd warned, “don’t register to vote and vote the stupid way they did up north and get what they got.”
The vast majority of citations and charges against protesters last year were ultimately dropped, dismissed or otherwise not filed, according to an analysis by The Guardian newspaper.
In Orlando, 80 of about 100 arrests on charges of disorderly conduct during the first week of protests last year were ultimately dropped.
In a statement, Democratic agriculture commissioner Nikki Fried, a potential challenger to DeSantis in 2022, said the law “helps no one.”
“It’s simply to appease the Governor’s delusion of widespread lawlessness,’ Fried said. “The message is clear: if you disagree with him, you will be silenced.”