What happens when protesters stand their ground in Florida?

Frank Cerabino

When it comes to enabling aggressors, Florida legislators are always in the mood.

But this year, by pushing parallel acts of civic blood lust, they may be creating some unintended consequences. Let me explain.

First, there’s the Senate bill that encourages drivers to plow through protesters. The bill (SB 1096) might as well be called the Kill the Protesters Bill.

It’s one of a crop of bills around the nation that Republican-led legislatures wrote in response to large street demonstrations against President Donald Trump.

The Florida bill takes the sadistic twist of requiring injured protesters, or their next of kin in cases of death, to prove that their injuries or deaths were intentionally caused by any passing drivers who graze, hit or plow through street protesters.

This applies to protests or demonstrations not sanctioned by a government permit in which protesters “obstruct or interfere” with traffic on public roads, streets and highways.

The bill says that the burden of proof is on the injured person, not the driver, to prove that “the injury or death was not unintentional.” And absent that, the drivers of the vehicles who hit protesters are “not liable for such injury or death.”

Now, pair that exercise in mayhem encouragement with SB 128, a rewrite of the state’s already reckless Stand Your Ground law.