Protest bill backed in state Senate after emotional debate
TALLAHASSEE — With critics warning that the bill would chill free speech and have a disparately negative impact on Black people, a key Senate committee Friday approved a controversial measure that Republicans argue is needed to crack down on violent protests.
Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee spent nine hours picking apart the bill (HB 1), which would create a new crime of “mob intimidation” and enhance penalties on existing riot-related offenses. The proposal is a top priority of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who last year rolled out a framework for the measure in the aftermath of nationwide protests spurred by the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died when former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes.
The legislation’s designation as HB 1 and the Senate’s unusual move of having just one committee vet it illustrate the proposal’s significance to House and Senate Republican leaders, as well as to the governor. The Appropriations Committee’s 11-9 vote sent the bill to the Senate floor. The vote was along almost straight party lines, with only Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, crossing over to vote against it.
During emotionally charged debate, Black senators talked about their experiences with racism.
Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, said he remembered “my daddy being an officer in the local branch of the NAACP” during the civil rights movement. Rouson noted “the irony” that Friday’s debate came as
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