‘ We are going to hold you accountable’
DeSantis calls for punishment for rioters
Gov. Ron DeSantis says he wants to crack down on rioters regardless of their political stripe, including those who support his close ally President Donald Trump.
DeSantis said Thursday an “antimob” proposal he introduced months ago in response to unruly racial justice protests also will apply to people on the right seeking to intimidate government officials.
“I am the first governor to really take this very seriously with my legislation,” he said during a news conference in Bradenton.
He added, “I don’t care what banner you are flying, If you are engaging in that conduct, we are going to hold you accountable.”
His remarks came a day after a pro- Trump mob stormed the Capitol.
State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D- Orlando, said DeSantis is trying to “rewrite history” by portraying his anti- mob legislation as an effort to stop what happened Wednesday on Capitol Hill. Legislation modeled after the DeSantis proposal includes protections for Confederate monuments, she said.
“DeSantis has done nothing to stop Trump,” Eskamani said. “He’s not a credible voice on what happened yesterday at all.”
DeSantis, a key supporter of
Trump, said he doesn’t think his public statements helped to stir up the mob.
In the weeks after the election, the Republican governor didn’t acknowledge President- elect Joe Biden had won the election. Instead, he cast doubt on the legitimacy of the nation’s election system, floating an idea on Laura Ingraham’s show on Fox News that GOP legislatures in swing states won by Biden could bypass the popular vote and appoint Trump electors.
“What I have said is you can file suit,” DeSantis said Thursday. “There are political ways to do it. In no way have I ever supported any type of lawlessness or anything like that.”
DeSantis unveiled his anti- mob proposal after a summer of protests over the police killing of George Floyd i n Minneapolis. Legislation filed in the Florida Legislature just hours after the Capitol Hill riot on Thursday would toughen penalties for already illegal violent behavior committed during a riot, along with making it a felony to topple a memorial.
The legislation would make it harder for local governments to cut police budgets. It also would create a new “mob intimidation” statute making it a crime “for a person, assembled with two or more other persons and acting with a common intent, to compel or induce, or attempt to compel or induce, another person by force, or threat of force, to do any act or to assume or abandon a particular viewpoint.”
The American
Civil
Liberties Union of Florida objected to DeSantis’ proposal, arguing it could criminalize or have a chilling effect on peaceful protests.
State lawmakers will take up the anti- mob legislation when they convene for the legislative session in March.