PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – The history of the United States has often turned on protests beginning as far back as the Boston Tea Party. But, in Florida, the right to protest robustly was cast in doubt after Gov. Ron DeSantis saw the Black Lives Matter protests.
Florida protests were noisy, but mostly peaceful, and police generally showed restraint even when demonstrators blocked freeways.
There were exceptions, however, including rubber bullets and tear gas in Fort Lauderdale and vandalism in Miami, where several police cars were vandalized.
There were smashed windows and looting in Bayside Marketplace.
DeSantis said enough and called on the state’s legislature to pass HB 1, the “Combatting Violence, Disorder and Looting and Law Enforcement Protection Act,” which redefines the meaning of protest and riots.
“What we’ve done with this bill is improve upon the definition in order to protect our residents, protect businesses, protect property, protect law enforcement and most of all protect peaceful protesters,” said the bill’s sponsor, Representative Juan Fernandez-Barquin.
The legislation was approved by the Florida House of Representatives with the final vote in Tallahassee was 76-39 in favor of what is known as HB 1. The vote fell along partisan lines with Republicans in support and Democrats opposed. But it languished in the senate, opposed by Sen. Jason Pizzo of Miami.
“Not a single one of my colleagues ever heard from law enforcement that last year they felt helpless in Florida. That the brave men and woman serving in either sheriff’s departments or local police departments felt helpless with rampant rioters,” Pizzo said.
Many of the rioters who torched police cars and vandalized property were arrested. With this bill in place, they’d face stiffer penalties, for “aggravated rioting, causing great bodily harm, damaging property or endangering traffic.”
The legislation creates new criminal offenses and increases penalties for those who target law enforcement and participate in violent or disorderly assemblies.
In fact, the bill gives drivers the right to plow right through demonstrators if they feel threatened without fear of prosecution and immunity from civil charges.