DeSantis says protesters on roadways can be run over by drivers. Is that true?
The thousands of Floridians expected to march in the No Kings National Day of Defiance on Saturday had better be on their best behavior, warned Florida's governor.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said that drivers will not be at fault if they hit protesters that block roadways in a clip that took social media by storm. Interviewed on a Reuben Report podcast episode released Wednesday, he said 'you have a right to defend yourself in Florida.'
'You have a right to flee for your safety, and so if you drive off and you hit one of these people, that's their fault for impinging on you,' DeSantis said. 'You don't have to sit there and just be a sitting duck and let the mob grab you out of your car and drag you through the streets.'
Under Florida's relatively new anti-riot law, he's not completely wrong, legal experts say.
One of the main concerns of elected leaders who unsuccessfully fought the anti-riot bill four years ago is the bill, they say, is too vague.
'I'm worried about its ambiguity,' said Democratic Florida State Sen. Shevrin Jones, who represents Miami Gardens and other sections of North Miami-Dade. 'Can an individual who is just standing there and something breaks out be arrested? Is an individual able to run over a protester?'
Though concerns still exist, some of the key components of the bill were muted by the courts after being challenged by the ACLU of Florida, the Community Justice Project and other First Amendment rights groups. Florida's Supreme Court essentially shut down the state from labeling peaceful protesters as rioters, which would have allowed for a plethora of criminal charges. (A federal appellate court later ruled peaceful protesters could face criminal charges if their protests turn violent.)
As for Jones' concern about drivers being able to legally mow down protesters, that's not the case, said Alana Greer, director of the Community Justice Project.
What the Legislature did was enable a driver who hits someone during a riot to basically claim Stand Your Ground in a civil lawsuit only.
And, Greer said, so far the ACLU and the Community Justice Project are not aware of anyone who's been charged under the state's anti-riot bill, known formally as the 'Combating Public Disorder Act.'
'HB 1's [the bill's] goal was to chill everyday Floridians desire to go out and protest,' said Greer. 'The reality is the Constitution still protects our ability to go out and protest.'
The law does allow a person to be cited for a pedestrian violation if they 'willfully obstruct the free, convenient, and normal use of a public street, highway or road.' For instance, if a person stands or remains on a street, highway or roadway, they would be in violation of a section in state laws that would subject them to a $15 traffic citation.
U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, the Democrat who represents northern Miami-Dade and southern Broward, said the bill has caused her enough angst to alter directions to her constituents on how to react if they spot agitators Saturday. Wilson said she's concerned members of the far-right militia group the Proud Boys might infiltrate the crowds in Florida.
She initially told people not to run or cause a ruckus, but to immediately sit down and remain silent. But concerned over the law's section that mentions motor vehicles, she is now telling them to make their way to the nearest sidewalk before sitting down silently.
'Be very, very careful,' the congresswoman said.
Controversial law
The law was created in the wake of the thousands of Black Lives Matter protests that rocked the country in the summer of 2020 following the death of a Minneapolis security guard named George Floyd.
The intensity of those marches and the tens of millions of people who took part so unnerved conservative legislatures across the country that several states passed bills expanding police powers and increasing penalties on wayward marchers.
The controversial Florida bill boosted penalties for anyone taking part in a violent public disturbance and gave law enforcement more leeway in dealing with violent protesters. The bill also allows people to sue local governments for damages caused during a riot or unlawful assembly, creates new crimes that include mob intimidation and inciting a riot and can land a person in prison for up to 15 years for tearing down a memorial dedicated to a historical figure.
The Saturday marches are scheduled to take place in 2,000 cities across the country, including about 75 throughout Florida. Locally, they're planned for Miami's Torch of Friendship, Pride Park in Miami Beach, North Young Circle in Hollywood and two spots in Fort Lauderdale: A1A and Sunrise Boulevard and 335 SE Sixth Ave., in addition to Key Largo, Marathon and Key West in the Keys.
READ MORE: 'No Kings' anti-Trump protests planned across South Florida amid LA unrest. See where
They protests are in response to the federal crackdown of protesters in Los Angeles, who were marching in response to the nation's new stringent immigration policies.
The No Kings march is also planned to coincide with President Trump's military parade and birthday celebration in Washington on Saturday. Trump has said protesters were not welcome and would receive 'very heavy force' if they show up.
Earlier this week in Jacksonville, DeSantis said law enforcement around the state is ready to act and warned protesters they'd be arrested if they blocked streets or destroyed property. He said peaceful protesting was fine, but alerted people not to 'cross the line.'
'We're not going to just sit idly by and let the inmates run the asylum,' he said.
No charges filed in 'Patria y Vida' protests
The closest South Florida has come to the expected crowds this weekend was probably during the summer of 2021, when thousands of people took to the streets during the 'Patria y Vida' marches. Protesters marched in unison with the hundreds of Cubans who had been arrested, beaten up and censored for protesting openly on the island.
Those marches took place three months after the state passed its anti-riot act, which clearly states that someone will be cited for a pedestrian violation if they 'willfully obstruct the free, convenient, and normal use of a public street, highway or road.'
Police, that day, gave marchers a break. Despite thousands of people clogging main arteries on Coral Way and even closing down a section of the the Palmetto Expressway, there were no arrests under the new law.
READ MORE: Is Cuban-Americans' highway protest in Miami breaking Florida's new anti-riot law?
A teen videotapes an ugly confrontation
Floyd was 46 when he was killed gasping for breath under the knee of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who would later be convicted of unintentional murder and manslaughter.
A teenager named Darnella Frazier could not have foreseen at the time how the decision to train her cellphone video recorder on Chauvin and Floyd for those ill-fated nine minutes would reverberate through law enforcement circles.
Five years later, that chilling scene could have a direct result on the interactions between police and protesters on South Florida's streets.
Still, the No Kings march is an event that representatives Jones and Wilson say is needed now more than ever — anti-riot bill, or not.
'I'm encouraging people to express discontent and express their First Amendment rights to march and protest,' Wilson said. 'But I'm also telling them to be careful.'
Said Jones: 'This absolutely needs to be done. You have a president that has gone rogue. A president who doesn't believe in the letter of the law. Democracy is not a spectator sport. And these are not radical people. These are patriots.'
Miami Herald writer Siena Duncan contributed to this report.
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