Misguided state legislators in several states are determined to emit as many possible racist dog whistles as possible during their 2021 annual meetings.
On voting rights, President Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. said they were "UnAmerican."
We see through these lousy louche rebarbative reprobate retronmingent rogues, these Dull Republicans, who know not that they know not that they know not."
DeSantis-backed ‘anti-riot’ bill clears Florida House following hours of tense debate
TALLAHASSEE – The “anti-riot” bill sought by Gov. Ron DeSantis following last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests cleared the Florida House following hours of emotional debate Friday.
The measure (CS/HB 1) may be the most divisive bill facing lawmakers this session – roundly condemned by opponents as a racially tinged attack on free speech and defended by supporters as needed to protect businesses and communities from violence.
The legislation was approved 76-39 in the Republican-dominated House, with the vote breaking along party lines.
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“This is a good bill; this will make our citizens more safe,” said Rep. Thad Altman, R-Indialantic. “There is no greater threat to peacefully assemble than those violent groups that want to disrupt that right.”
But Democratic lawmakers took turns at the microphone to blister the legislation as aimed largely at stopping minority communities from reacting to such events as the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, which sparked demonstrations across the nation last summer.
A study last fall showed that 93% of these protests were peaceful and nondestructive, while the others involved looting and the burning of businesses. The demonstrations across Florida cities involved little violence.
“I detest violence. I detest rioting. I detest burning our neighborhoods,” said Rep. Marie Paule Woodson, D-Hollywood. “But this bill is not about that. It is about silencing our voices.”
Rep. Tray McCurdy, D-Orlando, also underscored the fear that law enforcement and prosecutors will apply the enhanced criminal penalties contained in the legislation primarily against minorities. He said the bill echoed old “Jim Crow laws,” which supported racial segregation.
“It seems that freedom of speech is free until black and brown people start talking,” McCurdy said.
The House debate Friday spanned almost five hours. The bill now heads to the Senate, where a similar measure has not yet had a committee hearing – although with DeSantis behind the effort, it’s likely to advance before the session’s scheduled end, April 30.
The legislation toughens penalties for several crimes that already exist and creates new potential crimes including “mob intimidation,” “inciting a riot” and “defacing, damaging or destroying a monument,” a measure largely aimed at protecting Confederate statues still scattered widely across Florida and an occasional target of protests.
City and county governments could be held financially liable for damages if they failed to control protests that get out of hand and they also could be subject to new challenges from citizens if they attempt to reduce spending on law enforcement.
The GOP-controlled Legislature unveiled the anti-riot measure the evening of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. But DeSantis talked about taking the steps contained in the bill as early as September, following weeks of Black Lives Matter protests still fresh.
“This is a very robust package,” DeSantis said when he promoted his approach, whose themes are contained in HB 1. “I think what it’s saying is we are not going to let Florida go down the road that some of these other places have gone.”
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Among the provisions in the package approved Friday is a mandatory six-month sentence for anyone convicted of battery on a police officer during a riot. Another would impose a felony carrying penalties ranging from a $5,000 fine to 10 years in prison for anyone convicted of injuring someone or damaging property during a “violent public disturbance” involving three or more people.
Those arrested as part of a riot would be unable to immediately bond out and would have to wait for a first appearance before a judge.
Rep. Robin Bartleman, D-Weston, warned that the bill is so sweeping that many people could find themselves charged and locked up, simply for being part of a demonstration where some outlying participants cause damage.
Bartleman said that her young daughter has protested following the 2018 shootings at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and also during last summer’s demonstrations.
“A peaceful protest with just 25 participants can be called a riot with just a couple of people making bad choices,” Bartleman said.
While many opponents called the legislation a violation of free speech, Rep. Cord Byrd, R-Neptune Beach, said there was no constitutional right to violence.
“Wanton violence cannot build a better society,” Bird said.
Rep. Tyler Sirois, R-Merritt Island, said, “Throwing a brick through a window is not free speech. It’s a crime.”
But Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, said the measure ignores that “some of our greatest moments in this nation are rooted in protest. As elected officials, we should listen to this.
"There was a reason these protests happened last summer,” she added. “This bill is designed to keep us in check. To keep us fearful, to scare us from speaking out about Black Lives Matter.”
John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@gannett.com, or on Twitter at @JKennedyReport.
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