DeSantis suspends another elected official

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday suspended Port Richey Mayor Dale Massad, who is accused of practicing medicine without a license and firing shots at officers who went to his home to serve a search warrant. DeSantis issued an executive order that said he was suspending Massad in the “best interests of the residents of the city of Port Richey and the citizens of the state of Florida.”

Massad, a former physician who gave up his medical license in 1992, was charged Thursday with practicing medicine without a license and attempted murder. Pasco County sheriff’s officers went to Massad’s home to serve the warrant after an investigation into allegations that he was diagnosing and treating illnesses and injuries at his home, according to an affidavit released with the executive order. As SWAT team members tried to forcibly enter the home to serve the warrant, he is accused of firing two shots that did not hit offic