The Republican-led Florida legislature is aggressively pushing along the controversial anti-mob, anti-riot measure known as HB1 in the committee weeks leading up to the start of the legislative session this coming March.
Because Gov. Ron DeSantis is 100% supportive of the bill, top Democrats like Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried are trying to score political points by accusing DeSantis of assaulting the freedom of Floridians, by trying to “silence the voices of Floridians” that have “peacefully” protested, or will protest “systemic police brutality.”
Commissioner Fried is saying that all of the racially-driven riots that occurred last summer as a result of the George Floyd murder in Minneapolis, were simply peaceful protests and nothing more.
"@GovRonDeSantis wants to silence the voices of Floridians who are peacefully protesting systemic police brutality and asking that their lives be valued the same as other Americans. Violence is already illegal — this is an assault on freedom," tweeted Fried.
Unfortunately, these protests Fried swears were peaceful actually turned into violent riots.
Like the bulk of the riots that have occurred around the country, so-called “peaceful” protests turned into full-blown riots that injured police and civilians, and cause thousands of dollars in property loss.
This was definitely the case in the cities Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale, where the often-times criminal Black Lives Matter organization staged protest-turn-riot events.
In Fort Lauderdale, The Floridian reported first-hand accounting of the damage committed by the Black Lives Matter rioters.
“Fort Lauderdale’s protest turned destructive, but many believe these, too, were “agitators” that arrived after the organizers of the original protest peacefully dispersed,” reported Local 10 News. “At about 7 p.m., Fort Lauderdale police and protesters began to clash. Sheriff Gregory Tony talked to Local 10 News and said that he believed these were people who arrived late on the scene to create chaos.”
Down in Miami, police arrested some 57 “protestors” after they began to vandalize private businesses and burn vehicles, including several police cruisers.
The HB1 is expected to pass in both chambers of the legislative body and be signed into law by DeSantis as soon as the measure passes.
Let's call this what it is: @GovRonDeSantis wants to silence the voices of Floridians who are peacefully protesting systemic police brutality and asking that their lives be valued the same as other Americans.
Violence is already illegal — this is an assault on freedom. https://t.co/bnHVycflow
— Nikki Fried (@nikkifried) January 28, 2021
