As Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 1 into law— the long-anticipated Republican anti-rioting measure—Democrats brewed with anger on Capitol Hill in response to legislation they believe will further the damage caused by police brutality and which they believe targets the "black and brown communities."
The will of Democrats to oppose and trash this bill was without question, but a GOP majority in both legislative chambers simply had the votes to counter any Democratic challenge to the measure.
The Senate and House both passed the anti-rioting bill with ease and prominent Democrats were all but slow to stage a press conference directly after the bill was signed into law.
Senator Shevrin Jones (D-35), a progressive and adamant opponent of HB 1 spoke in front of the Florida Capitol building and gave Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) a reminder: "Today is April 19th, 2021, and not April 19th, 1961."
After getting a few reactions from his Democrat colleagues, Jones issued a warning, stating, "If you think this piece of legislation is going to stop us from taking it to the streets, I hope somebody got the bail money because we're taking it to the streets still."
Jones' opposition, like most Progressives, stems from a fear that the aforementioned legislation poses a threat to the First Amendment and creates an unfair balance of power between constituents and law enforcement, per a Tweet from Jones below:
We have filed this amendment on #HB1 in support of @LaToyaRatlieff, who was shot in the eye by Officer Pohorence while she was PEACEFULLY protesting in Ft Lauderdale during the summer demonstrations.
If you hold demonstrators responsible, officers should be held responsible too. pic.twitter.com/y7KVxOqrx6
— Shevrin “Shev” Jones (@ShevrinJones) April 14, 2021
The press conference was also attended by Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-49).
Eskamani, who has now coined the term "Hate Bill 1", and flipped the script on Republicans by calling the bill signed into law, "Big government overreach like no other," adding that "It's happening as Floridians are locked out of the Capitol-talk about irony!"
The Democrat agenda will stay the same as the country rides out the ending of the Derek Chauvin trial and sees a new series of protests sparked by the recent killing of teenage boy Adam Toledo.
With any luck, this type of message will carry Progressives across the state into their campaigns and serve as a sturdy platform for their re-election bids.
We can probably expect Jones and others to lead protestors to the streets. Jones helped organized a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest in Fort Lauderdale last summer. The protest unfortunately turned violent later on in the day and evening.
