Florida State Rep. Calls Gov. DeSantis’ ‘Anti-mob’ Proposal a Response to an ‘Imaginary Issue’

It was reported that yesterday, Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis has drafted “anti-mob” legislation to expand already controversial Stand Your Ground laws which would allow people to shoot looters, among other things, according to a report.

This new push is reportedly in response to protests that happened in Florida and across the nation this year where riots broke out, highways were blocked, and citizens, like David Dorn, were killed for attempting to protect private property.

Orlando State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, however, spoke out against the legislation at a press conference where he said, “What’s interesting to see is Gov. Ron DeSantis has so much time on his hands that he can craft legislation to address an imaginary issue in the state of Florida.”

“We don’t have a crisis with riots or looters. What we do have is millions of Floridians pushed into poverty and unemployment as a result of coronavirus. Gov. DeSantis should be ashamed of himself,” Smith added.

"We don’t have a crisis with riots or looters. What we 𝗗𝗢 have is millions of Floridians pushed into 𝗽𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 and 𝘂𝗻𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 as a result of coronavirus. @GovRonDeSantis should be ashamed of himself." –@CarlosGSmith https://t.co/Emj4Gm2AKW pic.twitter.com/U99tVTl56Q

— Rep. Carlos G Smith (@CarlosGSmith) November 11, 2020

According to the Miami Herald, DeSantis also wants to make it a third-degree felony to block traffic during a protest and offer immunity to drivers who accidentally kill or injure protesters who do so.

Trump-supporting Twitter user “TheCynic” applauded the legislation and said that “We need more Governors like this.”

We need more Governors like this. https://t.co/ET5T6MKwMv

— TheCynic (@rpj0987) November 11, 2020

The proposal is considered an expansion of the state’s Stand Your Ground law, which was involved with one of the first cases that started the Black Lives Matter movement when George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin.