State and local authorities in Florida warned that any violence from protesters will be met with deadly force as the country prepares for a wave of anti-Trump “No Kings” protests over the weekend.
On Thursday, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey held a press conference alongside other officials in Titusville, Florida, outlining how rioters can expect to be treated by authorities. The violence recently seen in the streets of California during Los Angeles protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, officials warned, will not be tolerated in Florida.
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“Peaceful protests are part of our democracy, but the key word in that is ‘peaceful,’” Ivey said. “If you throw a brick, a firebomb, or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains at because we will kill you graveyard dead. We are not going to play.”
“Go protest all you want. Do it peacefully. Stand on the mountaintops and yell your opinion, your views. … If it’s peaceful, US and law enforcement are going to make sure you have a safe environment to do it in,” the sheriff, in office since 2013, added. “We invite that, but don’t you dare break the law, because it won’t go well for you.”
As he spoke from a podium emblazoned with the words, “Florida: The anti-riot state,” Uthmeier emphasized that Florida’s reaction to any violence or tensions will be approached far differently than California’s Democratic-led response, which has broadly condoned anti-ICE sentiment.
“If you throw things, light things on fire, wreak havoc and destruction in Florida, you will do time,” the attorney general said. “We want to put the public on notice in Florida and remind everybody, you know, we have a law that says you cannot riot. We have enhanced penalties. If you engage in this behavior in Florida, you will do time.”
“We are not California,” he continued. “We do not allow rioting in the state of Florida. … We are ready to ensure that it is nipped in the bud right away. We’re not going to tolerate that in Florida.”
Uthmeier also announced the appointment of ICE State Liaison Officer Anthony Coker to assist Florida with aiding the Trump administration’s deportation effort. Coker’s appointment makes him the first-ever ICE agent to be based in Florida and gives Florida the distinction of being the first state to appoint an ICE representative.
Following the Sunshine State’s campaign to be the most pro-ICE state in the country, the attorney general unveiled further protections for ICE agents as the state works to “support the Trump administration’s efforts to combat illegal immigration.” He said a new program will be launched to protect ICE agents from doxxing, a malicious practice in which someone’s personal information, such as their home address, is made public.
“We have a great collaborative operation with the feds, with ICE, and we’re very, very proud to support them,” Uthmeier said.
Florida comes as the latest of the red states that have vowed to stand by ICE and combat any violence ahead of coming anti-Trump “No Kings” protests planned for this Saturday.
On Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) joined a flurry of GOP governors across the country vowing to meet violence with full force. If Florida residents driving on the roads encounter “mobs” blocking roadways and are in fear for their lives, they will not be held liable for driving ahead if they hit protesters, the governor assured constituents, because rioters “have no right to commandeer streets.”
“If you’re driving on one of those streets and a mob comes and surrounds your vehicle and threatens you, you have a right to flee for your safety, and so if you drive off and you hit one of these people, that’s their fault for impinging on you,” DeSantis told podcaster Dave Rubin in an episode of The Rubin Report released Wednesday night. “You don’t have to sit there and just be a sitting duck and let the mob grab you out of your car and drag you through the streets.”
“You have a right to defend yourself in Florida,” the governor said.
During the press conference on Thursday, Ulthmeier and Ivey provided similar assurances to Floridians caught driving during “angry demonstrations.”
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“If you’re a family out there, and you’re driving, and all of a sudden you get surrounded by one of these angry demonstrators that’s turned violent … you don’t need to sit there and wait while people smash your window and damage your vehicle and put your family in jeopardy,” the attorney general said. “You drive. Just drive. … If someone’s in front of you and threatening your vehicle, you just drive.”
Ivey added that if protesters hit police vehicles, “you’re going to the hospital and jail, and most likely get bitten by one of our big, beautiful dogs that we have here.”