New Proposed Laws in Florida will allow citizens to shoot Looters and Rebels

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The Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis has drafted “anti-mob” legislation to include looting in expanded “Stand Your Ground” laws. It will supposedly enhance protections for a shooting defense to riots. The new push to expand self-defense laws came after civil unrest sparked across the United States and Florida over the summer in the lead up to the presidential election. The Miami Herald reported that it will add looting to the list of forcible felonies to justify the use of force against people who commit a burglary within 500 feet of violent or disorderly assembly. A former Miami-Dade County prosecutor, Denise Georges said, “It allows for vigilantes to justify their actions.

It also allows for death to be the punishment for a property crime and that is cruel and unusual punishment”. Georges has worked with Stand Your Ground cases. He added, “We cannot live in a lawless society where taking a life is done so casually and recklessly”. DeSantis pledged in September to crack down on violent and disorderly assemblies in response to violent unrest across the country. He delivered his words during a press conference at the time and said, “You see videos of these innocent people eating dinner and you have these crazed lunatics just screaming at them and intimidating them on public accommodation. You aren’t going to do that in the state of Florida”.

The crackdown of the Republican Governor on violence and civil unrest was seen as an attempt in the lead up to the presidential election to help Donald Trump in Florida. It is noteworthy that President Trump won Florida comfortably in part due to strong support from Latino voters. The draft legislation would withhold state funding from local governments that defund the police by cutting law enforcement budgets while also enhancing criminal penalties for people in violent or disorderly assemblies. The draft legislation says, “A motor vehicle operator who unintentionally causes injury or death to a person who obstructs or interferes with the regular flow of vehicular traffic in violation of subsection (1) or (2) is not liable for such injury or death”.