WINTER HAVEN -- Governor DeSantis, surrounded by legislative leaders, Cabinet members and law enforcement, signed what has been called the "anti-riot" bill at the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
He signed it as closing arguments got underway in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the fired Minneapolis police officer charged in the violent death of George Floyd. Unrest, including violent protest, broke out in the wake of Floyd's death last May.
DeSantis and other speakers, including CFO Jimmy Patronis and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, referenced unrest in Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle and other cities. They said the bill sends a message that Florida 'backs the blue' in the face of calls to defund the police.
Patronis said the bill was necessary to keep Florida a good place to do business, insisting companies won't move to Florida if they don't know their employees are safe.
All members of the Florida Cabinet were present except for Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democrat,
Judd said the bill sent a message to the hundreds of people moving here daily from blue states that have often been pointed out as hotbeds of violent unrest and spiking crime rates.
"Don't come down here and vote the way you did up north," Judd said.
The bill's provisions include making it more difficult for cities and counties to reduce funding for law enforcement, defining riot as a disturbance involving three or more people, creating a new felony called "aggravated riot", and penalties of up to 15 years for defacing monuments, including those dedicated to the Confederacy which have been the subject of takedowns in other states.
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