The Florida Senate on Thursday passed, largely along party lines, a controversial anti-riot bill that was pushed by GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests last summer.
The bill aims to increase criminal penalties for assault against law enforcement while engaging in a “riot” and defacing monuments and other public property during riots. It would also penalize local governments that interfere with law enforcement attempting to contain riots and would provide a citizen’s appeal process when cities and counties attempt to reduce police budgets in response to riots.
The final vote in the Florida Senate was 23-17 in favor of the measure, with one Republican voting with Democrats in opposition. The bill passed the GOP-controlled House in late March. Democratic lawmakers in the state argue that it creates a chilling effect on First Amendment rights and restricts political dissent. Republicans argued that it will protect law enforcement and prevent public disorder.
GOP state Sen. Ed Hooper said during the bill’s contentious debate that the legislation was not about racism but “law and order.” Democratic state Sen. Jason Pizzo, who criticized the bill, tweeted after its passage that “this legislative session will likely get its own custom box of Cards Against Humanity.”
DeSantis championed the legislation and is expected to sign it as early as next week.
In the weeks since the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, at least 13 states have taken up legislation to crack down on protests. The push, critics say, is a revival of broader anti-protest efforts that emerged amid the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that rocked the country last summer.
Lawmakers in Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Arizona, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington filed bills that critics claim are using the violence at the Capitol to target social justice protests more broadly. Many of the bills are similar or identical to the ones introduced in those states last year.
The majority of bills use almost identical language and suggest similar penalties, most establishing third-degree felonies for property damage, injuring a person or obstructing roadways, second-degree felonies for destroying or toppling monuments, and first-degree misdemeanors of harassment for confrontations in public spaces, such as confronting elected officials in restaurants. The lawmakers also propose hefty fines and mandatory jail sentences ranging from 30 days to four years depending on the offense.
Florida, Indiana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Virginia and Washington bills redefine a riot or unlawful assembly as three or more partaking in “tumultuous activity.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
