As expected, Florida’s House Bill 1, the governor’s priority anti-protest law disguised as an “anti-rioting” measure, passed its first committee meeting Wednesday — along partisan lines.
The 11-6 vote at the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Subcommittee followed a hearing of more than two hours with about 70 public commenters, most against the bill, and the GOP legislators all backing sponsor State Rep. Juan Alfonso Fernandez-Barquin (R-Kendall).
Critics call it a racist knee-jerk reaction born from the ultra right fear of the Black Lives Movement protests that followed the police killing of George Floyd in May. Proponents say it is a measure meant to stem the looting and violence that some hoodlums aprovechados use protests as cover to commit their crimes.
“Our job is to fix something that’s broken or improve something that could be better,” said State Rep. Michael Grieco (D-Miami Beach), the committee’s Democratic ranking member, adding that this bill only “tramples” on basic constitutional rights of all Floridians.
“Florida has a lot more than 99 problems and this bill doesn’t solve any of them,” Grieco said, quoting Jay-Z.
“People across the political spectrum are angry and dissatisfied with government, and this bill just gives them another reason to feel that way while chilling their desire to speak out,” Grieco said.
The reality is that the bill creates a brand new third degree felony called “aggravated rioting” when there is a protest with more than nine people and/or any property damage of $5,000 or more. It doesn’t seem to matter who does the property damage, all nine protesters are guilty.
Wait, that’s not all. It also eliminates bail for protesters arrested. Like my niece, Isabel, a 22-year-old FIU student who was arrested while sitting on the sidewalk during a BLM march on the streets around the school. Charges were eventually dropped, as they were against most everybody arrested on bogus disorder charges to quell the demonstrations.
But we were able to bail her out rather than leave her in jail during a COVID-19 pandemic. Under the new law, we’d have to wait until a first court appearance. And she was arrested on a Saturday.
Read related: Charges dropped against FIU protesters and arrest reports don’t match 911 call
Republican supporters said the law is about public safety, but it’s not.
This bill would do nothing to keep us safe from looters and rioters who are already criminals and only take advantage of lawful, peaceful protests to commit their crimes. Burglary, theft and vandalism are already chargeable, arrestable offenses.
Why do we need this law? We don’t. It’s a political ploy by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is losing ground, and favorability points, on the COVID war.
In the works since DeSastre announced it last fall, the bill has evolved most recently to include reference to the Capitol siege on Jan. 6 — in what looks like a blatant effort to rally Democrat support.
It failed to do that. Not one Dem voted in favor. Because those people are already getting arrested for crimes that already exist.
“This is the first crack, and the first committee step,” Fernandez-Barquin said. “And I look forward to working on it with this committee.”
Grieco said he had gotten thousands of emails and spoke to dozens of people who were against the drastic measure and that only one thing could improve the bill. “You can shred it,” he said to applause. “You can forget it.
“I am proud to call the sponsor of this bill my friend. But I could not be more down on your bill,” Grieco told Fernandez-Barquin, giving two thumbs down.
But the bill passed its first gate. And, if Wednesday’s vote is an indication, it will pass in a Republican-held House.
Unless we the people do something, that is. There is still time to write and call your state rep. In Miami-Dade, that would be these Republicans who support the bill and need to be told to step off our civil rights:
State Rep. Demi “Wife of Kevin” Busatta Cabrera (R-Coral Gables) can be reached at 850-717-5114 or 305-910-4236 and you can send her an email here.
State Rep. Alex Rizo (R-Hialeah/Miami Lakes) can be reached at 850-717-5110 or 305-364-4126 at the Hialeah District office, 3798 West 12th Ave., Suite A. Or you can email him at this link.
And, of course, Fernandez-Barquin, who can be reached at 850-717-5119 or 305-222-4119 at his district office. Or you can email him at this link.
Let’s fill their inboxes and eat up their voice mail time.
This is especially important if you are a voter in any of these districts, whether Democrat or Republican. Please let these legislators know that you can vote to reelect them, but only if they truly represent the community’s best interest over the party’s and that this is their first test.
Then there are the other lawmakers who supported the bill in committee. The link on each takes you to their phone numbers and emails:
- Chair Cord Byrd (R-Jacksonville)
- Vice Chair Robert Charles “Chuck” Brannan III (R-Lake City)
- State Rep. Webster Barnaby (R-Orange City)
- State Rep. Elizabeth Anne Fetterhoff (R-DeLand)
- State Rep. Tommy Gregory (R-Bradenton)
- State Rep. Brett Thomas Hage (R-The Villages)
- State Rep. Thomas Patterson “Patt” Maney (R-Fort Walton Beach)
- State Rep. Spencer Roach (R-North Fort Myers)
- State Rep. John Snyder (R-Hobe Sound)
- State Rep. Kaylee Tuck (R-Sebring)
Tell your friends who live there to call them and write them. Let our legislators know that this is not what we need right now. Our lawmakers need to prioritize our needs, not the governor’s political plays.
As anyone can see, the Republicans outnumber Democrats, which is the only reason the bill advanced.
“You all are in charge,” Grieco said at the hearing. “You can run whatever bill you want and there’s not much that I and my colleagues on the blue team can do about it.
“But just because you can do something, doesn’t mean that you should.”
Governor’s anti-protest bill gets through 1st committee hearing–on partisan vote added by Ladra on
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Republicans. Trump Republicans. DeSantis wants to be mini-Trump. Marco Rubio is already Little Marco. Dumb bill.
” Excuse me I must return to my most dreadful spot in purgatory between Lenin and the Romanovs (both I hear will soon be sent to a lower level), Anastasia says hello.”
You might enjoy ” Rasputin vs Stalin. Epic Rap Battles of History ” on youtube , its great until after Lenin then bit lame .
” In downtown Miami, there were also reports that police “let” them march to Bayside and did nothing to protect the stores because it is good for THEM for it to look unruly.”
Well I do not know about that . They do not call the Miami police , The Caribbean Key Stone Cops for nothing .
The police did not force anyone to loot .
BLM has been looting left and right because like Antifa ( total anarchists ) they have no discipline , no structure who only hurt their cause .
I agree with BLM as far as their complaints but their demonstrations are a disaster .
Become a voting machine , do jury duty and they are now on the march .
I have to tell you that not one of the Black men in their 30s I know at the gym AND work votes , NOT ONE .
I mean seriously even Black Cubans here have a horrible voting rate .
Yes not PC to say this but has your experience been different ?
” BLM (it has nothing to do with equal protection under the law)”
We will disagree .
Blacks are often treated with disdain , disrespect , abuse by the police for the same which White’s which certainly includes White Hispanics here in Miami get a free pass for but being White just like I am a White Cuban you can’t see it.
I have seen it here and there working at night but being the police here is Hispanic until recently they got a free pass .
I do agree that BLM has looted , destroyed and has not achieved a thing but the premise of not getting fair treatment is correct .
Doesn’t help them when MOST do not vote and get out of jury duty ( had jury here 3x in 6 years and saw it ).
Either way communist they are not that is a right wing talking point .
You would not want to be Black .
” Wait, that’s not all. It also eliminates bail for protesters arrested. Like my niece, Isabel, a 22-year-old FIU student who was arrested while sitting on the sidewalk during a BLM march on the streets around the school. Charges were eventually dropped, as they were against most everybody arrested on bogus disorder charges to quell the demonstrations.”
Please do not put your neck out there for people who as a whole can not even bother voting much less jury duty .
Though caustic , my objective is not to tick anyone off especially since you people are the types of people who move and no one needs to hold your hands but this has been my experience here in Miami .
You ever hear the Florida saying — ” If you want to get away from Black male Democrats , Hispanic Democrats regardless of gender/age and Caucasian Democrats under 35 just go vote in a state election” .
Granted it is a bit of an exaggeration but it does make the point .
Ladra,
I don’t appreciate how you speak from both sides of your mouth. It is not your first time doing it. It is what you do best. When you do, I am going to call you out as soon as I see it.
Here let me give you a taste of your own medicine. All of a sudden you are giving cover to those protestors who destroyed public properties, private properties, historical statues, etc. by now saying that criminals used the protests, just like the white supremacists used the Trump rallies to commit their crimes.
However, in the past you have painted with a broad brush the “Real President of the United States, the great Donald J. Trump” and his supporters who were their MAGA hats as racists without a scintilla of evidence. Why not paint the protestors as criminals as you did with Trump and his supporters? I tell you why. Because it does not fit your narrative.
I am a staunch supporter of Trump and not a racist. Yet you and the mainstream media have said that I and others are. So by your own standards and mouth, since your niece was a protestor, then she is a criminal.
Ladra, your are not as smart as you think. Your ego and alter ego gets the best of you at times. I know the Truth hurts. But this is what you get because of your provocative bites. Interesting name you have selected for yourself.
Truth and Facts, such interesting names you pick for yourselves.
Fact: There are already lots of laws that police can use to arrest people who loot and burn cars. Those laws exist. You don’t need new laws to tamper down protests. In downtown Miami, there were also reports that police “let” them march to Bayside and did nothing to protect the stores because it is good for THEM for it to look unruly. This, again, had nothing to do with the protest. Criminals use the protests — like white supremacists use Trump rallies — to commit their crimes.
Truth: There are so many of your incendiary comments posted here, and for free, why on Earth would I not approve one more random idiotic thing you say? More likely, you hit the wrong button and it never got through. And maybe you are not as smart as you think you are.
Love, Ladra
I remember years ago, during the Elian Gonzalez protests, how the liberal segment in this county riled against Cuban exiles for peacefully blocking the entrance to the port of Miami, the Palmetto Expressway and other major arteries as they protested the return of the child to Cuba. Though peaceful, those protests were unruly and without permits and police acted against the participants to protect law and order.
Please explain why now is it acceptable for a couple of hundred of FIU students to block a major artery at 107 Avenue and SW 8 Street and not expect the same treatment from police?
Those who participated in that peaceful but unruly demonstration placed themselves in a situation that could have resulted in injuries to both civilians and law enforcement.
Easy to Monday morning quarterback but let’s say a driver would have decided to drive through that crowd and mow a dozen citizens, would the police not have been judged at fault for failing to control the demonstration?
Also, try to explain how those “peaceful protests” in Downtown Miami were justified after cars were burnt, Bayside stores were looted and statues defaced.
The bottom line is, we pay taxes to protect ourselves from people who destroy life and property and the police is the tool that enforces the law.
If you do not wish to be arrested or sadly beaten at a demonstration, protest with a permit or stay home. You will not get much sympathy from looted store owners or responsible taxpayers.
Ladra,
Unwilling to post my comment. Typical of a Democrat who believes censoring people is a given right. You think you have the right to talk all that shit about Carlos Gimenez and President Trump, but when all the talk is about you, you can’t handle it.
Hhhhmmm, let me try the Carlos Curbelo model. How much do I have to pay you to post my comment.
I know the Truth hurts.
Purgatory is hell….. anyway I’m back from the not living to yank your chain.
1- I agreed with you that law was overreach so there was no argument there.
2- If the emergency vehicle gets caught in traffic caused by these peaceful protesters regardless of their subsequent actions, said vehicle will be delayed.
3- Please read your politifact link it makes my point I said “BLM , which was founded by self-proclaimed “Trained Marxists” the politifact article actually reiterates that point.
Based on my own experience I would not recommend anyone supporting any organization founded by self-avowed Trained Marxist.
4- A absentee ballot did arrive at my gravesite in Russia but I didn’t vote for the Orange guy and not for the sock puppet either. I courteously abstained, So There.
Excuse me I must return to my most dreadful spot in purgatory between Lenin and the Romanovs (both I hear will soon be sent to a lower level), Anastasia says hello.
Thank you for coming to us from the other side after 50 years six feet under, Mr. Kerensky. How is it over there?
Where you are wrong is that (1) a majority of the students DID wear masks and (2) they would have happily stepped aside for an emergency vehicle. They weren’t sitting on the street. They crossed the street, marching, to make a point, like protests are supposed to do. They aren’t protests if they don’t inconvenience SOMEone. I don’t think they would have blocked an emergency vehicle, however. So you can’t make that ridiculous assumption to defend this. But you do because you have nothing else to grab onto.
That’s the problem with this law. It lumps peaceful protesters together with rioters and looters and other lawbreakers. They are not one and the same. Address the criminals with laws that already exist and you can enforce, to PROTECT the demonstrators who are exercising their constitutional rights.
As for your rightwing repetition of the “trained marxist” line… Context matters. https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/jul/21/black-lives-matter-marxist-movement/ And everyone who believes in BLM is not Marxist, just like everyone who voted for Donald Trump is not racist. Right?
You made better arguments when you were alive, Alexander. Which is natural. Go back to sleep.
Love, Ladra
Ladra your right we have enough laws regarding violence, property damage and traffic obstruction….they just need to be applied without favoring any group in particular.
You seem to be concerned about your protesting sobrina and Covid, she not so much protesting with a bunch of folks with no mask and not (un)socially distanced. Please answer this, if you were in an ambulance, transporting a sick loved one to the hospital, were waiting on police or paramedics and these peaceful (yet lawbreaking/Obstructing traffic) protesters caused a critical delay, how would you feel? BE HONEST. If you REALLY support something and are willing to obstruct traffic or worse then spending a night in jail and having to bond out should not be something to complain about. (Though I get it her Tia)
Millie Herrera I like you am surprised that descendants of Cuban exiles would support a law that even has the possibility of curtailing anyone’s 1st amendment rights, UNLIKE YOU I am equally surprised that descendants of Cuban exiles would associate themselves with BLM (it has nothing to do with equal protection under the law), which was founded by self-proclaimed “Trained Marxists ” (see Patrisse Cullors Video Interview with Jared Ball, look it up) or hobnob with Maduro and proclaim the greatness of the “Bolivarian Revolution” (Opal Tometi (I say Tomato) in 2017 or just check out her twitter account) ….need I say more?
Marie, you are making a lot of crazy assumptions.
Ladra is from a very pro-law enforcement family with two federal agents among us. We have guns and believe in the Second Amendment. We are also Cuban and we know how the government can use laws like these to clamp down on dissent.
“Most” of the protesters were violent looters? Really? You BELIEVE this? That’s ludicrous. The majority of the peaceful protesters included police officers who marched with demonstrators in many cities. People knelt. People prayed. Yes, some people threw rocks and broke windows. Those are not most people. There were also people protesting who protected business from these hoodlums.
The fact that you are only seeing the looting and the burning is very telling. Nobody is saying that it didn’t happen. It always happens during mass protests. Criminals use the cover to do their crimes. BUT THESE ARE ALREADY CRIMES. We don’t need any law to make looting and burning police cars illegal. It is ALREADY illegal.
This new bill is only meant to chill our freedom of speech. Period. There is no other public policy objective.
Love, Ladra
We need Governor DeSantis’ anti-rioting bill–House Bill 1–to insure that Miami does not experience uncontrolled violence, looting, fires and vandalism that Portland and Minneapolis has experienced. It sends the right signal. Peaceful protest, yes. Destruction of property, a BIG NO.
I will be calling but NOT to tell them to stop but to show my support for a bill that is most sorely needed. You can spin it any way you wish but most of the protests that have happened were nowhere near peaceful so you can stop with your rhetoric which is to constantly to paint every Republican as being bad.
If you choose to go out and “protest” and help those that are burning property, breaking into businesses, trying to hurt police officers (yes that did happen, even though you deny it) and in general disrupt those of us that are just trying to make a living and live a decent life, then you should be able to accept the consequences. That is the problem with you and the people you pander to, you want to disrupt, hurt and do whatever you want with no consequences. Most of those “peaceful protestors” were in agreement and even blocked police from getting to the ones that were doing all those things mentioned, if not actually joining in and engaging in the rioting (which is what actually happened).
None of what those “peaceful protestors” did last summer make me feel any sympathy or move over to their cause in the manner they decided to handle it. It did the exact opposite and now I praise Gov. DeSantis for the wonderful job he is doing to keep us safe from the tyranny that is trying to destroy our state and our country, i.e. the media who loves to exaggerate and tell outlandish lies to the public . But then again, I am not a socialist/communist so I am on the side of the truth and having laws, therefore, I want police officers to protect me, my family, my property and my community as a whole (as well as my country that I love). A concept that I know is absolutely foreign and distasteful to you until you or one of your family members need the police for whatever reason.
Dear Mike, read more carefully. I never labeled anyone. I did say that “critics” of the bill think it is a knee-jerk reaction by ultra right politicians in the wake of the BLM protests.
Also, no fan, nobody said that blocking traffic and looting stores is a right. But the point is there are ALREADY laws against this. Enforce those. Don’t create new laws that make it illegal to have a protest with more than nine people in it.
Love, Ladra
Blocking traffic and looting stores is every Democrats right? Especially people of color?
And if your middle class protesting niece is truly passionate about her cause she should be willing to sit in jail over the weekend, I’m certainly not inclined to make violent protesting any less convenient for anybody.
It doesn’t help your case to label people who are against looting and violence as “ultra right”. You can make the case that this proposed legislation is not the right away to address looting and violence but to say you are a right wing extremist because you reject wanton destruction is in itself taking an extremist position.
Protesting without violence is a right that we must protect but the violence we saw last summer just like what we saw in Washington this month are not defensible.
Unbelievable that descendants of immigrants who fled regimes that inflict tyranny and repression of free speech and protests, are supporting tyranny and repression of protests in the US. They just replaced one caudillo with another.
Sad and disturbing that our democracy is being assaulted with impunity before our very eyes.