TAMPA, Fla. — While lawmakers debate an anti-riot bill Wednesday afternoon, State Attorney Andrew Warren is urging them to "vote no."
Warren says the “Combating Violence, Disorder, and Looting and Law Enforcement Protection Act," which is supported by Gov. Ron DeSantis, does not help prosecutors or police in handling riots. He says that it actually infringes on protestors' rights to peacefully gather and practice free speech.
“This bill doesn’t give police or prosecutors any important new tools to handle unrest. It tears a couple corners off the Constitution,” Warren said in a release.
The proposed legislation would undermine first amendment freedoms by criminalizing peaceful protests "based on unlawful contact by the few," according to the state attorney.
State Attorney Warren also says the bill's biggest problem is that it does not help police and prosecutors identify a "small number of bad actors" in a riot or protest situation.
The bill relies on the outdated "throw-everyone-in-jail" philosophy that has caused mass incarceration and systematic injustice, Warren says.
In an op-ed published in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel last month, Warren wrote, "If our elected leaders focused on what Floridians really need—steps to create jobs, fix the unemployment system, and effectively roll out vaccines—they would do far more to strengthen our communities than this bad bill ever will.”
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