ORLANDO, Fla. — More than a dozen self-proclaimed Nazis yelled antisemitic slogans this weekend outside a central Florida shopping plaza while also waving a swastika from a highway overpass.
They demonstrated Saturday at an intersection near the University of Central Florida and Sunday on a highway overpass in Orlando. The Florida Highway Patrol wrote in a statement that authorities disbanded the group on the overpass.
Local and statewide leaders took to social media on Sunday to condemn the antisemitism.
U.S. Rep. Val Demings (D-Orlando) said she saw similar rallies during her time as a police commander for the Orlando Police Department. She added that for every "Nazi there were a hundred Floridians there to stand up for what's right."
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) said the demonstration had "no place in our state."
Florida Rep. Chris Sprowls, the Republican speaker of the Florida House, characterized the events that happened over the weekend as a "disgusting display" of antisemitism.
"These thugs and their hateful messaging are not welcome in this state," Sprowls said.
Other local leaders called on Gov. Ron DeSantis to release a statement condemning the rallies over the weekend.
The governor's press secretary, Christina Pushaw, was criticized for a since-deleted tweet in which Florida Politics says she questioned whether the demonstrators were actually Nazis.
She would then reference a political stunt during the Virginia gubernatorial race that involved the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump political group. Members pretended to be white nationalists and endorsed Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin.
The Orlando Sentinel reports that, on Monday, Pushaw released a statement calling any criticism of DeSantis over the weekend "political smear."
During a news conference on Monday in Palm Beach County, DeSantis also claimed that he was being smeared for not responding over the weekend. The governor went after Democrats, claiming they were using the incident as "some sort of political issue."
DeSantis also claimed that the "jack****s" who demonstrated on the overpass would be held accountable by law enforcement. He also vowed to sign the strongest antisemitism bill in the country.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina said any reports of criminal activity by the group would be investigated by his agency.
“I am horrified but not surprised that Governor DeSantis has yet to condemn this weekend’s hateful Nazi demonstrations in Orlando, considering his outrageous pattern of leading as a dictator and prioritizing policies that move Florida one step closer to an authoritarian regime," wrote Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried in a statement her communications team released after DeSantis had already called the demonstrators "jack****s."
DeSantis has previously spoken about his efforts to help the Jewish community, including the signing of two laws in 2021 that were aimed at expanding religious practices in state institutions. Last year, he showed support for Israel while pushing against Ben & Jerry's announcement about stopping the sale of ice cream in the West Bank. Back in 2019, the governor and members of the Florida Cabinet held a ceremonial meeting inside the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, as he worked to exchange best practices on mutual interests between Florida and Israel.
10 Tampa Bay's Andrew Quintana contributed to this report.
