DeSantis suspends Tampa prosecutor who took stance against criminalizing abortion providers

Source: CNN

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday suspended Tampa's elected prosecutor, Andrew Warren, for pledging not to use his office to go after people who seek and provide abortions or on doctors that provide gender affirming care to transgender people.

DeSantis also accused Warren of not pursuing criminals to the fullest extent of his powers as the state attorney of Hillsborough County.

"To take a position that you have veto powers over the laws of the state is untenable," DeSantis said at a press conference in Tampa surrounded by law enforcement.

The move by DeSantis, a Republican, to remove a Democrat twice elected by Hillsborough voters drew an immediate and sharp rebuke from Democratic state lawmakers and officials. Minority Leader Sen. Lauren Book said DeSantis was "behaving more like a dictator than 'America's governor.'" And Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democratic candidate for governor, called Warren's suspension "a politically motivated attack on a universally respected state attorney democratically elected to exercise prosecutorial discretion."

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/04/politics/desantis-suspends-prosecutor/index.html