Choosing his weasel words carefully, DeSantis remarked: “I don’t know what happened with this verdict, but if that’s something that can potentially happen, where you basically have justice made meted out because the jury is scared of what a mob may do? And again I’m not saying that’s what happened here, but that speaker seemed to suggest that that had an impact, that’s completely antithetical to the rule of law.”

The speaker in question was a black activist in New York...

Source: The Hill

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Tuesday suggested that the jury in the Derek Chauvin trial may have voted to convict the former Minneapolis police officer who was on trial for the killing of George Floyd because it was “scared of what a mob may do.”

During an appearance on Fox News hours after the guilty verdicts were read, host Laura Ingraham played a clip of an unnamed person in New York saying, “If you continue to allow us to be murdered in the streets without justice, we will raise hell in America,” according to the Orlando Sentinel.

In response, DeSantis called the remarks “really, really troubling,” adding “I don’t know what happened with this verdict, but if that’s something that can potentially happen, where you basically have justice made meted out because the jury is scared of what a mob may do? And again I’m not saying that’s what happened here, but that speaker seemed to suggest that that had an impact, that’s completely antithetical to the rule of law.”

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/549562-desantis-suggests-chauvin-jury-may-have-been-scared-of-what-a-mob-would

---

DeSantis rushed an "anti-riot" bill through Florida's legislature and signed it Monday. Florida's legislative session ends on April 30 and most bills become effective on July 1, giving all the affected parties a chance to familiarize themselves with changes in the law. DeSantis made sure HB-1 would go into effect immediately on his signature with the obvious intent of having extraordinary repressive and punitive options available to law enforcement in time for the Chauvin verdict.

DeSantis makes no attempt to hide his disappointment at the verdict and lack of "riots" afterward. Actual justice is now being labeled "mob intimidation."

Climbing over dead bodies is not an impediment.

The Florida Senate used a parliamentary maneuver to advance CS/HB 1, the "anti-riot" bill. DeSantis concocted the bill in response to the George Floyd demonstrations last year. One part of the bill that has received little notice is that it creates an affirmative defense for anyone accused of attacking a person participating in a "riot." The bill is a wish list of authoritarian anti-demonstration decrees, and the media is content to let this particular one get lost in the middle of the steaming pile of outrages. This bill would protect Kyle Rittenhouse and James Fields, and is a nice complement to Florida's pioneering Stand Your Ground legislation that protected George Zimmerman.

The bill text can be found here: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2021/1/BillText/e1/PDF. More discussion on this here: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215274496