Leftist Activists Protest Bill Penalizing Monument Desecration

  Despite 2020's summer of violence at the hands of BLM and Antifa, and the recent riot at the US Capitol, March for Our Lives and allied left-wing organizations gathered at Tinker Field in Orlando last evening, vocalizing their opposition to legislative measures aimed at preventing deadly riots. State House Bill 1 seeks to curtail mob violence by upping pentalties for rioters. 

  The legislation outlines a new offense: mob intimidation, an act categorized by three or more people “with a common intent, to compel or induce, or attempt to compel or induce, another person by force, or threat of force, to do any act or to assume or abandon a particular viewpoint.” The legislation also lays down penalties in an effort to derail the future blockage of highways by protestors and minimize the potential for the desecration of war memorials and statues.

    Elected officials such as Democratic State Representative Anna Eskamani and other activists spoke at the rally, along with profanity laced performances by Brooklyn's Phony Ppl— who recently collaborated with Megan Thee Stallion on track "Fkn Around." When asked if the restrictions on destruction of public property were reasonable, one rallygoer stated: "White people built this country on the backs brown people. Don't talk to me about tearing down something we built."

  The bill “criminalizes peaceful protest and hurts Black and brown organizers who are always on the ground trying to enact change for a more equal and just Florida,” Monique Mendez, March For Our Lives Communications Director, told WMFE last week.

  Our fact check determined HB 1 does not penalize peaceful protestors, nor does the proposal restrict the right to non-violent assembly, despite claims to contrary by the bill's Democratic opponents.