Hurricane Idalia has smashed into Florida and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is, though his presidential campaign has been something of a disappointment, not disappointing when it comes to dealing with the consequences of the carnage and devastation wrought by a hurricane.
In fact, he laid down the law at a recent press conference, responding to reports that some were attempting to loot in the wake of the hurricane. He told the state that looting would not be tolerated whatsoever and would result in reprisal action from citizens of the state.
Speaking about the situation, Governor DeSantis said, “I’ve told all of our personnel at the state level, you protect people’s property, and we are not going to tolerate any looting in the aftermath of a natural disaster. I mean, it’s just ridiculous that you would try to do something like that on the heels of an almost Category 4 hurricane hitting this community.”
Continuing, he added that people in Florida have a right to use force to defend their property and, as shown by the Second Amendment signs, are more than willing to do so. As he put it, “People have a right to defend their property. This part of Florida, you’ve got a lot of advocates and some proponents of the Second Amendment, and I’ve seen signs in different people’s yards in the past after these disasters.”
Making his point crystal clear, Governor DeSantis added that what that essentially means is that looting will result in death for the looters. He said, “I would say probably here: ‘You loot, we shoot.’ You never know what’s behind that door. If you go break into somebody’s house and you’re trying to loot, these are people that are going to be able to defend themselves and their families. So I would not do it.”
Ending on a somewhat more positive note, he added, “We’re going to hold you accountable from the law enforcement perspective at a minimum, and it could even be worse than that depending on what’s behind that door. So let’s all band together and lift people up and not take advantage of a difficult situation.”
Predictably, the usual suspects freaked out on Twitter about DeSantis’ comment. For example, Bloomberg columnist Matthew Yglesias said, “Such a weird thing to say when nobody is looting. Post-hurricane looting is very rare, but it’s like he’s hoping for bad stuff to happen so he can be a badass.”
Similarly, Cenk Uygur, creator and host of the liberal news program The Young Turks, said, “Glad to see Ron DeSantis comforting people devastated by a hurricane … by threatening to shoot people. This is the GOP game plan: We won’t do anything about climate change that keeps intensifying storms ripping through your neighborhoods, but we can shoot people afterward!”
Conservatives were generally more supportive of DeSantis’ comment, with many saying that it was the best thing they have heard from him recently, as he toned down some of his rhetoric for the campaign, much to the dismay of those who had supported him because of his harder line stances.
DESANTIS ISSUES WARNING TO POTENTIAL LOOTERS
“This part of Florida, you've got a lot of advocates of the Second Amendment…You loot, we shoot. You never know what’s behind that door.” pic.twitter.com/U5xmVrVTdu
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) August 30, 2023
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