Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., surrounded by our state’s law enforcement community, signed HB 1 into law, which makes clear that rioting and violence have absolutely no place in Florida and provides protections for the brave men and women who keep our communities safe. “I want to thank Senate President Wilton Simpson, Speaker Chris Sprowls and Senator Danny Burgess and the Florida House and Senate for passing this legislation for the good of our state and for those we serve. Florida Sen. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, who sponsored the bill, said he felt the framework was needed to draw a distinction between peaceful and violent behavior. "Not only did we do that to put the public on notice as to what constitutes a riot," Burgess said, "but also to make it clear to both protester and law enforcement where that line in the law is drawn."

HB 1 protects Floridians against attempts by local govts to defund law enforcement, provides the means to hold local govt. accountable for failing to protect people & property from rioting, & enacts strong penalties against those engaged in rioting, looting & violent assemblies.

Among the items included in the law, the governor said, was dealing with the "insane theory" of defunding law enforcement, "Obviously, the state of Florida, we're not going to do that under my leadership," DeSantis said. "But if a local government were to do that, it would be catastrophic, and have terrible consequences for their citizens. And so, this bill actually prevents against local governments defunding law enforcement. We'll be able to stop it at the state level."

"As we saw last summer, some of the local governments are actually telling, not necessarily in Florida but throughout the country, basically telling these folks to stand down, telling police to stand down while cities burnt, while businesses were burnt, while people were being harmed," DeSantis said. "That’s a dereliction of duty.

"What our bill says, and what I’ll sign into law today, is that if you're derelict in your duty as a local government, if you tell law enforcement to stand down, then you're responsible for the damage that ensues. And if someone's been harmed, or their property has been destroyed, then they can sue you for compensation."

"Think about it, you’re driving home from work and all of a sudden you have people out there shutting down a highway," DeSantis said, "and we worked hard to make sure that didn't happen in Florida. [If] they start to do that, there needs to be swift penalties and that’s something that can just not happen.

"We also saw around the country people toppling monuments, people like George Washington. This bill protects all monuments in Florida. You have no right to go in take down monuments. We’re not going to let the mob win the day with that."