State Senator Shevrin D. Jones, a Broward County Democrat and vocal critic of the law, noted that Mr. DeSantis had been quick to emphasize the necessity of the bill the day after the deadly January 6 riot at the Capitol. made no mention of that event during Monday’s signing of the bill, focusing solely on the summer protests.
That was evidence, he said, that bills designed to punish protesters were disproportionately targeting people of color. “This bill is essentially racist,” said Mr. Jones.
So far, three bills designed to limit protests have been signed into law – Florida’s and new laws in Arkansas and Kansas targeting protesters trying to disrupt oil pipelines. Others will likely come soon.
In Oklahoma, Republican lawmakers last week sent legislation to Gov. Kevin Stitt that criminalizes the illegal blocking of a public street and grants immunity to drivers who attack and injure protesters in a riot. Last June, a pickup truck with a horse trailer drove through a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters on a highway in Tulsa, injuring several people and leaving one paralyzed. The driver, who said he accelerated because he feared for the safety of his family, was not charged.
The bill’s author, Senator Rob Standridge, said the Tulsa incident prompted him to seek immunity from drivers who attack protesters. He said on Tuesday that he was not aware of drivers charged after beating protesters in Oklahoma. “I hope this law will never be enforced,” he said in an interview. Carly Atchison, a spokeswoman for Mr. Stitt, declined to say whether he would sign the bill, which was passed with a veto-right majority.
Tiffany Crutcher, whose twin brother, Terence Crutcher, was shot and murdered in 2016 by a Tulsa police officer who was later cleared of manslaughter, said Oklahoma’s proposal represents Republican efforts to express the Trump administration’s hostility to people of color. to expand.
Dr. Crutcher said she was convinced that if Mr. Stitt signed the legislation, it would be enforced in stricter terms against those protesting racist injustice than against white protesters demonstrating for gun rights or against abortion.