. . . Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law on Monday a sweeping bill that he says will increase punishment for people who violently riot, loot and destroy property, and punish cities that don’t protect lives and property and attempt to redirect funding for law enforcement. . . .

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 DeSantis signed the bill on the day the jury in the trial of one of those officers was expected to receive the case.

Among many things, the “Combating Public Disorder” law:

• Allows the state to circumvent local authority and punish municipalities that attempt to reduce or eliminate funding for law enforcement
• Allow businesses damaged or destroyed in lootings or riots to sue municipalities that don’t provide law enforcement protection
• Increases legal charges for people who assault anyone, particularly law enforcement, or damage property during a riot
• Revises the prohibition on obstructing traffic by standing on the street
• Prohibits protesters from using or threatening to use imminent force against another person
• Requires a person arrested for rioting to be held in custody until their first appearance in court
• And prohibits defacing, injuring or damaging a memorial or historic property, including flags

“It is the strongest anti-rioting, pro-law enforcement piece of legislation in the country and there’s just nothing even close,” DeSantis said at a Monday morning press conference before signing the bill. “If you riot, if you loot, if you harm others, particularly if you harm a law enforcement officer, during one of these violent assemblies, you’re going to jail. We’re going to hold you accountable and we’re not going to end up like Portland (Oregon), where this is just a daily occurrence for these people who are doing this. They get arrested, they got their mug shot taken and then they get right back on the street to do it again.”  . . .

“Some local governments are telling police to stand down while cities were burned, while business were burned and people were being harmed. That’s a dereliction of duty,” DeSantis said, referring to cities like Portland, Seattle and Minneapolis, which saw weeks of rioting last summer. “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 someone’s been harmed or their property’s been destroyed, then they can sue you for compensation.” . . .

According to published reports, the city of St. Petersburg in January passed a law that diverted $850,000 for new police officers to instead create a “Community Assistance Liaison” program, and hire mental health workers to respond to some police calls.

The new law authorizes an Administration Commission in Tallahassee to overturn that budget. If that were to happen, the city would have to appeal to the commission and the governor’s office would conduct a budget hearing on the matter, making recommendations to the commission, which would then approve, amend or modify the municipality’s budget.

About two dozen law officers and state officials — all of them white — stood behind DeSantis as he made his announcement. Those who spoke all said the law upholds people’s constitutional right to protest.

Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson, who was born in Lakeland but represents Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties, helped spearhead the DeSantis initiative through the upper legislative body. . . .

“Somehow, this became a political punt issue, and I don’t know how it’s political to say, ‘I’m going to protect law enforcement, we’re going to protect people’s property and there’s going to be rules of engagement if you decide to riot.’ Not protest — you can peacefully protest every day and should peacefully protest if you feel like that’s necessary. But if you cross the line and you start damaging property, you start threatening law enforcement, then this law is going to have the enhanced penalties that exist here.”

House Speaker Chris Sprowls, who worked for seven years as an assistant state attorney in Pinellas and Pasco counties, noted that almost the same group of people in the room on Monday made a promise last September to Floridians that they would protect cities and citizens.  . . .

Tampa saw some of the most violent protests in the state last summer, with crowds stopping traffic along Fowler Avenue, looting a jewelry store and clothing stores near University Square Mall and burning down Champs, a sporting goods store. A neighboring Asian restaurant was also set on fire. . . .

DeSantis criticized California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who on Saturday told reporters that demonstrators “stay on the street and we’ve got to get more active, we’ve got to get more confrontational. We’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean business.” . . .

“That is totally unacceptable,” DeSantis said of Waters’ remarks. He added that he is working to shepherd through the legislature $1,000 bonuses for law enforcement and first responders.  . . .

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey, whose department has come under scrutiny recently after a mentally ill Black jail inmate died while in custody, said the bill protects citizens, cops and the constitution.

“I’ve learned two things along the way – one, that crime will rise to the level a community will tolerate, and, two, government’s one and only responsibility is to protect its citizens,” said Ivey, who spent a lengthy career in the Florida Department of Law Enforcement before becoming Brevard County Sheriff. “And that’s exactly what this law does. It also gives law enforcement the teeth they need to hold those accountable that commit violence, destruction, mayhem on those here in the state of Florida.” . . . .

‘Silencing speech is what communist regimes do’

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, Florida’s lone statewide elected Democrat, ridiculed DeSantis and Republican leaders for embracing a measure she says defies free speech rights.   . . .

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida also said that the legislation, which cleared the House and Senate along partisan lines, criminalizes Floridians exercising their First Amendment rights.

A number of civil rights organizations have already said they will likely seek to have the new law blocked by courts on constitutional grounds. The legislation was among the most controversial bills going before the Legislature, drawing dozens of opponents at every committee stop – while few Floridians stepped forward to speak in favor of the change. . . .

Local governments opposed standards in the legislation that make it more difficult to move dollars away from law enforcement funding.

Rep. Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, said the new law is poorly defined and “open to interpretation,” for law enforcement.

“This bill is not really designed to make our communities safer,” she said. “It’s further complicating things for Floridians, it’s infringing on their constitutional rights and it’s making it confusing for law enforcement officers because so much is open to interpretation, and I think it will have to be litigated in the courts.” Driskell added that DeSantis sought it more “for campaigning purposes than governing.”  . . .

Share your prayers about this bill in the comments below. . .

(Excerpt from The Ledger. Article by Kimberly C. Moore and John Kennedy. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)