Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Says Drivers Have Right To Run Over Protesters If They Feel Threatened: ‘You Don’t Have To Just Sit There’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Floridians have the right to drive into crowds of protestors if they feel threatened.

“If you drive off and you hit one of these people, that’s their fault for impinging on you,” DeSantis told The Rubin Report podcast. “You don’t have just to sit there and be a sitting duck and let the mob grab you out of your car and drag you through the streets.”

His criticism came amid the growing number of protestors in Los Angeles County over ICE raids. While the protesting was described as mostly non-violent, President Donald Trump sent an additional 2,000 National Guard and 700 Marines to an already heavily guarded scene.

While Trump received bipartisan criticism for federal involvement in peaceful protesting, DeSantis stood by the president’s actions.

When asked about his policy for protesters who block a road without a permit, the Florida governor said, “[Florida has] a policy that if you’re driving on one of those streets and a mob comes and surrounds your vehicle, and threatens you, you have a right to flee for your safety.”

Florida law allows specific actions to be justified if proven to be an act of self-defense. While using a vehicle to escape a crowd of pedestrians could be justified, according to DeSantis, vehicles are generally considered to be deadly weapons. Complete exoneration of vehicular manslaughter would require extreme circumstances and indisputable proof of danger.