Gov. Ron DeSantis Suggests Chauvin Jury Was ‘Scared Of What A Mob’ Would Do

Hours after the Minneapolis jury found former police officer Derek Chavin guilty of all charges in the murder trial of George Floyd, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) suggested on Fox News that the jury may have reached the verdict out of fear of mob violence.

The network’s post-trial coverage began by showing an unnamed activist saying, “If you continue to allow us to be murdered in the streets without justice, we will raise hell in America,” in footage originally released by the Orlando Sentinel.

DeSantis then called the remarks “really, really troubling,” when talking to Fox host Laura Ingraham. “I don’t know what happened with this verdict, but if that’s something that can potentially happen, where you basically have justice made meted out because the jury is scared of what a mob may do? And again I’m not saying that’s what happened here, but that speaker seemed to suggest that that had an impact, that’s completely antithetical to the rule of law.”

DeSantis then championed his state’s new “anti-riot bill,” which threatens protesters with prison sentences. “I think what we’ve done with our bill, our anti-riot bill, is saying, you engage with that you’re going to jail, you’re not going to gain by doing that, we’re going to maintain law and order,” DeSantis told Ingraham. “But certainly to think that somehow that is going to influence how the rule of law is applied, it would be a total disaster if that idea takes hold.”