Comments from the governor came last Wednesday in a conversation with right-wing content creator Dave Rubin, according to Florida Politics.
Evoking some version of “stand your ground,” DeSantis—who already signed anti-riot legislation in 2021 after the George Floyd uprising—said any driver who feels threatened if “a mob comes and surrounds your vehicle” has a right to flee for safety.
“And so if you drive off and you hit one of these people, that’s their fault for impinging on you. You don’t have to sit there and just be a sitting duck and let the mob grab you out of your car and drag you through the streets,” DeSantis told Rubin, a content guy who once claimed to have been duped by Russians in a scheme to influence the 2024 election.
The governor’s comments come as large demonstrations in Los Angeles are warming the loins of conservative talking heads with air time to fill and viewers to scare. Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey took it even further yesterday, telling anyone who throws bricks, firebombs or points a guns at a deputy that, “we will kill you graveyard dead.”
The increasingly violent rhetoric from elected officials also comes ahead of Saturday’s “No Kings” demonstrations against Donald Trump, happening at hundreds of cities across the U.S.
Almost a dozen are planned in the Bay area alone, from Pasco, to Plant City, Seminole, Riverview, Largo, and St. Petersburg. The No Kings protest at Tampa City Hall—scheduled for 3 p.m.-6 p.m.—is expected to draw hundreds to Kennedy Boulevard in downtown Tampa.
While there have been confrontations at recent anti-Trump protests outside Tampa City Hall, the demonstrations have been peaceful.
“We recognize that individuals may choose to peacefully express their First Amendment rights and understand some members of the community may wish to do so through demonstrations. Our goal is to work together to ensure these events are safe, legal, and respect the rights of all,” Bercaw wrote in an email. “We ask anyone who plans to participate in a demonstration to do so in a safe and responsible manner. The Tampa Police Department will continue its efforts to uphold the safety of everyone in the City of Tampa, fostering an environment where everyone can be heard and feel safe, equally.”
In 2020, before Bercaw was named chief, a Tampa woman called Tampa police, asking them to deal with a protest group blocking traffic on Howard Avenue. “I need the police here now to move these cars, because if I have to, I’m going to run over them,” she said.
Months before the Tampa incident, St. Petersburg Police Department (SPPD) had to remind people that it’s illegal to run over protesters with a car, adding, at the time that neither the mayor or Chief Anthony Holloway “condone any suggestion of harming protesters… For the safety of everyone involved, they encourage motorists to remain patient and find alternate routes around the protesters.”
Today, a spokesperson for SPPD told CL that the Sunshine City has seen many protests over the last few years, over a myriad of issues. The city, they added, just asks protesters to stay on the sidewalk and not to block intersections. “We’ve tried to do that all along, and we don’t have any problems,” the spokesperson added.
SPPD Chief Anthony Holloway told CL that his officers will work. to make sure that all parties abide by traffic laws for their own safety.
“That means protestors should stay off the roadways and not block traffic, and motorists need to watch for pedestrians and stay off sidewalks,” he added.
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This article appears in Jun 12-18, 2025.