Unequal application of the law

[An anti-Cuban government]  rally caused an hours-long closure on part of the Palmetto Expressway in Miami-Dade County. It was the sort of scene envisioned by a divisive Florida law that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) pushed amid last year’s wave of racial justice demonstrations. The legislation calls for protesters to be cited if they block traffic.

But no citations were given Tuesday, according to state and local law enforcement. Critics took issue with the lack of citations, saying the law is unclear or unevenly applied. DeSantis, who invoked the possibility of protesters shutting down a highway as he signed the bill into law, has been vocal in his support of rallies against the Cuban government. Asked about the Palmetto Expressway protests during a Tuesday roundtable with reporters, he said the recent demonstrations were “fundamentally different” than last summer’s protests that had inspired the law.

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Critics of the law questioned DeSantis’s political aims when arguing that it didn’t apply to the people protesting the Cuban government. Exiles from the island are an integral voting bloc for the Republican Party in South Florida.

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At the signing ceremony, the governor called the measure “the strongest anti-rioting, pro-law-enforcement piece of legislation in the country.”

“Just think about it, you’re driving home from work, and all of a sudden, you have people out there shutting down a highway, and we worked hard to make sure that didn’t happen in Florida,” said DeSantis, who described the 2020 protests as “really unprecedented disorder and rioting.” “They start to do that, [then] there needs to be swift penalties.”

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The anti-rioting law, signed after protests that followed the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, says a person is committing a riot if “he or she willfully participates in a violent public disturbance involving an assembly of three or more people.” The measure also increases the penalties for any violence, burglary, looting or property damage during protests. Under the law, anyone arrested on unlawful-assembly charges must be held without bail until a first appearance in court.

A person shall be cited for a pedestrian violation if they “willfully obstruct the free, convenient, and normal use of a public street, highway or road.”

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The law was put to use this week in Tampa, when two men were arrested during protests against the Cuban government.

Julian Rodriguez-Rodriguez, 30, and Maikel Vasquez-Pico, 39, were among the protesters who blocked traffic at Dale Mabry Highway and Interstate 275 on Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Records show the men, who were arrested on multiple charges, were being held in jail until their first appearance in court because of the “anti-rioting” law.

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Bob White, the chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida, who opposed the bill because it could be used against conservative protesters, said the law signed by DeSantis “makes no distinction between the type of protest or the ideology behind the protest.”

If police or prosecutors wish to use the law to target these demonstrators, it is outside the hands of DeSantis and Republican lawmakers, he said.

  WaPo

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.