just kidding
Posted on 10/01/2022 8:21:09 AM PDT by NorthMountain
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has warned opportunistic thieves not to target residents or ransack homes in the wake of Hurricane Ian, telling a press conference that Floridians are well-aware of their Second Amendment rights while noting a boarded-up business sign reading “you loot, we shoot.”
DeSantis issued the stark warning during multiple press conferences on Friday, including one in Fort Myers, where he remarked about seeing the sign directed at would-be looters displayed at a business in nearby Punta Gorda.
“They boarded up all the businesses, and there are people that wrote on their plywood, ‘you loot, we shoot,’” DeSantis said. “At the end of the day, we are not going to allow lawlessness to take advantage of this situation.”
“We are a law-and-order state, and this is a law-and-order community, so do not think that you’re going to go take advantage of people who’ve suffered misfortune,” the governor added.
During a press conference in St. Augustine later in the day, DeSantis reminded reporters that Florida is a “Second Amendment state” and that thieves looking to ransack people’s homes should beware.
“You never know what may be lurking behind somebody’s home,” the Republican governor said starkly. “And I would not want to chance that if I were you—given that we’re a Second Amendment state.”
Florida has so-called “stand-your-ground” and “castle doctrine” laws on its books, which allow people who feel a reasonable threat of death or bodily injury or who confront home invaders to respond with force rather than retreat.
‘Florida Will Not Tolerate Looters’ In a post on Twitter, Florida’s Attorney General Ashley Moody shared a video showing a group of people being arrested for looting.
“Florida will not tolerate looters taking advantage of [Hurricane Ian] to prey on vulnerable Floridians. They will be arrested and I have asked state attorneys to seek the longest pretrial detention possible to keep them locked up so they cannot commit new crimes,” Moody said in a comment.
Separately, a senior Florida official warned that scammers and con artists often try to take advantage of desperate people following major natural disasters and called on residents to be vigilant in the wake of Hurricane Ian’s destruction.
“You have these predators that will come in, and they will go door-to-door canvassing neighborhoods that they see the damage and they will sign over their [insurance] claims to contractors or they will have unscrupulous public adjusters … that are going to damage your ability to get made whole any faster,” Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis told Newsmax Friday.
After natural disasters like Ian, bad actors “show up in droves,” Patronis warned. If you are a “policyholder” and suffered damage, “call your agent, call your carrier, or call my office,” he added.
“This will be the best way to ensure that your claim is being handled properly, and my office, we love handling people’s claims, we do a great job at it,” he continued.
Hurricane Ian made landfall near Sanibel Island and Fort Meyers on Wednesday as a powerful Category 4 storm with winds in excess of 150 mph.
Over 10 feet of storm surge inundated those areas, leveling entire neighborhoods and even destroying a large causeway bridge that connects Sanibel to the mainland, photos show.
The head of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management said Hurricane Ian left at least 21 people dead in the state, although that figure is expected to climb as search and rescue efforts continue.
To be honest, I don’t think of looting too much when I think of hurricane destruction…except of course, Katrina.
So this may be sort of a moot warning, but it’s good to hear.
just kidding
I wouldn’t be opposed to that if people are looting.
To be honest, I don’t think of looting too much when I think of hurricane destruction…except of course, Katrina.
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Generally speaking, two different classes of people. Florida vs. New Orleans.
There is always looting after Canes tornadoes etc.
Heck look at the looting done in briad daylight in Demx areas like Philly, SF Nyc etc
Glad to see a Gov reminding people if Second Amendment.
Just go to Cali, keep your take under $950, and you’re good.
Yes, I’m sure it happens, but it never seems to make news so must be rather low level.
“Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.”
A man with testosterone flowing in his veins.
Be still my heart.
In a lot of the hardest hit areas, there’s nothing left to loot.
The happy feeling I have because my state has a conservative alpha male governor . . .
When Harvey flooded our little community there were groups of people that were patrolling the area at all times.
Most of everyone was armed, especially at night.
One guy was caught going through the second floor of a flooded house.
Evidently after he was caught, he fell down the stairs multiple times and landed on his face on the driveway.
Its common sense, if you come to a place that has been affected by a catastrophic event with plans to do mischief, you should expect that the niceties of civilization will not apply if you are caught.
Given the demographics of that part of the Gulf coast, I doubt there will be much looting. However given the average age of residents, there probably will be scam artists trying to take advantage of them.
I noted the presence of “Illegals” among the victims.
Not to make fun of deaths, however my friend was almost killed when he moved his new (2022 F350) and 5 minutes later half of a tree landed where his F350 was.
I remember years ago when a hurricane went through Florida. A film crew showed some homeowners guarding their property from looters. One of the property owners had a (then legal) Striker 12 revolving shotgun. Now it is banned as a “Destructive Device”.
Striker 12
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlR1CI3ck_U
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