Free Republic

In 1970, the State of Florida passed sweeping emergency measures laws which conferred enormous powers to Sheriffs and Municipal officials (Mayors and Chiefs of Police). The law was meant to contain and prevent riots and the widespread breakdown of the rule of law. The officials could declare an emergency under the “imminent threat of violence”, which gave broad discretion. The emergency could only be in effect for 72 hours, after which time the county commission or the city council would be required to approve any extension of the emergency.There were many riots during the Vietnam era, particularly at universities.Part of...

If you think your pool floats are safe in your backyard this summer, think again. I don’t know what the odds are that they'll be stolen by a guy who wants to have sex with them, but there is a chance of that taking place. That's especially true if you live in Florida near 41-year-old Christopher Monnin, who has had several pool-float theft-related incidents over the years. His last arrest was in 2019 when he was found storing about 75 pool floats in a vacant house. He pleaded guilty this week on the eve of his criminal trial that was...

Leftist groups in Florida are promising to take to the streets “in solidarity with Los Angeles,” where rioters have been burning the American flag, waving the Mexican flag, targeting officers, destroying police vehicles, looting, and more, in protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations resulting in the arrest of illegal aliens with convictions for murder, sexual battery, and more. A post shared in a collaboration among Occupy Florida, 50501 Florida, Resistance Support, the Florida Valkryies, and Voices of Florida previews plans for a “RAPID RESPONSE PROTEST” in front of Tampa City Hall on Monday afternoon in support of...

'He has a monstrous gift of bulls**t,' former colleague says. Republican Rep. Cory Mills of Florida built his political career with stories of heroism in the U.S. Army and as a private military operative, but several former colleagues say he exaggerated or lied about being “blown up” twice in Iraq, being an Army Ranger, training as an 18 Delta Special Forces Medical Sergeant, being a military-trained sniper, and saving the lives of two soldiers wounded by enemy fire. They also allege he walked away from his post in Iraq when his employer asked him to verify his service record. As...

VIDEOI was on my way to the store this afternoon to pick up beer and ice cream for my Picanha BBQ party tomorrow waiting for the light to change at the corner of Pine Island and Commercial in Broward County. Suddenly I spotted a car making a left turn knock a kid off his bike. After a few suspenseful seconds in which I could not see the kid who was on the pavement, he finally got up apparently unharmed but not exactly happy. At this point I started recording the scene on my cell camera. Ultimately, although I wasn't sure...

Osceola County Sheriff Marcos R. Lopez was arrested on charges related to racketeering on Thursday morning. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has suspended Lopez from his role. Christopher A. Blackmon was immediately appointed to fill Lopez's position.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has declared gold and silver legal tender. HB 999 maintains that these precious metals may be used in payments if they meet specific purity standards. The bill goes into effect on July 1, 2026, but many are confused as to what this will entail. As stated in the legislation: “Legal Tender; Revising the sales and use tax exemption for certain coin or currency; specifying that a person who claims the sales tax exemption bears the burden for determining whether the gold coin or silver coin meets a specified definition; providing a presumption regarding the purity requirements...

A Florida hairstylist was stabbed to death with a steak knife by a 280-pound assailant during a violent attack inside the parking garage of a luxury apartment complex. Hailey Hosford, 27, had just stepped out of a rental car at the Retreat at Sawgrass Village in Sunrise on Wednesday when a man reportedly charged the vehicle, ripped open the door, and fatally stabbed her - also injuring her male friend in the process, as reported by The New York Post. The suspect, 21-year-old Jackson Julian Sagesse, was subsequently arrested and booked into Broward County Jail on charges of murder and...

Tucker Carlson said he's not sure he can support the Republican party after a Florida congressman called for Gaza to be nuked. Congressman Randy Fine, who was recently elected to replace Mike Waltz in Florida as the preferred candidate of President Trump, made the jaw dropping comments in a Fox News interview last month. He said: 'In World War 2 we did not negotiate a surrender with the Nazis, we did not negotiate a surrender with the Japanese. 'We nuked the Japanese twice in order to get unconditional surrender. That needs to be the same here in Gaza. 'There is...

A community in Florida is rallying around a disabled veteran after the homeowners association told him he had to take down an American flag on a flag pole in his yard. What are the people in the homeowners association even thinking? Who tells a disabled veteran to take down the flag that he fought for and became disabled defending? Shame on these people. They even filed a lawsuit over this. .... Disabled veteran fights homeowners association lawsuit over flagpole in Florida yard A disabled veteran in Volusia County, Florida, is at the center of a heated dispute with his homeowners...

"...like at what point in time when you see somebody on your hood, like common sense would tell you stop the car immediately whether it's a cop or it's a pedestrian ..."

The Democrat mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, Donna Deegan, via the City of Jacksonville’s Office of General Counsel, advised the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office not to enforce immigration law. “The Office of General Counsel of the, that was appointed by the Democratic mayor, sent a letter to the sheriff or email to the sheriff today telling him, do not enforce the state illegal immigration law and do not enforce the local illegal immigration law that we’ve been on this show talking about,” Jacksonville City Council President-Elect Kevin Carrico revealed when speaking to Florida’s Voice.

BRADENTON BEACH, Fla. — A tiny bottle with a message inside traveled from Hawaii in ocean currents before being washed ashore in Bradenton Beach on Sunday and found by a girl visiting from Michigan. “It was in this tiny little glass bottle with cute little origami birds,” said Paris Hoisington, 31. “She was so surprised. Came running right towards me on the beach.” Hoisington said it’s every kid’s dream to find a message in a bottle at the beach. Her daughter, Josie Law, 11, said at first she thought it was a piece of trash floating in the water. “Then...

President Donald Trump notched a significant legal victory this week in his ongoing effort to strip the New York Times and the Washington Post of their Pulitzer Prizes for reporting on alleged ties between his 2016 campaign and Russia — coverage he claims was false and defamatory. A Florida appellate court on Wednesday rejected the Pulitzer Prize Board’s attempt to pause the defamation lawsuit, clearing the way for the case to proceed. The board had argued that allowing the litigation to move forward while Trump is serving in office would raise constitutional concerns, but the court dismissed that claim, saying...

It's Saharan dust season in the Atlantic, when massive clouds of dust from Africa's Sahara Desert are carried westward by wind, sometimes reaching all the way to the United States.

MAGA showed up BIG for FREE SPEECH at the Lakeland Farmers Market after they tried to ban me last week! Featuring the great ‪@AdamFrancisco‬!

The University of Florida must not make a mistake in hiring the president who will replace Ben Sasse. To do so could destroy one of the crown jewels of American higher education, a model of excellence and the plain common sense so sorely lacking on campus. The haste with which the Gator trustees will vote upon their sole finalist, Santa Ono, and the Board of Governors will make final their decision is ill-advised. There are cases in which the presentation of a sole finalist to the board ends successfully, but it is a risky procedure. When controversy over a candidate’s...

Timothy Schultz, a 42-year-old Florida man, survived an apparent gator bite only to die Monday after attacking deputies with garden shears, authorities said. Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) Grady Judd alleged in a press conference that Schultz was high on meth during his swim in an alligator-infested lake and subsequent rampage with shears. While Schultz was swimming in the lake, one person tried to warn him about the gators and another threw a life vest at him, according to the sheriff. A gator then appeared to bite his right arm, Judd said. When Schultz emerged from the lake, he allegedly...

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — A Checkers restaurant in Kissimmee is back open after an altercation between an employee and a customer turned into a deadly shooting last week. Court documents state cameras from the Checkers shows employee Elijah Mackey, 23, climbing out of a drive-thru window Wednesday night, walking to the front of the building where the victim was, then moments later deputies say it shows the victim falling to the ground. In the arrest affidavit, two witness statements claim to have seen Wesley Robertson ordering from one of the front windows. After getting his order, the witnesses say he started...

meth-crazed Florida man survived getting bitten by an alligator — just to be fatally shot when he charged at cops trying to help him. The wild scenes erupted after Timothy Schulz, 42, was spotted swimming in an alligator-infested lake in Lakeland, south of Orlando, early Monday, authorities said. Schulz, who cops said was high on drugs, had growled at good Samaritans trying to toss him a life vest just moments before one of the gators bit his right arm. “The fact that he was bitten by an alligator and still continued his rampage is shocking,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd...