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Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., ripped elected prosecutors across the country during a press conference on Thursday, calling them out for choosing whether to “nullify” laws they “like or don’t like.”
In a special announcement in Hillsborough County, Florida, DeSantis announced the suspension of Florida State Attorney Andrew Warren. “Today, we are suspending State Attorney Andrew Warren, effective immediately,” DeSantis told the audience, who applauded the decision.
DeSantis boldly attacked the “pathogen” of elected prosecutors “around the country ignoring the law…no individual prosecutor is above the law.”
“Our government is a government of laws,” he went on. “…We govern ourselves based on a constitutional system based on the rule of law.”
According to the governor, Warren had a history of putting himself above the law in the Sunshine State by refusing to enforce standing regulations. DeSantis noted as an example that Warren had refused to enforce abortion laws.
Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June, DeSantis said, “He [Warren] signed a letter saying he would not enforce any laws related to protecting the life in this state.”
DeSantis also slammed the failed social justice policies and weak prosecution in places like San Francisco. He added that the cities that vote to keep weak prosecutors are “affluent” and do not bear the burden of “ignorance and refusal to enforce the law.”
Interestingly, a 2020 article from The Tampa Bay Times reported that Warren’s decision to drop charges against protestors who blocked traffic in May 2020 drew the ire of Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan. “Why is our state attorney playing judge and jury?” Dugan told the outlet.
Additionally, DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw expanded on DeSantis’s move to suspend Warren. “Progressive prosecutors backed by Soros have refused to enforce laws across the country,” she tweeted. “They treat criminals with deference & victims with contempt. This dereliction of duty is why crime is surging.”
DeSantis continued in his comments at the press conference, pointing out that the Constitution in the state of Florida “has vested veto power in the governor,” not state attorneys.
He added that Warren’s behavior in refusing to enforce the law was “untenable.”