NEED TO KNOW
- A Florida sheriff issued a violent warning to potential protestors in his county during a June 12 press conference.
- Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey warned that if any protestors get violent with law enforcement, “We will kill you graveyard dead.”
- Dozens of nationwide “No Kings” protests are planned for June 14, coinciding with President Donald Trump’s multi-million dollar military parade in Washington, D.C.
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey issued a violent warning to potential protesters in Florida on Thursday, June 12.
Speaking to reporters from behind a podium emblazoned with the words, “Florida: The anti-riot state,” Ivey said he, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, and his fellow law enforcement personnel welcome democratic, peaceful protests. However, he said, “If you let it turn violent — whoa, you do not want to do that in Brevard County.”
“If you spit on us, you’re going to the hospital, and then jail,” he warned. “If you hit one of us, you’re going to the hospital and jail, and most likely [will] get bitten by one of our big, beautiful dogs that we have here.”
The threats got more intense as Ivey continued: “Throw a brick, a firebomb or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains at. Because we will kill you graveyard dead. We’re not going to play.”
Ivey’s warnings come as increased immigration raids and anti-deportation protests enter their second week in downtown Los Angeles.
On Friday, June 13, President Donald Trump won his latest legal battle, allowing him to keep National Guard troops stationed amid the protests. More than 700 Marines are also set to arrive in the city ahead of the weekend.
DAVID PASHAEE/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty
Despite warnings from Trump, Ivey, the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies, millions of protestors are expected to take to the streets in cities across America on Saturday, June 14, as part of the “No Kings” movement.
The website for the “national day of defiance” — which coincides with Trump’s multi-million dollar military parade in Washington, D.C., in celebration of the Army’s 250th anniversary and his own 79th birthday — features a map displaying hundreds of planned protests against the president’s “authoritarianism.”
“We’re not gathering to feed his ego. We’re building a movement that leaves him behind,” the No Kings website reads. “The flag doesn’t belong to President Trump. It belongs to us. We’re not watching history happen. We’re making it. On June 14, we’re showing up everywhere he isn’t—to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings.”
In Florida, multiple No Kings protests are scheduled in areas like Orlando, Apopka, Kissimmee and Lake Mary. However, Uthmeier said, “We are not California. We do not allow rioting in the state of Florida.”
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Ivey agreed, concluding his remarks by reiterating that he and his fellow law enforcement “invite” nonviolent protest.
“Go protest all you want. Do it peacefully. Stand on the mountaintops and yell your opinion, your views,” he said.
“But don’t you dare break the law, because it won’t go well for you,” the sheriff warned. “I don’t want to hear any whining later saying, ‘We didn’t know.’ “
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