OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had a warning for would be thieves in the wake of Hurricane Ian, “You loot, we shoot.”
“They boarded up all the businesses, and there are people that wrote on their plywood, ‘you loot, we shoot,’” the governor said at a press conference on Friday, The Daily Mail reported. “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.”
He went on to talk about law enforcement and the fact that Florida is a state that stands behind gun owners.
“The other thing that we’re concerned about, particularly in those areas that were really hard hit, is you know, we wanna make sure we’re maintaining law and order,” he said.
“Don’t even think about looting. Don’t even think about taking advantage of people in this vulnerable situation. And so local law enforcement is involved in monitoring that,” the governor said.
“You can have people you know bringing boats into some of these islands and trying to ransack people’s homes and I would not wanna chance that if I were you, given that we’re a Second Amendment state.
“I can tell you, in the state of Florida, you never know what may be lurking behind somebody’s home,” he said.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said that he discussed possible looting with Attorney General Ashley Moody.
“We are not going to tolerate — and I mean zero tolerance — when we say anyone that thinks they’re going to thrive on the residents of this county or state when we just took a horrific hit, I can guarantee you that is not going to happen,” he said.
“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,” she said.
It came after Vice President Kamala Harris appeared to suggest that people of color should receive help first.
Elon Musk was not pleased with her remarks regarding the prioritization of disaster relief.
The billionaire SpaceX and Tesla founder and CEO called out Harris after she said the Biden administration was initially focused on relief for minorities because of “equity” and the White House’s desire for everyone to be “in an equal place.”
Harris’ comments, which were seen has highly racist by Musk and others, came during back and forth with leftist Priyanka Chopra during a women’s leadership forum in Washington, D.C. sponsored by the Democratic National Committee, The Daily Wire reported.
“It is our lowest income communities and our communities of color that are most impacted by these extreme conditions and impacted by issues that are not of their own making,” claimed the vice president in regards to emergency responses to Hurricane Ian. “And so we have to address this in a way that is about giving resources based on equity, understanding that we fight for equality, but we also need to fight for equity, understanding not everyone starts out at the same place.
“And if we want people to be in an equal place, sometimes we have to take into account those disparities and do that work,” Harris added.
Musk responded: “Should be according to greatest need, not race or anything else.”
Should be according to greatest need, not race or anything else
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 1, 2022
Others took issue with Harris’ race-tinged remarks.
“The response in my state of Florida has been incredible. My Governor and Floridians are handling the aftermath remarkably. Kamala is exploiting our misfortune to pander to a voter bloc to ahead of the midterms,” noted Josie The Redheaded Libertarian.
“Agreed. Really disgraceful to see her priorities when folks have lost their homes, and some even their lives. Thank you, Elon!” added Students for Trump founder Ron Fournier.
“This is false. @VP’s rhetoric is causing undue panic and must be clarified. FEMA Individual Assistance is already available to all Floridians impacted by Hurricane Ian, regardless of race or background,” Christina Pushaw, communications director for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ reelection campaign, noted.
“It’s just jaw dropping that she is talking about prioritizing ‘communities of color’ when the hardest hit communities are like 95% white. Not that it should ever matter in any case,” she added.
