DeSantis directed Florida Highway Patrol response to campus protests

Gov. Ron DeSantis personally directed the Florida Highway Patrol’s response to the recent pro-Palestinian campus protests in Florida, a top state official said Wednesday.

“On countless occasions, campus and local law enforcement has requested the assistance of Florida Highway Patrol. And on countless other occasions, we have proactively assisted campus and local law enforcement,” said Dave Kerner, executive director of the Florida Department of Safety and Motor Vehicles, which oversees the highway patrol.

“In all instances,” Kerner said, “these actions were taken at the direction of Gov. DeSantis.”

His comments came during a DeSantis news conference at the University of Florida campus, near a spot on the campus green where round-the-clock protests have been taking place for 15 days. As DeSantis, Kerner and other officials spoke in praise of Florida’s response to the demonstrations, protesters could be heard chanting.

DeSantis’ office and Kerner’s agency did not respond last week to questions about the governor’s involvement in the protest response. Kerner on Wednesday acknowledged the questions, saying his department was asked if the governor was “personally” involved.

“The answer is yes,” he said.

The governor’s office did not immediately respond when asked to elaborate on Kerner’s remarks. It was unclear how many universities his directives impacted, or how engaged he was in the details of law enforcement tactics.

At least 37 protesters were arrested in demonstrations last week at UF, the University of South Florida, Florida State University and the University of North Florida. The law enforcement response at USF included the use of tear gas.

“As we have seen very clearly, there is a stark difference between Florida and many other states in this nation,” Kerner said. “This is very intentional. Our governor will not bend to the shrill and illogical will of an entitled and reckless super-minority. He will not tolerate for a moment our campuses degenerating into collectives of violence and anti-American and antisemitic dogma, and neither will the Florida Highway Patrol.”

DeSantis thanked state universities and law enforcement agencies for their responses last week, and held them in contrast to “elite colleges and universities that have allowed themselves to be overrun with encampments, graffiti as well as a lot of really nasty antisemitism.”

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