Page 11 - Florida Sentinel 7-30-21

Local
Crist To DeSantis:
Investigate Florida’s Big Presence In Capitol Siege
DeSantis responded, “These are smear merchants. Lies built on lies.”
One thing is true, Florida politics is no place for novices. And there’s no doubt the 2022
race for the Governor’s man- sion could be the fiercest in a long time.
Cong. Charlie Crist’s deci- sive early lead in the race for the Democratic nomination spans all races, gender, age groups, and media markets. He continues to challenge Governor Ron DeSantis on mimicking dangerous Trump policies.
DeSantis signed a state law that targets protests by groups like BLM
BY DELIA GOMES
ST. PETERSBURG, —
Congressman Charlie Crist says the many Floridi- ans arrested (47) during the January 6 Capitol siege war- rants an investigation by a bi- partisan group. Florida has the dubious distinction of tying Texas for the most ar- rests in the riot to undermine the certification of Joe Biden as President. Joined by State Attorney Andrew War- ren, Crist called on Gover- nor Ron DeSantis to assemble a bipartisan panel to examine Florida's link to the violent insurrection that over- whelmed capitol police. The incident resulted in several deaths and numerous injuries to Capitol police.
Crist, a Democrat run- ning for Governor, said, "This is stunning, and for our public safety, we need to understand why."
Florida had the highest number of extremist arrests, those being members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. And it also led the nation with Florida participants commit- ting nine assaults on law en- forcement officers. Crist added, "We need to know what to do to keep our state and democracy safe from these extremists."
DeSantis will not confirm the legitimacy of the Biden presidency, nor will he con- demn the Capitol insurrec- tion. But after the 2020 summer of protests following the death of George Floyd,
Critics brand Governor DeSantis as the nation’s leader of overreach following in the footsteps of his mentor, for- mer President Donald Trump.
the polarizing Governor made clear that his priority was to crack down on demonstra- tions involving groups like Black Lives Matter and other civil rights advocates. Includ- ing that law, this year, De- Santis signed a flurry of what civil rights organizations call suppressive laws.
Once again, it made Florida the poster child for the Trump agenda with the high- est number of new constitu- tionally challenged statutes.
As for Crist's gubernato- rial bid, he is a popular politi- cal figure. The former Governor, now Congressman, holds a commanding two-to- one lead over his closest com- petitor for the Democratic nomination.
According to StPete- Polls.org, Crist's support is highest among Black voters at 63%, followed by Whites at 52%, Asian Pacific Islanders at 51%, and Hispanics at 48%. More stunning is Crist's com- plete dominance among men, women, all age groups, and in all ten media markets where he is solid in the crucial I-4 corridor and South Florida re- gions. In addition to the pop- ularity quotient, nearly 70% of Democratic voters polled be- lieve Crist can beat DeSan- tis. Believability is critical to voter turnout.
Crist's empathy and com- passion could be part of the at- traction. In February, he called for an investigation of the alleged pay-to-play distri- bution of the COVID-19 vac- cine to groups and regions contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Florida Republican Party or his campaign. “60 Minutes” did an extensive report that also revealed that Blacks in Florida were vaccinated at a much lower rate than their wealthy neighbors. To that
FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2021 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY PAGE 11-A