Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey delivered a stark warning Thursday to anyone considering violent protests: don’t try it in his jurisdiction.
Speaking at a news conference, Ivey laid out his expectations in no uncertain terms. His message? If you break the law in Brevard County, you’ll face swift and serious consequences.
“If you resist lawful orders, you are going to jail,” Ivey said. “Let me be very clear about that. If you block an intersection or a roadway in Brevard County, you are going to jail. If you flee arrest, you’re going to go to jail tired because we’re going to run you down and put you in jail.”
And that wasn’t the end of it.
“If you try to mob rule a car in Brevard County — gathering around it, refusing to let the driver leave — in our county, you’re most likely going to get run over and dragged across the street,” he warned.
Ivey escalated further. “If you spit on us, you’re going to the hospital, and in jail. If you hit one of us, you’re going to the hospital, and jail, and most likely get bitten by one of our big, beautiful dogs that we have here.”
Then came the most severe warning yet. “If you 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.”
The sheriff’s comments followed days of anti-immigration enforcement riots in Los Angeles. Vehicles have been torched. Officers attacked. Stores looted. Many protestors carried foreign flags or wore Palestinian keffiyehs.
“This has got to stop,” said Ivey. “You’re watching what’s taking place out there. You’re seeing police officers that are being attacked, being spit on, being put in harm’s way just for doing their jobs. You’re seeing ICE agents that are being targeted for doing their jobs, and you’re seeing obstructionists that are doing all of this standing in the way of law and order.”
Ivey’s aggressive posture mirrors that of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis addressed the ongoing unrest during a Wednesday appearance on “The Rubin Report.”
“In terms of the unrest, Florida’s policy is very simple: You have every right to exercise your First Amendment rights to protest and demonstrate,” DeSantis said. “The minute you cross that line, you are going to be met with serious pushback, and you will be held accountable. We do not tolerate rioting; we do not tolerate civil unrest; we do not tolerate looting; we do not tolerate attacks on law enforcement.”