Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) responded to the fifth anniversary of the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida by calling for more people to be killed with capital punishment.
At a press conference Tuesday, DeSantis was asked if enough had been done to stop future gunmen like the one who killed 17 people in Parkland.
“We’ve done over a billion dollars to bolster school security,” he said. “We’ve worked hard to bring accountability to folks who maybe could have done something to prevent this guy from being in this position, whether it was from removing the sheriff of the county, whether it was having a school security grand jury, which has led to the removal of some of the school board members.”
“If there’s never accountability, these things are more likely to happen,” the governor insisted.
DeSantis complained that gunman Nikolas Cruz was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole instead of the death penalty.
“We’re going to
reform the capital sentencing procedure in Florida,” he vowed. “Of course, to be convicted of a crime, you need a unanimous jury. But Nikolas Cruz was somebody everyone knew was guilty, and he’s entitled to process, but he admitted it, right?”
“So then they go for the penalty phase, you kill 17 people, what other penalty can you get other than the ultimate penalty?” DeSantis asked. “And yet, you have one holdout that can nullify that. That was not the law in Florida for most of the time. The Supreme Court changed it. Now, our more recent court changed it back. So, what we’re going to say is, you know, you can’t have just like one or two holdouts deny justice.”
“All I can say is we’re doing something about it,” he added.
As a follow-up question, DeSantis was asked if he would follow former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) in announcing a presidential run.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he quipped with a laugh.
According to Everytown for Gun Safety, firearms are Florida’s second leading cause of death among children and teens.
Watch the video at this link.
