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By Sophie Clark
Live News Reporter
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has said Floridians have a right to hit protesters with their car if they need to "flee for your safety."
DeSantis was speaking on The Rubin Report on Wednesday when he said: "We also have a policy that if you're driving on one of those streets and a mob comes and surrounds your vehicle, and threatens you, you have a right to flee for your safety.
"And so if you drive off and you hit one of these people, that's their fault for impinging on you."
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DeSantis' comments come ahead of the "No Kings" protests planned for June 14. Protest organizers have said the demonstrations are non-violent and are providing deescalation training to people taking part.
Molly Best, deputy press secretary for the Executive Office of the Governor of Florida, told Newsweek: "In Florida, violence is not condoned, and residents have the right to defend themselves and their families."
Why It Matters
A court in 2017 found that driving a car into a protest was not an act of self-defense, as James Alex Fields Jr., was found guilty of murder for hitting and killing civil rights activist Heather Heyer, a counter-protester at the Unite the Right Rally in 2017. Now, the governor of Florida is telling people they have a right to hit protesters with their car if they feel attacked.
DeSantis is not the only governor calling for more aggressive tactics against protesters, as Greg Abbott has called in the National Guard to quell demonstrations in Texas.
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What To Know
The Florida governor was speaking with host Dave Rubin about the ongoing protests in Los Angeles against ICE raids and the protests against the Trump administration planned for this weekend.
Rubin asked DeSantis what his policies would be if protesters "take over a street without a permit."
DeSantis told Rubin that people in their cars have a right to hit protesters because otherwise they might become a "sitting duck" who the "mob" could drag out of their car.
Rubin told DeSantis he was "very glad" to hear him say that and cited video of a person in Chicago speeding through a crowd on June 10, resulting in a 66-year-old woman breaking her arm.
Footage of the incident does not show protesters antagonizing the driver and shows a street with protesters on the road, but not so many people that it would be impossible to drive slowly through the crowd. Nobody has been arrested in connection with the incident.
There are videos of empty police cars in Los Angeles catching fire, but there are no known examples of people being dragged out of their cars at protests in Los Angeles or at any other protest site as of publication.
People have been dragged out of their cars recently, however, by ICE agents. In April 2025, ICE in Massachusetts broke into a couple's car after the couple asked the agents to wait for their lawyer to arrive.
Video footage of the incident shows an agent taking a sledgehammer to the couple's car window and dragging a man out of his car to be detained.
What People Are Saying
Molly Best, deputy press secretary for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, told Newsweek: "Let me be clear: Obstructing roadways and threatening innocent bystanders is illegal—this is not an opinion, it's the law."
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told the Rubin Report: "And so if you drive off and you hit one of these people, that's their fault for impinging on you. You don't have to just sit there and be a sitting duck and let the mob grab you out of your car and drag you through the streets."
No Kings protest organizers: "A core principle behind all No Kings events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values and to act lawfully at these events. Weapons of any kind, including those legally permitted, should not be brought to events."
What Happens Next
There are mass protests planned across the country for June 14, the same day as President Donald Trump and the Army's birthday parade through Washington, D.C.
Update 6/12/25, 9:27 a.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' office.
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