I’m truly frightened…
#desantis w/his own “private” force.

“Dems expressed fear in 2021, when DeSantis 1st proposed to reactivate the #stateguard dormant since WWII, that it would eventually become a paramilitary force beholden only to #florida ’s #authoritarian leader.
‘No gov should have his own handpicked #secretpolice ‘said Charlie Crist.”

I’ll bet an audit of the operating budget…
Would show if any of the $107.5m #budget …“wandered” away!
https://apple.news/Agu3aB6ulRS2AGvyFudTWWQ

#Florida: “The program got hijacked and turned into something that we were trying to stay away from, a #militia,” said Brian Newhouse, a retired 20-year Navy veteran who was chosen to lead one of the #StateGuard’s three divisions...
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article277245833.html?s=09

#TALLAHASSEE — When Gov. #RonDeSantis first proposed reviving the long-dormant #Florida #StateGuard, he wanted 200 #volunteers and a modest $5 million budget.
Then it grew to 400 members and $10 million.
Now it’s 1,500 members and a nearly $100 million budget — with #PolicePowers, helicopters, boats and, under one lawmaker’s request, cellphone-hacking technology.

#DerSantis
#StopFascsm
#RepublicansAreTheProblem

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2023/03/24/desantis-state-guard-helicopters-arrest-cellebrite/