Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has asserted that Florida drivers have a right to flee for their safety during riots, even if that means running over rioters.
The governor discussed the issue during an appearance on Dave Rubin’s podcast on Wednesday evening.
“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,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis continued, “You don’t have to sit there and just be a sitting duck and let the mob grab you out of your car and drag you through the streets.”
“You have a right to defend yourself in Florida,” he added.
DeSantis explained that rioters have “no right to commandeer streets.”
“First of all, it’s just wrong; second of all, that has huge impacts on people’s quality of life,” he said.
“We have an absolutely zero tolerance policy for that,” DeSantis stated.
FLORIDA (MAD) MAN: Governor DeSantis gives Floridians GREENLIGHT to Run Over Protestors Blocking Them in the Streets.
“That’s their fault for impinging on you!”
Do you agree with @GovRonDeSantis? pic.twitter.com/LaBRdP1PwB
— Publius (@OcrazioCornPop) June 12, 2025
In 2021, DeSantis signed into law the “Combating Public Disorder Act,” which provides civil immunity for drivers who unintentionally injure or kill protesters while “fleeing for safety” from a “mob” (defined as three or more people engaged in a “riot” or violent public disturbance) if the driver is exercising “due care.”
The immunity does not apply to criminal liability, so drivers could still face criminal charges, including manslaughter or vehicular homicide, if the act is deemed reckless or intentional.
The law’s enforcement is currently uncertain due to legal challenges.
In 2021, a federal judge ruled the law was unconstitutional, citing violations of First Amendment rights and vagueness in defining a “riot,” and issued an injunction to block enforcement.
However, the state has appealed, but the law’s status remains in flux, meaning its protections for drivers may not currently apply, and courts may revert to standard self-defense laws.
There have been riots in cities nationwide over Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids removing illegal aliens from the country.
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