Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said the state created a new reporting portal in response to the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
“We must protect before people are shot, before explosives go off,” he said. “We must protect before people are injured or lose their lives. Lately, we’ve seen political violence more so than ever.”
He called Kirk’s killing a tragedy.
“Because he literally would sit down on campuses and invite people to engage in discussion,” Uthmeier said. “You could ask him any question. He wasn’t afraid of any question, and unfortunately, someone who disagreed with his ideology chose not to respond with discussion or debate, but instead to assassinate him and take his life.”
Florida AG: “Violence not protected by First Amendment”
The portal is designed to streamline where people can report threats or calls for violence seen online or in person.
“We’re not going to believe in silencing individuals, but there’s a big difference when it comes to a threat of violence,” Uthmeier said. “A call for violence that is not protected by the First Amendment, and if we get a report of such threats, we will immediately refer them to our investigators.”
Mariana Schillaci said she supports the idea.
“Really, we live in a crazy society,” she said. “So, I think that it’s very, very important to report everything that is not normal.”
Carlos said he wished the portal had been available before Kirk’s killing.
“It may actually mitigate some of these risks of nuts, like the guy who killed Charlie; maybe we could have avoided it if there was such an app,” he said.
Florida teachers could face severe consequences
At Monday’s press conference, Uthmeier said teachers will be held to a higher standard.
“If you are going to create an unsafe learning environment that makes kids fearful, that makes parents fearful, you do not need to be in the classroom, and we will take action,” he said.
He said that includes revoking a teacher’s license, which he hopes to do in Clay County after a teacher wrote online, “This may not be the obituary we were all hoping to wake up to, but this is a close second for me.”
Attorney general warns of penalties for false reports
Uthmeier also warned that filing a false report through the portal is illegal.
He said anyone caught making a fake report will be held responsible.
