Gov. Ron DeSantis defended Tuesday the arrest of protesters accused of using chalk to color a crosswalk near the Pulse memorial in defiance of the state’s crackdown on street art.
“You don’t have a First Amendment right to commandeer someone else’s property,” DeSantis said at an Orlando event. “You have a First Amendment right to paint your own property. Knock yourself out if that’s what you want to do. But when you have a state crosswalk or a state road, the law in the state of Florida is now that there’s not markings.”
Tensions have reached a boiling point over the state’s decision to remove a pro-LGBTQ rainbow crosswalk near the former gay nightclub where 49 people were shot and killed in 2016. Four people were arrested over the Labor Day weekend and accused of interfering with a t