Fourteen protesters were arrested Wednesday after staging a sit-in outside the office of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to protest new conservative laws in the state, according to the organizers.
Dream Defenders, an activist group established after the 2012 killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., said 14 members of the group and other organizations involved in the protest were arrested by police after an hours-long occupation of the office.
The protesters had said they would occupy the office until DeSantis agreed to a meeting.
“DeSantis decided to arrest protesters instead of meeting with them,” the group said in a release Wednesday evening.
Organizers said the protest was planned as part of a national demonstration but was altered to address a number of issues in Florida and push for “an alternative to the country that extremist politicians like DeSantis are creating.” Dream Defenders co-founder was the first protester to be arrested, according to the group.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed to The Hill that fourteen protesters were arrested for misdemeanor trespass after the Capitol building had closed. According to the department, police gave the protesters several warnings before arrests were made.
“Dream Defenders, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Florida Rising and other activists from across the state are about to get arrested in The Florida Capital fighting for Floridians,” state Rep. Angie Nixon (D) said on Twitter, sharing footage of officers on the scene.
— Updated May 4 at 2:17 p.m.