Ex-Florida Official Says He Was Forced Out For Defying De Santis | EUROtoday

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered unlawful surveillance of immigrants and ignored issues that relocating them from Texas to a different state might could possibly be thought of kidnapping or false imprisonment, the previous chief of employees on the state’s prime legislation enforcement company mentioned in a whistleblower lawsuit.

DeSantis additionally ordered the arrests of neo-Nazi demonstrators who weren’t breaking the legislation, former Florida Department of Law Enforcement Chief of Staff Shane Desguin mentioned in a lawsuit filed this week in Leon County Circuit Court.

Desguin mentioned the administration retaliated in opposition to him with an inside investigation that claimed he had a sexual relationship with a subordinate and recklessly pointed his unloaded gun at a coworker in an impromptu lesson on the way to defend in opposition to an armed attacker.

The investigation occurred because of Desguin reporting violations of guidelines, laws or legal guidelines and malfeasance, and his pressured resignation was retaliation for failing to adjust to these orders, the lawsuit mentioned.

DeSantis’ workplace pointed on the inside investigation talked about within the lawsuit when requested concerning the lawsuit. Spokesman Jeremy Redfern despatched The Associated Press a publish he made on X after information stories concerning the lawsuit.

“This guy was under a formal investigation, which revealed that he pointed his firearm at somebody in his office,” Redfern mentioned on X. “If I did that while in the military, I would’ve been court-martialed..”

DeSantis ordered the state to fly almost 50 migrants from Texas to to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, two years in the past. The flight made a short cease in Florida. The motion spurred a lawsuit and a prison investigation amid claims the migrants have been misled and never instructed the place they have been going.

Desguin claimed in his lawsuit that the DeSantis administration floated the thought of busing immigrants from Texas to Florida earlier than flying them to Massachusetts, and he raised issues the operation can be unlawful.

But DeSantis’ chief of employees, James Uthmeier, mentioned “it was imperative to complete at least ‘one flight’ of the migrants from Florida to another state,” the lawsuit mentioned, including that Uthmeier mentioned he could possibly be fired if the order wasn’t carried out.

Last yr, Uthmeier’s short-term substitute, Alex Kelly, referred to as Desguin and mentioned DeSantis wished neo-Nazi protesters in Orlando arrested. Desguin replied he couldn’t arrest anybody for exercising their First Amendment rights, the lawsuit mentioned.

“I don’t think you understand,” Kelly instructed Desguin, in accordance with the lawsuit. “If you look hard enough, you can find a way. The governor wants someone arrested today.”

DeSantis continued pressuring for an arrest regardless of being instructed arrests can be unconstitutional. After a number of days, the division started making arrests for illegally attaching a banner to a freeway overpass.