Ron DeSantis’ police state: Florida prepares to build its own spy network
With approximately ten months left as governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis (with help from his Republican buddies in the state legislature) is diligently working on his legacy — a legacy that includes building a state-level spy network as one of the final pieces to building a police state where government officials decide what residents can do, say, or believe.
Included in the slew of new restrictive laws racing their way through the state legislature are two House bills which have already found favor with Florida’s veto-proof Republican majority (via The Guardian):
HB-1471 would give a handful of state officials unprecedented power to designate as a “terrorist group” any organization whose aims and policies they do not like, including non-profits operating for religious, charitable and social justice purposes.
HB-945 creates a “counterintelligence and counterterrorism” unit within the Florida department of law enforcement that critics say will be used to spy on groups or individuals whose “actions, views, or opinions” are deemed “a threat or are inimical to the interests of this state”. (Emphasis mine)
The architect (apologies to George Costanza) behind HB-945 is state Rep. Danny Alvarez, a Republican from the Tampa area who claims the spy network and the police state it will operate under is necessary to defend against the likes of China and Cuba. He also wants Floridians to “trust” him to protect their rights, and he used the “failures” of previous intelligence to prevent acts of terrorism like those of 9/11 (via The Intercept):
Alvarez says the unit is needed to defend against the likes of China and Cuba. During a Tuesday committee hearing, Alvarez said he was preparing to introduce an amendment to address civil liberties concerns and gave a fiery defense of his bill.
“People are looking for boogeymen here. There’s no boogeyman. I’m going to strip everything that makes you question it. You just have to trust me to get to the next committee,” he said. “But while you look for boogeymen, I need to be looking for terrorists. I need to prevent the next bomb.”
Alvarez argues that Florida needs to step up to protect itself, especially in light of two intelligence failures in the past three decades: the September 11 attacks and the more recent New Year’s truck-ramming attack in New Orleans. He said he envisions the unit as a complement to federal law enforcement.
In a statement, Alvarez denied that the new unit would be allowed to open investigations based solely on people’s views.
“It does not authorize investigations based solely on speech,” he told The Intercept. “Any action must be tied to demonstrable conduct and constitutional standards. The First Amendment remains fully intact, and the unit operates under strong statutory safeguards and oversight.” (Emphasis mine)
Meanwhile, Alvarez is the same person who earlier this month demanded that a Florida high school principal who allowed students to join an immigration protest be stripped of her credentials.
You know . . . I seem to recall hearing the same “trust government to do what’s right” rhetoric and promises to protect our rights every time the PATRIOT Act comes up for renewal, and we know how that turned out.
This attempt by DeSantis & Company to build a spy network and a police state should come as no surprise coming from a man who displayed the same animosity towards press freedom as Donald Trump in 2025 when the Florida governor went after reporter for writing unfavorable things about him and his wife.
During his 2022 reelection, considered a practice run for an eventual presidential campaign, DeSantis fully embraced Trumpist attack on free speech when announced new state legislation designed to crack down on Big Tech for their alleged bias against conservatives.
“What began as a group of upstart technology companies from the west coast, has since transformed into an industry of monopoly communications platforms that monitor, influence, and control the flow of information in our country and among our citizens,” DeSantis said from the Cabinet Meeting Room. He also ranted about how ‘Big Tech’ is becoming more like ‘Big Brother’ with “each passing day.”
Footnote: I think DeSantis is unfamiliar with the concept of irony, since Orwell used “Big Brother” to describe a tyrannical big government.
DeSantis also said he wouldn’t let Big Tech “manipulate” news content and design algorithms to give an upper hand to the candidates of their choice. “That’s why in Florida we’re gonna take aim at those companies and pull back the veil and make sure those guys don’t continue to find loopholes and grey areas to live above the law,” DeSantis said. “Under our proposal, if a technology company de-platforms a candidate for elected office in Florida during an election, that company will face a daily fine of $100,000 until the candidate’s access to the platform is restored.”
And all of this fits perfectly with the heart of nationalism and fascism that beats in the heart of Ron DeSantis.
In retrospect, the rationale being used by Ron DeSantis’ Republican buddies in the Florida legislature to justify another liberty-killing assault on our God-given, constitutionally protected rights fits perfectly with the actions taken by the federal government in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Some may call that a coincidence, but perhaps it’s not a coincidence at all. Instead, it’s just an extension of the bipartisan war on liberty I write about in my book, The New Axis of Evil: Exposing the Bipartisan War on Liberty.
Either way, Ron DeSantis’ spy network is just another piece of the police state agenda being pushed by Democrats AND Republicans.
David Leach is the owner of the Strident Conservative and the author of The New Axis of Evil: Exposing the Bipartisan War on Liberty. He holds people of every political stripe accountable for their failure to uphold conservative values, and he promotes those values instead of political parties.
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