DeSantis, in Israel, signs bill curbing hate speech on private property

ORLANDO, Fla. – A new law now in effect in Florida makes it a crime to distribute flyers onto private property with hate speech in them, or project hateful messages onto private property without permission.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 269 Friday while touring in Israel. The bill passed unanimously this month in both chambers of the Florida Legislature.

The bill bans a number of actions in response to the growing presence of antisemitic rhetoric and actions in Florida over the last year.

Among the provisions, the law bans people from:

• Intentionally dumping litter onto private property for the purposes of intimidating a homeowner or invitee. This is a first-degree misdemeanor that can rise to the level of a third-degree felony if it includes a credible threat, and can also be reported as a hate crime.
• Displaying or projecting any message onto a private building without the written permission of the structure’s owner. This is a first-degree misdemeanor that can rise to the level of a third-degree felony if it includes a credible threat, and can also be reported as a hate crime.
• Harassing, threatening or intimidating a person for wearing religious or ethnic insignia. This is a first-degree misdemeanor that can rise to the level of a third-degree felony if it includes a credible threat, and can also be reported as a hate crime.

The bill also strengthens the penalty against any person who willfully interrupts or disturbs an assembly of people who are acknowledging the death of an individual, such as a funeral.

It also creates a new trespass rule against people who go onto a Florida state college or university campus for the purpose of intimidating someone, and then refuse to leave when asked to do so.

The bill came about as the number of antisemitic incidents across Florida rose in the last year. That includes incidents in Central Florida where hateful messages against the Jewish people were projected onto a building in downtown Orlando on New Year’s Eve and at the Daytona 500 in February.

There’s also been an increase in other antisemitic activity, like the distribution of flyers into neighborhoods around Central Florida.

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