TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo raised questions about the fate of a proposal to protect historic monuments and memorials after several lawmakers voiced outrage over comments Tuesday by supporters of the bill.
Passidomo, a Republican from Naples, said members of the Republican-controlled Senate Community Affairs Committee were still “upset” Wednesday morning because speakers supporting the bill cited a need to protect “white culture” and “white supremacy.”
Some members of the public supporting the bill that would protect monuments – including Confederate monuments - made it abundantly clear that they want to keep these memorials standing to promote white supremacy and protect white society.
″This product of removing a statues of historical significance is part of the social war being waged against white society,” Attorney David McCallister, 71, said at the hearing.
“I do not believe people who support this policy share your perspective on supporting white culture or supporting the concept of white supremacy,” Miami Republican Senator Alexis Calatayud said to McCallister. “Supremacy is what I heard, so I want to clarify, that was the intent of your public testimony today.”
McCallister replied, “Yes, it was.”
MORE: Proposed bill could result in withheld arts and culture funding if historic monuments are removed in Florida | Text of House Bill 395 (Protection of Historical Monuments and Memorials)
The comments prompted Fleming Island Republican Senator Jennifer Bradley to second guess her vote.
“The comments that I heard today, and I heard this from several gentlemen and I’m looking right at you, were vile, bigoted, racist. They are what is tearing apart our state, they are what is driving a wedge between people and you are the reason why I’m vacillating on whether I should vote yes, because it looks like I endorse your hatred, and I do not. And I think there are other reasons for this bill. But you make me want to vote no,” Bradley said.
“There are problems with the bill,” Passidomo said. “More than that, there are problems in perceptions among our caucus, on all sides. So, I’m going to take that into consideration. I’m not going to bring a bill to the floor that is so abhorrent to everybody.”
The proposed bill recommends penalizing local officials who remove historical monuments. The bill would apply to all monuments, not just Confederate ones, the word Confederate isn’t mentioned in the legislation.
Senate sponsor Jonathan Martin, a Republican from Fort Myers, argued that his bill and intentions have been mischaracterized as protecting the Confederacy. He filed it one day after Mayor Donna Deegan in December ordered the removal of a “Women of the Southland” monument that had stood in Springfield Park since 1915.
When asked about the fate of the new law, Deegan had this to say about the state potentially penalizing local officials for removing monuments.
“I think it’s an overreach, I think local communities can decide what they want to do, they are elected officials put into office, and they should have the opportunity to make those decisions,” Deegan said.
During an appearance last week in Jacksonville, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he was “100 percent against removing monuments.”
This bill still has to be heard by one more committee. A similar bill making its way through the House has two more committee stops before it could reach the floor. The legislative session ends in one month.