JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had to make new arrangements for his Tuesday-morning news conference in Jacksonville after a handful of people protested and refused to leave the Duval County Department of Health building.
Northside Coalition of Jacksonville community leader Ben Frazier was detained by officers after being warned he was trespassing if he wouldn't leave as asked. He was handcuffed and escorted from his motorized wheelchair to a patrol vehicle.
The news briefing had been planned for 10:15 a.m. with DeSantis, Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Simone Marstiller and Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie.
Additional officers were called to the briefing location at the Health Department on North Davis Street after Frazier decried DeSantis' stance on COVID-19 measures and said he's been missing in action for the last month.
While Frazier and a few other protesters argued the event was public and in a public building, the governor's staff said it was private and for credentialed media only. After being warned, Frazier was taken away in handcuffs while others were yelling and demanding his rights.
He was later issued a notice to appear in court later on a trespassing charge and released, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said.
DeSantis was not actually present as organizers moved the briefing to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement facility nearby in Jacksonville's LaVilla neighborhood. When questioned about the protest at the relocated news conference over an hour later, he said he knew nothing about it. But state lawmakers did issue statements later.
Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, said Frazier's detention shows that "the people come last" in Florida.
"The governor runs and hides when the people demand to be a priority," her statement said. "... Public service is the people’s business, and the governor must answer for his failings. There’s nothing private about America witnessing the suffering that Floridians have endured because of Gov. DeSantis’ people-last strategy. The treatment of Mr. Ben Frazier, a disabled civil-rights activist and member of my community, was shameful and appalling.”
The leader-designate of the House Democratic Caucus, Rep. Ramon Alexander, added that the "hypocrisy" of the governor's "Free State of Florida" was on full display in Jacksonville.
"It’s only free if you agree with him, and you can only attend his events if you are a cheerleader for his political ambitions," Alexander said. "You’re free to catch the virus in Florida, but don’t you dare question the governor’s policies."
In the governor's first news conference Monday since the omicron variant surged across Florida, he was critical of vaccines while pushing for more monoclonal treatments.
“With omicron, you know, the vaccinations are not preventing infection,” DeSantis said at Broward Health Medical Center.
But since the beginning of nationwide vaccine rollouts, doctors and scientists have emphasized that although the virus can infect inoculated people, they offer the best protection against severe illness and death, even for those who catch the mutated omicron variant. Those with booster shots are the most protected, authorities say.
Ladapo tweeted on Monday that "Direct access to early treatment is essential to saving lives — it is not an option nor should it be barricaded by bureaucracy."
He and DeSantis are calling for new “guidelines” about who should get tested to reduce the culture of testing.
Studies have shown that two of the three approved drugs for coronavirus antibody treatment — including the ones DeSantis wants — do little to counter the effects of the omicron variant, first reported in South Africa. The third approved treatment, manufactured by the London-based pharmaceutical giant GlaxoKlineSmith, is effective but is in short supply.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced on Dec. 23 it would pause shipments of Regeneron's and Eli Lilly's COVID-19 treatments after the Food and Drug Administration said they were likely ineffective against omicron.
But on Thursday, HHS reversed course, acknowledging that delta still accounts for a sizable share of infections in some parts of the country.
DeSantis' previous last public appearance was Dec. 17 to tell the public his administration's plan to fight the virus. In the week leading up to that day, Florida added an average of about 5,300 new infections. In the past seven days, the number of new infections have skyrocketed to nearly 52,000, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.
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(This report contains information from the Palm Beach Post.)
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