Governor Ron DeSantis announced the suspension of State Attorney Andrew Warren Thursday, arguing that the “Soros-backed” official has repeatedly asserted he would refuse to pursue cases involving the state’s 15-week abortion ban as well as laws prohibiting sex change operations on minors.
“We are suspending Soros-backed 13th circuit state attorney Andrew Warren for neglecting his duties as he pledges not to uphold the laws of the state,” DeSantis’ office said in a statement.
The governor cited the Florida constitution as having given him the right to suspend the state attorney and added, “We are not going to allow this pathogen of ignoring the law get a foothold in the state of Florida.”
DeSantis alleges that Warren signed letters declaring he “would not enforce any laws relating to protecting the right to life in the state of Florida.”
RELATED: DeSantis Responds To Invite From ‘The View’ With List of Clips Where Hosts Call Him ‘Fascist, Bigot’
DeSantis Suspends State Attorney For Thinking He’s Above the Law
Aside from not enforcing laws regarding abortion restrictions in the Sunshine State, the left-wing state attorney allegedly turned a blind eye to those regarding gender surgeries.
“In June of 2021, [Warren] signed a letter saying that he would not enforce any prohibitions on sex change operations for minors,” DeSantis accused.
In Florida, we will not allow the pathogen of ignoring the law to get a foothold in our state.
You take an oath to uphold ALL of the laws of our state, not just the ones you like. Otherwise, find a new line of work.
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantisFL) August 5, 2022
The Daily Mail reports that Warren “also refused to prosecute 67 Black Lives Matter activists arrested in June 2020 at a protest in Tampa that turned violent over anger about George Floyd’s police murder in Minneapolis.”
“State attorney for this Judicial Circuit, Andrew Warren, has put himself publicly above the law,” DeSantis said.
Progressive prosecutors backed by Soros have refused to enforce laws across the country. They treat criminals with deference & victims with contempt. This dereliction of duty is why crime is surging. But @GovRonDeSantis won’t stand for this. He just suspended the one in Florida.
— Christina Pushaw ? ?? (@ChristinaPushaw) August 4, 2022
RELATED: DeSantis Gets Standing Ovation For Blasting The Media
Warren Responds to ‘Political Stunt’
Warren responded to his suspension by calling the move a “political stunt” and suggesting his election by the people allows him the right to choose which laws he upholds.
“Today’s political stunt is an illegal overreach that continues a dangerous pattern by Ron DeSantis of using his office to further his own political ambition,” he said in a statement.
“It spits in the face of the voters of Hillsborough County who have twice elected me to serve them, not Ron DeSantis.”
Prosecutors are not elected to decide what laws they choose to enforce. https://t.co/c1aZrscMGY
— Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) August 5, 2022
Naturally, rogue left-wing prosecutors being held accountable for refusing to enforce laws created controversy as DeSantis’ press secretary Christina Pushaw predicted.
Pushaw noted prior to the announcement that Governor DeSantis’ next move would surely lead to “the liberal media meltdown of the year.”
Governor Ron DeSantis @RonDeSantisFL joins Tucker Carlson to discuss why he suspended the Soros-backed progressive prosecutor Andrew Warren:
DeSantis: “We took it seriously, we did a thorough review and we pulled the trigger today.” pic.twitter.com/qThMgltHGA
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) August 5, 2022
And the meltdown came to fruition.
Political commentator Nathan Schneider took the very rarely-used leftist tactic of comparing DeSantis to Hitler.
“American Nazism,” he tweeted. “Germans who resisted Hitler were also considered the enemy.”
Schneider’s parents should immediately go to whatever high school or university he attended and demand their tuition or tax money be refunded immediately. Their son is an example of the failing education system, and he’s not even trying to hide it.
American Nazism.
Germans who resisted Hitler were also considered the enemy.@GovRonDeSantis is following in the footsteps of every fascist regime throughout history. https://t.co/SkmYa1EQjV
— Nathan Schneider (@SchneiderLD35) August 4, 2022
Others were ever-so-slightly less on the nose with their criticisms but one could sense they were still melting down on the inside.
Desantis has rendered the FL legislature an irrelevant rubber stamp politburo through threats and intimidation. He has also done this to the state university system, school boards, public health agencies and hospitals. Now he is going after prosecutors. This man is an autocrat.
— Ron Filipkowski ?? (@RonFilipkowski) August 4, 2022
An elected prosecutor in Florida isn’t on board with DeSantis’ culture war, so the GOP governor is replacing him with someone else.
The closer one looks at this, the tougher it is to defend. https://t.co/mVvCoKDwJC
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen) August 4, 2022
Ron DeSantis just decided that he’s Tampa’s local prosecutor.
He’s overturning the will of Hillsborough County voters.
— Grant Stern is boosted! (@grantstern) August 4, 2022
BREAKING: MAGA Gov. Ron DeSantis suspends County State Attorney Andrew Warren, a Democrat, for bravely refusing to enforce draconian bans on abortion and transgender surgery, claiming he was in “neglect of duty.” RT TO THANK THE BRAVE PROSECUTOR FOR TAKING A STAND!
— Occupy Democrats (@OccupyDemocrats) August 4, 2022
Joe Scarborough called DeSantis a “dope.”
“Ron DeSantis is such a dope. He didn’t even wait for any action to take place, and he is doing the same thing that these freaks and insurrectionists and weirdos are doing,” MSNBC’s resident dope said.
“When the George Floyd riots were happening [public health experts] said…we don’t believe rioting is bad for covid. It’s so important that you have to do it. But if you’re protesting lockdowns…then you can’t do that. And that’s when I knew these people are a bunch of frauds.” pic.twitter.com/2ls8NRgZ9T
— Christina Pushaw ? ?? (@ChristinaPushaw) August 3, 2022
DeSantis, ever defiant and unconcerned about liberal media figures like Scarborough, appeared with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson to further justify his suspension of Warren.
He accused Soros-funded attorneys of trying to “change the criminal justice system through non-enforcement,” something we all witnessed during the race riots of 2020.
“It undermines the idea that ours is supposed to be a government of laws, not a government of individual men,” he added.
You cannot have prosecutors who declare they are not going to enforce the law—that is what is happening in New York and Chicago.
What’s great about Florida is that we have a governor who takes bold action to ensure this will not happen in our state.
?: @FoxNews, @WillCain pic.twitter.com/dfcBE4EBtv
— AG Ashley Moody (@AGAshleyMoody) August 5, 2022
Carlson pointed out that for all the talk about the end of democracy in this country, DeSantis just made a move trying to protect it.
“When a prosecutor decides which laws are valid and which laws are not, that is the most basic subversion of democracy and Andrew Warren has done that for six years,” he said.
DeSantis appointed Hillsborough County Court Judge Susan Lopez to replace Warren while his office works to have him replaced permanently.
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