Florida law enforcement apprehended a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi affiliated with an extremist group on Tuesday for hanging swastikas and anti-Semitic banners on a bridge near Orlando. This arrest marks the first known case of a violation under Florida’s recently enacted public nuisance law, with authorities now actively seeking three additional suspects involved in the hateful act. The state’s public nuisance law, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in April, prohibits individuals from intentionally displaying or projecting messages on any property without the written consent of its owner. Governor DeSantis championed the law, describing it as a vital tool for law enforcement to combat anti-Semitic incidents and protect religious communities from targeting. Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Commissioner Mark Glass expressed gratitude to Governor DeSantis for his support in a statement on Wednesday. “We want to thank Governor DeSantis for his support of law enforcement and for the signing of HB 269, giving us the tools to arrest this hate-filled radical,” Commissioner Glass stated. “Today’s arrest demonstrates Florida’s commitment to protecting residents from attention-seeking extremists,” added Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Executive Director Dave Kerner. The arrested individual, Jason James Brown, hailing from Cape Canaveral, identified himself as a member of the “Order of the Black Sun,” an anti-Semitic group. Brown, aged 48, faces charges of criminal mischief in the first degree, a misdemeanor. According to Brown’s arrest affidavit, an FDLE agent came across an online video that revealed members of the hate group dressed in black or military-style camouflage attire while affixing signs and banners on the Daryl Carter Parkway bridge near Orlando on June 10. The agent’s report states that Brown, alongside another person, was observed attaching a swastika flag to the bridge, while others installed a flag and a banner displaying white power and racist messages. Furthermore, an officer from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, who was present at the scene on June 10, witnessed Brown and the other culprits affixing the hate-filled signage onto the bridge’s fence, clearly without the written consent of Orange County, according to the FDLE agent. Brown’s arrest took place at his Cape Canaveral residence on Tuesday evening, and he was subsequently taken to a Brevard County jail, as detailed in his arrest report. The FDLE, however, refrained from disclosing the identities of the three additional wanted individuals, citing an “active criminal intelligence information” exemption. This incident is not isolated, as anti-Semitic groups, including the one Brown is allegedly affiliated with, have displayed swastika flags, performed Hitler salutes, and voiced hateful messages targeting Jewish individuals outside the Walt Disney World Resort and other parts of Central Florida on September 2, according to the Anti-Defamation League, an organization dedicated to monitoring anti-Semitic incidents. A week prior to this event, a white gunman armed with a swastika-emblazoned assault-style rifle claimed the lives of three Black individuals at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville. Nationally, reported hate crime incidents saw an 11.6% increase from 8,120 in 2020 to 9,065 in 2021, as reported in an FBI study earlier this year. Approximately 65% of these victims were targeted due to the offenders’ racial, ethnic, or ancestral bias, according to the FBI. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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