Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signs anti-swatting law aimed at combating malicious, false reports, especially those targeting right-leaning influencers driven by ideological motives.
On Wednesday, DeSantis signed HB 279 after multiple recent incidents of conservative influencers targeted by deadly attacks across the country.
The bill seeks to criminalize false reports leading to emergency responses, classifying them as a third-degree felony for significant injury or permanent harm, and a second-degree felony if they result in death. (RELATED:RAW EGG NATIONALIST: A Spade’s A Spade: Swatting Is Attempted Murder — Maybe Even Terrorism)
It also lowers the threshold for felony penalties from four to two false reports and holds offenders accountable for the costs of prosecution, investigation, and victim restitution.
“I signed an anti-swatting bill a couple of years ago, it was strong legislation, but the bill I’m gonna sign today is the strongest in the country,” DeSantis said in an interview with America’s Newsroom.
I joined Fox News to discuss Florida’s efforts to protect against forced medication (i.e., fluoride in the water supply) and to combat swatting. pic.twitter.com/6SFUdlJcUU
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 21, 2025
“The officers who are going, they think it’s a legitimate call, so they’re going to behave as if there is a suspect in the home. The resident, they have no idea what the hell’s happening. And so you end up in situations where you can have lethal force that are engaged. So the people that are doing this are committing really serious offenses, and I appreciate that we’re going to hold them accountable with criminal sanctions, but also the restitution, because it costs money to have to do all this stuff,” he said.
Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Legislation to Crack Down on Swatting https://t.co/v1gjZlbHqX
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 21, 2025
DeSantis emphasized that, while the bill addresses the targeting conservatives, it is designed to protect all Floridians. (RELATED: REPORT: Police Rush To Gordon Ramsay’s Home In Latest Swatting Incident)
“We’ve had actually SWAT focused on conservative media personalities throughout the country, including in Florida. So there has been somewhat of an ideological bent to this,” he said. “We have zero tolerate for swatting.”
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