Book spoke passionately against the legislation on the Senate floor Monday. “In the course of just two generations, we’ve seen our rights won and lost. It is up to us to get them back,” she said. “No one is going to save us but ourselves.”
Tallahassee police said protesters were told they could not continue their demonstration after sundown and were arrested for trespassing after multiple warnings. “TPD encourages individuals exercising their First Amendment right of peaceful assembly to do so in accordance with the law,” the department said in a statement. They were taken to a Leon County detention center, a spokesperson said.
Anna Eskamani, a Democratic state representative from Orlando who was at the jail trying to help obtain the release of those who had been arrested, said it was “absolutely ridiculous” for people to be arrested while “peacefully protesting for abortion rights.”
“But Florida is where freedom goes to die, and that became even more evident tonight,” Eskamani said.
Earlier Monday, some protesters were hustled out of the public gallery overlooking the state Senate chambers after they shouted over lawmakers’ speeches on the abortion bill. Some were forcibly removed; others yelled out criticism then left preemptively. After several disruptions, Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (R) ordered everyone out of the gallery.
But the demonstrations were relatively small. Only about a dozen people stood across the street with signs Monday morning, chanting “Abortion is health care!” and “Ron DeSantis has got to go!” as lawmakers and aides arrived for work.
A video from the evening, sent to The Post by Book’s publicist, shows demonstrators sitting in a circle singing “Lean on Me.” As officers pull them off the ground to put them in handcuffs, women can be heard shouting, “Shame, shame on you.”
Ables reported from Seoul. Caroline Kitchener in Tallahassee and Lori Rozsa in West Palm Beach, Fla., contributed to this report.
