Joy Reid Says Desantis Warning to Looters in Ian’s Aftermath Is Like Racist Threat From ‘Segregationist’

Taking to Twitter, MSNBC host Joy Reid bashed Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., for warning potential criminals against looting the evacuated homes of Hurricane Ian survivors in Florida, linking his statements to racist cops and politicians of the segregation era.

On Saturday, the host of MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” tweeted that DeSantis telling people not to loot and warning they might be shot by gun-carrying Floridians had the same tone as “segregationist Miami sheriff Walter E. Headley” infamously saying, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts” in the ’60s.

In addition, Reid’s tweet linked to an NPR article about the racist history, connecting it to vicious segregationists and anti-Black politicians such as Eugene “Bull” Conner. {snip}

Reid took issue with the Florida governor’s recent press conference about the state of recovery in Florida after the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ian. In the presser, the Florida governor mentioned his concerns about potential looting that could happen in the absence of infrastructure.

He said, “The other thing that we’re concerned about, particularly in those areas that were really hard hit, is, you know, we want to make sure we’re maintaining law and order.” Addressing would-be looters directly, he stated, “Don’t even think about looting. Don’t even think about taking advantage of people in this vulnerable situation.”

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He then laid out his warning: “I can tell you in the state of Florida, you never know what may be lurking behind somebody’s home. And I would not want to chance that if I were you, given that we’re a Second Amendment state.”

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