Florida cops took Jason Brown into custody after he allegedly held a banner with swastika flags and racist messages on a highway overpass in Orlando, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said. Police arrested him after the Florida Legislature added provisions to criminal mischief, which requires permission to display banners or messages in public view. (FDLE)
A Florida Neo-Nazi was taken into custody for hanging a banner that included swastika flags and other racist messages over a highway overpass in Orlando, Florida, on June 10, according to police.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Highway Patrol on Wednesday announced the arrest of Jason Brown, 48, of Cape Canaveral.
He was arrested under a new state law that adds provisions to the criminal mischief charge, prohibiting individuals from displaying or projecting images onto a building, structure, or property without permission.
There are three arrest warrants for additional demonstrators who live out of state, although no further details were provided. The Orlando Sentinel reported a demonstration of Neo-Nazis in front of Disney World occurred the same day.
“Florida is a law-and-order state. Today’s arrest demonstrates Florida’s commitment to protecting residents from attention-seeking extremists,” Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Executive Director Dave Kerner said.
The bill, HB 269, was unanimously passed by the Florida Legislature and signed into law by Republican Presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in May.
Text of the bill says:
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806.13 Criminal mischief; penalties; penalty for minor.—
(6) A person may not knowingly and intentionally display or project, using any medium, an image onto a building, structure, or other property without the written consent of the owner of the building, structure, or property. For purposes of this subsection, the term “image” means a visual representation or likeness of a person or object, including text, graphics, logos, other artwork, or any combination thereof.
(a) A person who violates this subsection commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
(b) A person who violates this subsection by displaying or projecting an image that contains a credible threat, as that term is defined in s. 784.048(1), commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
(c) If the penalty for a violation of this subsection is reclassified under s. 775.085, such a violation is considered a hate crime for purposes of the reporting requirements of s. 877.19
“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,” FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass said in a statement. “This activity will not be tolerated in the greatest state in the country, Florida.”
Brown claims to be a member of the Order of the Black Sun, an anti-Semitic and extremist group, the FDLE said.
The Anti-Defamation League, which tracks hate groups throughout the country, says the group is a Neo-Nazi network based primarily in the Sunshine State.
“The group distributes propaganda and holds in-person demonstrations to spread their white supremacist ideology. OBS was formed in early 2023 by long-time affiliates of Florida’s overlapping white supremacist network,” the ADL said.
There have been several instances of Neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups displaying images on buildings or over highways throughout Florida over the past year. There were messages displayed outside the stadium in Jacksonville at the college football clash between Florida and Georgia last October that said, “Kanye is right about the Jews,” which referenced Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West’s past anti-Semitic statements.
On New Year’s Eve in downtown Orlando, a message displayed on a building said, “Vax the Jews.” In February, a banner was displayed over a pedestrian walkway during the Daytona 500 race.
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