Ron DeSantis SUSPENDS prosecutor for being 'soft on crime': Florida Governor says State Attorney Monique Worrell allowed criminals to 'escape full consequences' in huge move

Ron DeSantis on Wednesday suspended a progressive prosecutor in Florida ‘dereliction of duty,’ a tough on crime stance that comes as his presidential campaign falters.

In a hastily arranged announcement, DeSantis announced he was suspending Monique Worrell, Orlando-area state attorney who was elected in November 2020, for being soft on crime. 

The two have clashed multiple times and she has long been in DeSantis’ cross-hairs. She previously accused him of pursuing a ‘witch hunt’ against her.

His tough on crime approach comes two weeks before he appears on the debate stage for the first showdown between Republican presidential candidates. In the 2022 midterm election, being tough on crime was a winning issue for GOP candidates.

It also comes as he has struggled to gain traction in the polls against Donald Trump and follows his firing of his campaign manager in an attempt to reset his campaign.

Ron DeSantis announced he was suspending a progressive Florida prosecutor for not doing her duty and being soft on crime

In his announcement, DeSantis said Worrell has regularly allowed murderers and other violent offenders to ‘escape the full consequences of their criminal conduct.’ 

‘The state of Florida is a law and order state, and that means we support the men and women who wear the uniform who protect and serve. It means we have strong policies to hold criminals accountable for their misconduct,’ he said. 

‘Prosecutors have a duty to faithfully enforce the law. One’s political agenda cannot trump this solemn duty, refusing to faithfully enforce the laws of Florida puts our communities in danger and victimizes innocent Floridians,’ he noted.

Worrell and the governor have clashed on several cases. 

In May, Worrell accused DeSantis of conducting a ‘witch hunt’ when his office sent a letter demanding information on two human trafficking cases that were not prosecuted by her office.

She accused him of looking for a reason to remove her from office, a move he can do under his executive power. 

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‘The Governor’s team is pursuing this witch-hunt to establish a basis for the removal of another duly-elected prosecutor,’ she said in a statement at the time. ‘He seeks to exploit his political agenda against me.’

Monique Worrell is the Orlando-area state attorney who was elected in November 2020

Worrell and DeSantis also clashed over a case in March where a teenage gunman in Orlando was accused of killing 38-year-old Nathacha Augustin, 9-year-old T’yonna Major and Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons.

The governor accused her of failing to prosecute a criminal.

But Worrell said the Orlando police failed to connect 19-year-old Keith Moses to the gun used in the shooting. The Tampa Bay Times reported the sheriff’s office admitted they failed to test DNA samples on a gun found in Moses’ only previous arrest as an adult.

‘There’s definitely a target across my back and it has nothing to do with anything that I’ve done, but just simply with the fact that the governor wants full control over Florida politics and he doesn’t respect the will of the electorate,’ she told The Daily Beast at the time.

It is not the first time DeSantis suspended a state prosecutor. 

Last year he suspended Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren over his refusal to prosecute abortion patients.

Before DeSantis suspended Warren, he repeatedly accused the prosecutor of failing to go after alleged criminals.

Warren had signed statements by the advocacy group Fair and Just Prosecution pledging not to prosecute people accused of transgender- or abortion-related crimes.

DeSantis cited those pledges as part of what he called Warren’s incompetence.

Ron DeSantis move comes as his presidential campaign falters

Worrell was the only other prosecutor in Florida who signed the statement about transgender crimes. She did not sign the statement about abortion.

DeSantis named Florida judge Andrew Bain to replace Worrell as the state attorney for the 9th judicial circuit.