1/29 - Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins on JMN

That is not appropriate for a state governor. to be inciting, a mayor to be inciting. You know, if you don't like the fact that we have immigration laws, then, you know, you should have done a better job when you were in power. Ron DeSantis earlier this week at the Florida Sheriff's Association Winter Conference in Pontevira, saying leaders in sanctuary cities need to stop encouraging people to protest and target ICE. Lieutenant Governor J. Susan Collins is with us live with continuing team coverage of this. Do you have any evidence that in Florida this is happening, Lieutenant Governor? Look, we have been very, very lucky under Governor Ron DeSantis. He has set a clear and bold standard. We stand up for a men and women and law enforcement. We will not let ourselves devolve into what states like Minnesota, California, New York, New Jersey, all of these liberal-leaning states, what they're doing. It's unacceptable. You know, under his watch, under his leadership, this has been fact. It has not been allowed. And I'm proud of what we've done. That being said, Look, when you see people demonstrate in Florida, they don't because they know if they do it, they're going to be held accountable. Do you put any of the, I hesitate to use the word blame because it's so often used, but consequences, I guess, for disruption and getting out of hand, for example in Minneapolis, on local and state law enforcement not being able to diminish the protest because people obviously have a right to protest, but when things do get unruly at times. How much of that ultimately falls on the local police? And are they even capable of handling it? What's the difference in terms of that capability here in Florida? Yeah, so first off, I think law enforcement across the country are prepared and trained, but you know, for the most part, it varies by state. I think this comes down to leadership at the state, at the local, the city, the county levels. When you have governors, mayors, leaders of the community, essentially undermining your police, undermining the rule of law, undermining the safety of our community, what do you think is going to happen? I'm a 23-year retired Army Green Beret. I can tell you, life comes at you fast in those moments. We are undermining people who have to make split second decisions with not only their lives, their friends and partners' lives, but also the civilian's lives all through the community at that moment in time. It is hard, it is kinetic, and they don't get paid enough for how hard that job is. And yet they do it because they protect and serve. Leadership comes at a cost. All those biases, if you can't lead, you can't put men and women in law enforcement first and protect them, and you shouldn't be in charge. Minnesota was an abject failure because of how they're handling this. Lieutenant Governor, do you think that part of the problem is the training that, yes, these people are imbued with a lot of responsibility but may not necessarily have the training needed to react in split second decision situations?