A Broward County jury sentenced the Parkland shooter to life in prison for the 2018 massacre, something Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) took issue with.
“I think that if you have a death penalty at all that [the Parkland shooting] is a case where you’re massacring those students, with premeditation and other basic disregard for humanity, that you deserve the death penalty,” DeSantis said during a Thursday press conference. “The jurors came back, and apparently, it was 11 to one, with one holdout refusing to authorize the ultimate punishment. That means this killer is going to end up getting the same sentence [as] people who have committed bad acts, but bad acts that did not rise to this level.”
“I just don’t think anything else is appropriate except the capital sentencing in this case,” the governor stated.
DeSantis also took issue with the time it took – four-and-a-half years – for the Parkland shooter to stand trial. According to the governor, in older times, the Parkland shooter would have been “executed in six months” after the rampage.
“He’s guilty. Everybody knew that from the beginning, and yet it takes years and years in the legal system that is not serving the interest of victims,” DeSantis said.
Following the Parkland shooting, Gov. DeSantis worked with the victims’ families to implement school security measures totaling roughly $750 million. He even signed legislation as recently as June to provide millions in mental health resources and additional school safety trainings.
