Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended the state’s only Black and female prosecutor, State Attorney Monique Worrell, on Aug. 8, citing a “political agenda.”
According to the Tallahassee Democrat, DeSantis claimed that the Democratic prosecutor failed to enforce the law while prosecuting cases. DeSantis, who has said he’d use lethal force at the southern border to stop immigrants from entering the country, claimed that Worrell was too soft on crime during a conference at the state Capitol building.
For months his office has blamed Worrell for allowing 19-year-old Keith Melvin Moses — the accused gunman in a shooting spree in February that left a 9-year-old, a TV reporter, and a 38-year-old woman dead — to be out on the street despite his lengthy juvenile record. But, except for one marijuana charge, all of Moses’ alleged crimes before the shooting happened before Worrell took office.
The governor also cited the shooting of two police officers in Orlando to justify the suspension.
A suspect identified as Daton Viel was shot and killed by the SWAT team following the shooting at a traffic stop in downtown Orlando two days before Worrell’s suspension. Viel had been arrested for sexual battery and was out on bond.
“He was still let out on bond and then tragically shot two Orlando police officers,” said DeSantis of Viel. “Prosecutors have a duty to faithfully enforce the law,” he added. “One’s political agenda cannot trump this solemn duty.”
As Worrell pointed out this week, judges have the power to grant bonds, not prosecutors.
Worrell, who was elected with 67 percent of the vote in Orange and Osceola counties back in 2020, responded to the suspension on social media and called DeSantis “a weak dictator.”
“If we’re mourning anything this morning, it’s the loss of Democracy. I am your duly elected for the Ninth Judicial Circuit,” she said. “And nothing done by a weak dictator can change that. This is an outrage.”
“Three years ago, I was elected by the people of the Ninth Judicial Circuit to lead this circuit and yes, to do things unconventionally,” she continued. “To do things differently…. I did exactly what I said I would do, and that is what you want from an elected official.”
The prosecutor also responded on social media and wrote that she would not “be bullied by DeSantis or used as a tool in his failing and disastrous presidential campaign.”
Rep. Angie Nixon (D- Jacksonville) said that DeSantis, who is running for president, is the one who is guilty of “dereliction of duty” because he spends the majority of his time on his presidential campaign rather than focusing on his duties as governor.
The Republican presidential candidate was joined at the press conference by Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. Judd held up a cartoon meme of Worrell in a room on fire, saying, “This is fine.”
Orange County judge Andrew Bain, who is also Black, was appointed to serve as state attorney in place of Worrell. The progressive Democrat called DeSantis out for replacing her with a conservative Black judge to save face while appearing on MSNBC with Joy Reid.
“I guess Ron DeSantis thinks if he swaps out one Black person for another, then that will make voters happy,” she said, adding that she was told not to go into the office and to return all state property.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina said he was looking forward to working with Bain, a Federalist Society member, according to WESH News.
“Our focus at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office is to protect our community from violent criminals,” he said. “We rely on our partnership with the State Attorney’s Office to ensure those offenders are held to account and kept off our streets. We look forward to working with Judge Andrew Bain in his new role as State Attorney.”
Worrell is the second progressive state attorney suspended under the Florida governor. He also suspended Tampa prosecutor Andrew Warren after he said he would not prosecute abortion or gender transition treatment providers. Warren called Worrell’s suspension “another illegal and unconstitutional attack on democracy by a small, scared man who is desperate to save his political career.”
