TAMPA, Fla. – The Chair of the Hillsborough County Republican Party, Dana Galen, sent a letter to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis enclosing a resolution requesting the removal of the United States Capitol police from Hillsborough County and the entire state of Florida.
The Resolution states that for over 19 months, the Capitol Police have operated an office without the consent of the citizens of Hillsborough County and the State of Florida and that this federal agency is operating while circumventing the authority of our State Constitution. Further, the Federal government has no authority to establish any presence with the State without the express permission of the State.
The Chairwoman calls on the Governor, on behalf of herself and the Hillsborough County Republican Party to defend the U.S. Constitution, the Florida Constitution, and the rights of every Floridian from the unconstitutional intrusion upon our rights as a State to self-govern, according to a release obtained by The Free Press.
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“The existence of the Capitol Police and the FBI in our state is a global statement that Florida Sheriffs and Peace Officers are incompetent and incapable of doing their jobs,” Galen wrote to DeSantis. “Further, this is a slap in the face to our local Sheriffs and police officers. Please deny this authority and stand with our state and local officials.”
In July 2021, the Capitol Police announced the creation of field offices in several states to investigate threats against members of Congress in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
The first two field offices were in San Francisco, California, and Tampa, Florida, with “additional regions in the near future” to “investigate threats to members of Congress,” said Capitol Police chief Yogananda Pittman in a press release at the time.
At a Largo, Florida rally in August of 2021, Rep. Matt Gaetz attacked this topic and asked, “What in the hell is the Capitol Police doing setting up an office in Tampa, Florida?”
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“They couldn’t even protect the Capitol in Washington D.C,” Gaetz added. “I’m a Florida man, so I am an expert on this. There is no Capitol in Tampa, Florida; it’s not even a state Capitol.”
“I’m increasingly concerned that federal government and many elements within it are using this exquisite national security, authorities to turn against our own people,” said Gaetz. “I will be opposed to the Capitol Police deciding to have mission creep, right down the road in the sunshine state.”
DeSantis’ Office responded to a request for comment in August of 2021, saying, “Congressional Democrats should focus more on the dangerous “defund the police” movement taking hold of the left — and less on political schemes. We have one question for the Capitol Police in response to their statement about “threats” in Florida that, they say, informed the plan to open a field office here: When have our Florida law enforcement (or the FBI) ever fallen short when Capitol Police have asked for help here?”
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