Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg warned that anyone in Palm Beach County who disrupts the government in the manner that occurred in Washington, D.C., at the U.S. Capitol Building on Wednesday, Jan. 6 would meet severe consequences locally.
Rioters overtook the U.S. Capitol briefly on Wednesday and disrupted the reading of the Electoral College count until U.S. Capitol police, along with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, restored order.
Aronberg made his statement at the Palm Beach County Emergency Operations Center on Thursday, Jan. 7.
“We obviously are aware that the president will be moving to Palm Beach, or at least attempting to move to Palm Beach, after he leaves office,” Aronberg said. “I just want to let the individuals who are not patriots, they are traitors who tried to overthrow the lawful government of the United States, that they are not welcome here. If they try to come here and do what they did in Washington, D.C., we will not tolerate that kind of violence. They are not protestors. They are rioters, they’re a mob, and law enforcement is prepared.”
He said that the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and municipal law enforcement will be ready for any such disruptions.
“They are not the U.S. Capitol police, and individuals who attempt to act like that will be met with a strong law enforcement response backed up by our local prosecutors,” Aronberg said.
He urged federal prosecutors in Florida to look at the fact that if someone left Florida to go to Washington, D.C., with the intent to commit federal crimes such as conspiracy to commit sedition, that they can also be prosecuted in Florida as well as in Washington, D.C.
“I hope those who committed the horrific events of yesterday will be held accountable to the full extent of the law,” he said.
See video from State Attorney Dave Aronberg’s statement below:
