Florida's new anti-riot law: How does it fit with Gainesville's history of protest?

Vietnam war veteran turned peace activist Scott Camil has been to a few protests over the years.

He was one of the Gainesville Eight, a group of men who were charged with conspiracy to disrupt the 1972 Republican convention in Miami Beach. They were acquitted.

At the 1971 University of Florida homecoming parade, he joined in some street theater — he and others dressed in army clothes, carried a flag-draped coffin and pretended to stab people in the crowd who were in on the gag and had fake blood.

Over the years, Camil has slowed down a bit on the protest front but he is riled by the “anti-riot” bill passed by the Florida Legislature and signed into immediate law by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday of this past week.

Read more: https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/2021/04/25/gainesvilles-history-protest-brings-context-desantis-anti-riot-law/7340410002/