Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced he was suspending Soros-backed State Attorney Monique Worrell from her position. DeSantis’ executive order authorizing Worrell’s removal cited incompetence, dereliction of duty, and failure to uphold the rule of law.
Prior to her suspension, Worrell served as the State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit following her election in 2020. During her campaign, Democracy PAC, a political committee set up by globalist billionaire and activist George Soros, spent $1.5 million on last-minute ads that helped Worrell to secure the position.
In the years since then, DeSantis alleges Worrell adopted a soft-on-crime stance which had a significant negative impact on her district: “The practices and policies of her office have allowed murderers, other violent offenders, and dangerous drug traffickers to receive extremely reduced sentences and escape the full consequences of their criminal conduct. In some cases, these offenders have evaded incarceration altogether,” DeSantis’ office wrote in a statement.
Specifically, the Governor’s executive order calls attention to Worrell’s consistent failure to pursue mandatory minimum sentencing for gun and drug charges, as well as downplaying violent crimes committed by juvenile offenders. The former state attorney also limited child pornography charges, allowing offenders to escape harsher penalties.
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DeSantis’ order goes on to reference several of the “more egregious results of her policies or practices in action”:
- “In February 2023, 19-year-old Keith Moses shot and killed a cameraman and a 9-year-old girl. He had a long history of arrests as a juvenile, including aggravated battery, assault, and grand theft. As recently as November 2021, he was arrested for drug possession, but no charges were pursued.”
- “In November 2022, 17-year-old Lorenzo Larry shot and killed his pregnant girlfriend, De’Shayla Ferguson. Larry had previously been arrested in May 2022 on several charges, including carrying a concealed firearm, possession of a firearm on school property, and criminal possession of a firearm by a minor. But he was released after all these arrests. Worrell’s office did not act on any of these charges until after he killed his girlfriend and their unborn child.”
- “In October 2022, a minor was arrested on first-degree murder charges with a firearm. The shooting was captured on video. One month later, Worrell’s office inexplicably filed a petition to reduce the charge to firearm possession. He was placed on probation.”
The most recent example—likely the primary reason for Worrell’s suspension, came only this past weekend when “Worrell was at the center of a major controversy.”
- “Daton Viel was arrested in March 2023 for sexual battery on a minor, as well as Lewd and Lascivious Molestation. That arrest was made while Viel was on probation for another offense – that probation began in February 2023. Viel was still let out on bond and thereafter shot two Orlando Police Officers.”
Further examples of Worrell’s various dereliction of duty—including her lax stance on child pornography—were provided in a lengthy X thread by Ron DeSantis’ Chief of Staff Will Chamberlain.
Today, @GovRonDeSantis suspended State Attorney Monique Worrell for dereliction of duty and incompetence.
Here are some examples of her policies or practices in action.
In the wake of her suspension, Worrell fired back in a press conference of her own, calling Ron DeSantis a “weak dictator” trying to cover up his “failing and disastrous presidential campaign.”
“He needed to get back in the media in some positive way in a way that would be red meat for his base and he will have accomplished that today,” Worrell said. “He will be in the news nationally and internationally for the individual who has single-handedly destroyed democracy in the state of Florida.”
State Attorney Monique Worrell responds to Desantis removing her: “If we are mourning anything this morning, it’s the loss of democracy. I am your duly elected State Attorney, and nothing done by a weak dictator can change that.” pic.twitter.com/3Jna55HNQG
Conservative-leaning Judge Andrew Bain has been appointed to take Monique Worrell’s place as state attorney.
Governor Ron DeSantis’ executive order can be read below in its entirety:
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