Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., chided a U.N. committee for criticizing a Florida law aimed at cracking down on violent protests.
According to Rubio's office, the law increases criminal penalties for certain crimes committed during a riot.
"The United Nations knowingly provides a global platform to dictators that intimidate, detain, and murder dissidents," Rubio said in a statement. "This committee is a joke, and no one in Florida takes it seriously. The only question is why we keep sending taxpayer dollars to the U.N. in the first place."
Rubio's comments came as the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination maintained the law restricts "the right of peaceful assembly," according to the Miami Herald.
The criticism was included in a report, which focused on broader issues in the United States and several other countries, the newspaper said. It recommended the U.S. "take all necessary measures to ensure the exercise of the right to peaceful assembly without any discrimination."
The newspaper said the law, passed by Florida Republicans, is a reaction to the racial protests in 2020 across the U.S.
Activist Ben Frazier, who went to Switzerland to testify about the law, called the criticism a "victory for democracy and common sense."
"The United Nations just told Gov. [Ron] DeSantis that he's moving in the wrong direction," Frazier, the head of the Northside Coalition in Jacksonville, said. "The legislature and the governor need to u-turn, do an about-face and stop violating the First Amendment rights of Floridians to protest and to peaceably assemble."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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