During her night at the State Capitol, UF history senior Lauren Byers saw activism come alive.
Despite having red eyes burning with exhaustion and muscles sore from lying on tile, protesters woke up, invigorated, at 6 a.m. to the sound of music like it was still the first day of the sit-in, she said.
At least 20 Gainesville residents of activist group Dream Defenders’ UF chapter have been participating in a sit-in at the State Capitol since July 16. They aim to enact legislation they say would, among other things, repeal Florida’s Stand Your Ground law and ban racial profiling.
The group, formed after the murder of Trayvon Martin, wants to “[replace] jails with schools, [end] the illegal war on the undocumented, and [dismantle] the systems that criminalize our people,” according to its Facebook page. After George Zimmerman was found not guilty, Dream Defenders organized a sit-in inside the capitol building, calling on Gov. Rick Scott to arrange a special session of the state legislature.
Byers, the UF chapter vice president, said it took a “tragedy” to move people to join the movement.
“Before the verdict came out, there were about five people,” Byers, 21, said. “Our first planning meeting after the verdict had 70 people. We got a type of response that I haven’t seen in three years of living in Gainesville.”
State Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, who received his dental degree from UF in 1976, said he didn’t hold many ties to Gainesville and therefore couldn’t comment beyond noticing of the group’s presence.
“I really don’t know of any comment that I would make that would be flattering in any way at all,” he said.
Hays’ current district, State Senate district 11, reaches from Ocala to near Sanford and throughout most of Lake County in central Florida.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement reported Monday that it has spent nearly $200,000 in extra security since the protest began.
FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said Capitol Police are enforcing rules regarding air mattresses, maintaining peace and after-hours access to the lobby where the group is protesting.
In an email to Florida press, she wrote that protesters may remain after hours and “can leave at anytime, however Capitol Police will not open the doors for anyone until the Capitol opens for business.”
Byers said this ended the supply of food, “starving out” more than 100 protesters. However, State Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee, and his staff have given food to the protesters, according to police statements.
“This shows the kind of escalation of where the struggle is at right now,” Byers said. “The one night I was there really just confirmed that there are people that are committed to this fight. They’re not leaving.”
