Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was reported in saying he will pardon anyone disobeying local mask and social distancing mandates.
DeSantis was actually referring to a couple owning a fitness center in Florida's Broward County that was imprisoned for violating the governor's strict mandates, Faithwire reported.
DeSantis was interviewed by Fox News on the case of Fitness 1440 franchise owners Mike and Jillian Carnevale. Faithwire reported that the Broward County's strict guidelines led to the Carnevale's repeated arrest due to mask mandate violations, particularly refusing to have patrons wear masks while exercising. DeSantis condemned the Broward County officials for the "total overreach".
DeSantis said in Fox News that he will "sign a reprieve" about his order, which will delay the case filed against the couple for another two months.
"This is exactly what we ordered against last summer. I'm glad you have Mike and Jillian on, and I'm also glad to be on to be able to say that, effective (Thursday) morning, I'm going to sign a reprieve under my constitutional authority," DeSantis said.
"The fact is, it's not even right to be wearing masks when you're exercising. The World Health Organization advises against it. It's not healthy to be doing that in the first place, so it was a bad restriction," he pointed out.
DeSantis added that Florida's clemency board will "issue pardons not only for Mike and Jillian, but for any Floridian that may have outstanding infractions for things like masks and social distancing" when they meet on June 16.
In his Twitter account, DeSantis explained in a post on Thursday that as soon as he learned that the couple were "facing criminal penalties" just because they did not require the use of masks for their patrons while at the gym, he "stepped in to shield them from this local government overreach."
He stressed that "Floridians should not be penalized" just because they rejected local authorities for their "overreach" on the mask mandates.
The Carnevales created a campaign against the lawsuit filed by the Broward County against them. The campaign is meant to "fight corruption" born from their experience of "harassment" from the County along with their imprisonment and financial ruin because of it. The campaign intends to fight for small businesses and for health and wellness.
In their website, the Carnevales narrate the incidents that took place from their first imprisonment to the changes that DeSantis initially made in September 25, 2020 after their third imprisonment where "personal files and business closures relating to mandate violations" were negated.
Mike was first arrested in July 27, 2020. He spent 12 hours in jail at the time. He was arrested a second time less than a month later on August 6, and was forced to spend another 12 hours in jail for refusing to close his business for 96 hours for not requiring face masks.
The following day, after being released, Mike continued operating his gym. In order to comply with the 96-hour closure, however, he and his wife Jillian brought out the gym equipment to the parking lot. Broward County police then came and arrested both of them for "seemingly no reason" and put them in jail for nine hours.
The Broward County nonetheless seized the couple's gym in October 15, leaving the couple jobless and bankrupt. This action "negatively impacted the wellness of their 2,000+ member community."
The couple then created a fundraiser through GoFundMe for the amount of $25,000 for their campaign. As of writing, the couple has already raised more than half of their goal.
