'You loot, we shoot': Ron DeSantis delivers unflinching warning to criminals after looters caught stealing in devastating Hurricane Ian aftermath: 'Don't even think about looting'

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a stern warning to would-be criminals thinking about taking advantage of the chaos left by Hurricane Ian: "Don't even think about looting."

Hurricane Ian obliterated areas of southwest Florida this week – leaving a trail of death and destruction. The current death toll is at least 45 people, but that number is expected to rise as search-and-rescue teams access areas that have been isolated from the devastating effects of the Category 4 hurricane.

Hurricane Ian made landfall near the island of Cayo Costa with winds of 155 mph – just 2 mph short of a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Only three other hurricanes that hit Florida were stronger: Labor Day Hurricane (1935): 185 mph, Hurricane Andrew (1992): 165 mph, and Hurricane Michael (2018): 160 mph.

The monster storm reduced the coastal areas to rubbish and tossed yachts like toys.

However, some Floridians have used the dire situation to loot businesses.

On Friday, the Lee County Sheriff's Office posted photos on social media of five individuals being arrested for looting.

"Sheriff Carmine Marceno means business and has taken a zero tolerance stance on looting. We are patrolling and you will be arrested if you partake in criminal activity," the sheriff's office declared in a Facebook post.

DeSantis delivered an unflinching warning to anyone contemplating looting in the aftermath of the apocalyptic hurricane.

"They boarded up all the businesses, and there are people that wrote on their plywood, ‘you loot, we shoot,'" DeSantis said during a press conference near Fort Myers in southwest Florida. "At the end of the day, we are not going to allow lawlessness to take advantage of this situation. We are a law-and-order state, and this is a law-and-order community, so do not think that you’re going to go take advantage of people who've suffered misfortune."... (Read more)

Tweets mentioned:

https://twitter.com/ChristinaPushaw/status/1576067772940886017

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