Report: DeSantis to Veto $35 Million for Tampa Bay Rays Facility After Team’s Anti-Gun Rant
( Breitbart )
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) reportedly plans to veto a bill earmarking $35 million for a Tampa Bay Rays facility days after the team went on an anti-gun tirade on social media alongside the New York Yankees.
The decision, first reported by OutKick, would have the governor nixing “$35 million legislation for a Pasco County facility that’s earmarked for the Tampa Bay Rays’ spring training,” according to the outlet, which asserted that the move is in response to the Tampa Bay Rays’ recent display of anti-Second Amendment virtue-signaling on social media.
Last week, on May 26, the Tampa Bay Rays released a statement in response to the tragic shooting in Uvalde proceeded by an anti-gun blitz on Twitter.
“This cannot become normal. We cannot become numb. We cannot look the other way. We all know, if nothing changes, nothing changes,” the statement read in part, adding that it was offering $50,000 to the Mike Bloomberg-affiliated Everytown for Gun Safety’s Support Fund:
“In lieu of game coverage and in collaboration with @Yankees, we will use our channels to offer facts about the impacts of gun violence,” another tweet read, opening up the platform to a series of anti-gun statistics:
Source: https://t.co/AqqgbPmh1v and https://t.co/6d5Wi9iFTO — Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 26, 2022
It also included woke terminology in its anti-gun blitz, stating that “Each year, more than 4,100 Latinx people die from gun violence in the U.S. and 13,300 are shot and wounded”:
Each year, more than 4,100 Latinx people die from gun violence in the U.S. and 13,300 are shot and wounded. — Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 26, 2022
58 percent of American adults or someone they care for have experienced gun violence. — Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 26, 2022
Every three hours, a young Black man dies by gun homicide. — Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 26, 2022
About 4.5 million women in the US today report having been threatened with a gun by an intimate partner. — Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 27, 2022
Access to a gun triples the risk of death by suicide. — Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 27, 2022
An average of 4,500 veterans die by firearm suicide every year – about 12 veterans each day. — Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 26, 2022
When an assault weapon is used in a mass shooting, it results in six times as many people shot than when other guns are used. — Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 27, 2022
Hey Rays Fans, Our content will return to its usual focus tonight, but we continue to mourn. The tragedies of gun violence cannot continue. Please join us in having conversations about this in our homes, our neighborhoods and communities, and in taking action toward its end. — Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 27, 2022
This would not be the first time DeSantis has taken action against woke organizations advancing anti-freedom ideas in his state, taking on Disney after it vowed to fight against the Parental Rights in Education bill, which bars classroom-led discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity for children in kindergarten through third grade.
“And so in Florida, our policies got to be based on the best interest of Florida citizens, not on the musing of woke corporations,” the governor said in March.