A top Florida sheriff responded to the arrests of several illegal aliens in his county for looting following the aftermath of the devastating Hurricane Ian by saying that the residents of his county will be safe from criminals seeking to victimize people.
The words from Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno come after Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned criminals to not even think about looting because of what many Floridians have in their home.
“I can tell you in the state of Florida, you never know what may be lurking behind somebody’s home,” DeSantis said. “And I would not want to chance that if I were you given that we are a Second Amendment state.”
Marceno held a press conference Tuesday where he addressed the arrests of four suspected looters, three of who are illegal aliens. Law enforcement officials arrested Omar Mejia Ortiz, 33, Valerie Celeste Salcedo Mena, 26, Brandon Mauricio Araya, 20, and Steve Eduardo Sanchez Araya, 20, on charges of burglarizing unoccupied structure during a state of emergency.
“As far as looting — we have law and order in Lee County. We have law and order in our great state of Florida, and we always will,” said Marceno. “Right now, we have four cases of looting, and I’m proud to say they’re behind bars where they belong. Our residents are going to be safe.”
Marceno said that Mena, and both Arayas “are here illegally in this country.”
“They were located and arrested,” Marceno added. “I’m not tolerating it again.”
Marceno echoed the warning that DeSantis previously gave about the fact that looters are risking their lives because many Floridians are armed.
“I’m not playing. We’re not playing. We have law and order and great residents will be safe and secure. We’ve had arrests on these incidents,” Marceno added. “You might walk in. You’ll be carried out.”
The arrests come after an illegal alien was arrested just days before Hurricane Ian clobbered the state for allegedly hitting and killing Deputy Mike Hartwick, who was providing security at a construction site along I-275.
Days before Hartwick was killed, DeSantis sent 50 illegal aliens to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
“Florida can confirm the two planes with illegal immigrants that arrived in Martha’s Vineyard today were part of the state’s relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations,” an official for DeSantis’ office said in a statement at the time. “States like Massachusetts, New York, and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country’ by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support for the Biden Administration’s open border policies.”