'You loot, we shoot': DeSantis issues stern warning to anyone trying to exploit damage from Hurricane Idalia

 Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) issued a stern warning to anyone who exploits Hurricane Idalia to loot destroyed homes and businesses.

At a press conference after the hurricane made landfall in the Sunshine State's Big Bend region, DeSantis said he had already heard reports of looting near the area where the hurricane made landfall and promised that authorities will not "tolerate" it. 

"I've told all of our personnel at the state level, you know, you protect people's property, and we are not gonna tolerate any looting in the aftermath of a natural disaster," he said. "It's just ridiculous that you would try to do something like that on the heels of an almost Category 4 hurricane hitting this community."

And according to DeSantis, law enforcement officers are not the only people whom looters should worry about.

"I'd also just remind potential looters that people, you never know what you’re walking into. People have a right to defend their property," he explained. 

"This part of Florida, you got a lot of advocates and some proponents of the Second Amendment," he warned, "and I've seen signs in different people's yards in the past after these disasters, and I would say it's probably here: 'You loot, we shoot.' You never know what's behind that door if you go break into somebody's house and you're trying to loot. These are people that are going to be able to defend themselves and their families, so I would not do it." 

This is the second time that DeSantis has issued a strong warning in the aftermath of a hurricane.

Speaking after Hurricane Ian ravaged Fort Myers last year, DeSantis recounted the warning that he saw plastered on boarded-up businesses: "You loot, we shoot."

"At the end of the day, we are not going to allow lawlessness to take advantage of this situation," DeSantis said at the time. "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."

DeSantis has temporarily paused his presidential campaign as he leads Florida through this latest natural disaster.