'Done everything they can to avoid hearing from' us: Veteran interrupts GOP celebration in Florida

03 August

Ron DeDantis speaks at the Florida Freedom Forum on Aug. 2, 2025. (Screengrab / Fox News)

What was billed as a high-profile gathering of conservative leadership quickly turned contentious when roughly half a dozen credentialed protestors stormed Gov. Ron DeSantis' (R) speech at the Republican Party of Florida’s Florida Freedom Forum, held at the Rosen Shingle Creek Saturday.

“Nobody was interrupted more than DeSantis," according to a report by Florida Phoenix.

During a fourth interruption, the governor said, “You’ve got to do a better job than that if you’re going to interrupt,” and once the protester was escorted out he followed up with: “That was a weak performance.”

Earlier that morning, two more demonstrators were reportedly removed after shouting at Rep. Randy Fine (R-AZ) while he was speaking alongside fellow conservatives Daniel Webster and Aaron Bean.

Later in the day, the activists released a statement explaining their stance. It read: “Republican lawmakers have made it difficult to register complaints,” and continued: “They’ve dodged town halls, ignored petitions, ducked our phone calls, and generally done everything they can to avoid hearing from any constituents who don’t already agree with them.”

One protester, Joy Metzler, who wore a “Veterans against Fascism” T‑shirt and described herself as a “recently separated Air Force Veteran," accused Florida Republicans of having “built a concentration camp in our own backyard, a stunningly disrespectful insult to my grandfather, who fought against the Nazis in WWII.”

Though the interruptions were frequent, they were largely dismissed by officials as minor annoyances on a day otherwise devoted to celebrating the GOP’s strength in the state, per the report.

Watch the video of the disruption below or at this link.

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