ORLANDO, Fla. — A neo-Nazi was arrested after he hung swastikas and other antisemitic banners along a bridge over Interstate 4 in Orlando, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) said in a release.
Jason Brown, a 48-year-old from Cape Canaveral, was arrested for his alleged actions on June 10. But he didn't work alone, FDLE agents said. Currently, there are three outstanding warrants for additional demonstrators who reportedly participated but live out of state.
Brown is a self-proclaimed member of the antisemitic, extremist group "Order of the Black Sun," FDLE agents said.
On June 10, Brown and others placed banners along a fence on the Daryl Carter Parkway Bridge in Orlando, which overlooks I-4. Swastika flags and racist messages were among the banners displayed, the FDLE said.
Because they didn't get permission to display these banners and images, the demonstrators violated a law signed earlier this year by Gov. Ron DeSantis. HB 269, in part, prohibits individuals from displaying or projecting images onto a building, structure or property without permission.
This new law allowed law enforcement to have an avenue to arrest Brown for his hate-filled propaganda, FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass said.
“We want to thank Governor DeSantis for his support of law enforcement and for the signing of HB 269, giving us the tools to arrest this hate-filled radical,” Glass said in a statement. “This activity will not be tolerated in the greatest state in the country, Florida.”
Brown is officially charged with criminal mischief.
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FDHSMV) Executive Director Dave Kerner said the arrest "demonstrates Florida's commitment to protecting residents from attention-seeking extremists."
The same day Brown and his fellow demonstrators hung racist banners over I-4, other neo-Nazi demonstrators waved swastika and DeSantis flags outside Disney World.
At the time, State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, tweeted a video she said was sent to her. The short video clip shows several people gathered outside the theme park in Orlando with Nazi flags and other white supremacist imagery at their sides.
"Nazis outside of Walt Disney World right now — absolutely disgusting," Eskamani wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. The video has gained tens of millions of views.
Also on June 10, Eskamani shared photos she said were also sent to her that showed a group of people on a bridge displaying Nazi and racist propaganda. 10 Tampa Bay has not yet confirmed if those photos are of the same group of demonstrators Brown was with.
