Florida Gov. DeSantis says state and local law enforcement need to step up counter-terrorism efforts

SEATTLE - , Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continued to raise his concerns over a potential terrorist attack in the state at the hands of individuals who migrated across the U.S. border illegally.

Speaking at the summer conference of the Florida Sheriffs Association in Orlando, DeSantis said the country could face a terrorist attack similar in proportion to Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel, and added that the federal government is not as focused on counterterrorism efforts, as it should. Consequently, he said, state and local agencies in Florida need to step up.

"A lot of the feds, they're being told in the bureaucracy, terrorism is a thing of the past, they're being told not to worry about it," DeSantis said. "I had somebody who was a targeting officer, back in the day, just go on the DHS website. 'Okay, I think I suspect some terrorist activity,' he wrote. And this was in Florida. [He] submitted it. And instead of them taking it and wanting to follow up, they sent back, 'You should talk to your local authorities.' And they're like, 'Who?' And they said the local Division of Emergency Management," he added.

Despite DeSantis' remarks about the lack of interest from the federal government, a spokesperson for the FBI told The Florida Phoenix that the agency has not changed its ways on how they handle terrorism cases.

Speaking to the Senate Judiciary Committee last December, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that the FBI's resolve to counter terrorism remains constant. "We continually adapt and rely heavily on the strength of our federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and international partnerships to combat all terrorist threats to the United States and our interests," Wray said.

This is not the first time that DeSantis has made public remarks about possible terror attacks taking place in the U.S. Last month, while speaking at an infrastructure event, he said that the current state of the U.S.-Mexico border and President Joe Biden's approach to immigration will lead to terror attacks on American soil.

"I was asked last night: 'You've had 10, 11 million come in illegally since 2019. What are the odds ... that there will end up being a terrorist attack as a result?' I think there will be," DeSantis said at the event.

During Fiscal Year 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reported that 169 people on the FBI terror watch lists entered the United States. So far this year, CBP has reported 93 cases along the southern border.