Florida
Neo-Nazi demonstrators arrested under new Florida law have violent pasts, records show
Neo-Nazi demonstrators have violent pasts
A man accused of hanging antisemitic banners over a bridge in Orlando, which violates a new Florida law, once killed another man and shot two others, according to court documents. Anthony Altick, 36, is facing a criminal mischief charge after agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) say he helped hang those banners on June 10 from the Daryl Carter Parkway overpass above Interstate 4. FDLE used a video posted online by a neo-Nazi group as the basis for his arrest and the agency’s cases against three others, including Jason Brown. He was arrested last week while on probation for domestic violence. And like Brown, FOX 35 has learned Altick is no stranger to law enforcement.
ORLANDO, Fla. – A man accused of hanging antisemitic banners over a bridge in Orlando, which violates a new Florida law, once killed another man and shot two others, according to court documents.
Anthony Altick, 36, is facing a criminal mischief charge after agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) say he helped hang those banners on June 10 from the Daryl Carter Parkway overpass above Interstate 4.
FDLE used a video posted online by a neo-Nazi group as the basis for his arrest and the agency’s cases against three others, including Jason Brown. He was arrested last week while on probation for domestic violence. And like Brown, FOX 35 has learned Altick is no stranger to law enforcement.
In April 2015, police in St. Louis, Missouri, say Altick shot three men, killing one of them, according to court documents. He was only convicted of second-degree assault and was sentenced to two years in prison.
“These people are losers. They’re idiots. They’re criminals. And in Florida, they’re going to find themselves in prison,” State Rep. Randy Fine, a Republican representing part of Brevard County, said Tuesday.
Fine helped draft the new state law that now makes displaying an image on a property without the owner’s consent a crime. In this case, the bridge belongs to Orange County. Fine says FDLE is enforcing the law as intended.
“This is not about speech, it’s about behavior. And these cowards and losers are going to get held accountable when they break the law,” Fine said.
Neo-Nazi demonstrator arrested for hanging swastika flags on Orlando bridge, officials say
But in a statement to FOX 35, Augustus Invictus, the man representing Altick, Brown, and two others, describes the cases against his clients as “brazenly unconstitutional prosecution.” He says the new law is “an explicit criminalization of anti-Semitic speech.”
Fine says those like Invictus who argue the new law infringes on free speech should’ve shown up in Tallahassee and attended committee hearings where the bill was heard.
“They’re interested in scaring people, intimidating people, and hurting people. If they were interested in speech, they would do it the way normal people do, but they’re criminal losers. And in the state of Florida, they’re going to end up in prison,” Fine said.
Invictus has made headlines over the years for claiming to have sacrificed a goat and drank its blood in a religious practice. He also gave a speech at the rally in Charlottesville back in 2017 where violence broke out between political demonstrators.
There are still outstanding warrants for the other two demonstrators accused of violating the new law.