ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A heated and complex debate raged in a public hearing Tuesday over First Amendment rights to peacefully protest, after Orange County commissioners considered approving a new ordinance that would ban people from protesting within 150 feet of someone’s home.


What You Need To Know

  •  The Orange County Commission considered an ordinance Tuesday that would have banned protesting in parts of the city

  •  The ordinance would have prevented people from protesting within 150 feet of a person's home

  • After public backlash, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings withdrew the measure Tuesday

The public outcry against the ordinance ultimately caused Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings to withdraw it from being voted on Tuesday.

Camille Leagas has lived in her Windemere neighborhood for more than four years now. 

She said it’s always been quiet on her street, but it sure wasn’t one week in May of 2020. 

“We had protests outside, I would say about 200 people were here started around early to midday Friday,” she said. 

Those people ended up demonstrating for days outside former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s vacation home in Windermere. Chauvin was convicted for the murder of George Floyd. 

His vacation home was just down the street from where Leagas lives, and she said she was grateful the protesters were peaceful. 

But at the time, Leagas said she wasn’t sure whether things would get out of control, and worried about her pets and property. 

“They were obviously angry, and for good reasons, and as soon as I was here and I knew my home wasn’t at risk and it was OK, but going to sleep that night was still a little scary,” she said. 

The ordinance discussed Tuesday would have kept anyone from picketing and protesting on public property within 150 feet of a person’s home. However, it would not have applied to private property — whether or not people can picket there would be up to the adjacent property owners.

The ban also wouldn't have applied to apartment complexes on private property.

Anyone violating the ordinance could have been charged with a misdemeanor.

Leagas believes the ordinance would have been a good thing.

“I think everyone has the right to protest, and absolutely should do so … but doing it in a place which isn’t going to cause risk to families or other people, or homeowners,” she said. 

But activists like Eric Brown say this would infringe upon their First Amendment rights.

“Protesters have the right to protest wherever they want in a peaceful manner,” Brown said. 

He was far from the only person who made that assertion at Tuesday’s public hearing on the ordinance. 

Feedback from Brown and others caused county commissioners to question the need, and validity, of the ordinance. 

Orange County Sheriff John Mina also spoke during the meeting defending the ordinance, saying that just as this bill would protect residences from protesters, it would also protect homes from white nationalists and other hate groups. 

But after about seven hours, Demings finally withdrew the motion indefinitely when several commissioners expressed concerns about the ordinance.