A Florida man was arrested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Wednesday, accused of hanging swastikas and antisemitic signage on Orlando’s Daryl Carter Parkway Bridge.
Jason Brown, 48, of Cape Canaveral, purportedly hung the offending signage off a fence on the bridge with direct sight lines to U.S. Interstate 4 on June 10. The alleged display was not permitted, and state authorities are also seeking three other people at the demonstration who live out of state.
Mr. Brown, whom Florida officials described as a “neo-Nazi demonstrator,” claims to be a member of the Order of the Black Sun, an antisemitic extremist group. The name references the black sun symbol first used by the Nazi SS and its leader, Heinrich Himmler.
The alleged display would constitute a violation of Florida House Bill 269, signed into law earlier in 2023 by Governor Ron DeSantis. The law prohibits people from displaying certain images on or projecting images onto a building or structure without permission, state authorities said.
Mr. Brown has been charged with criminal mischief. Police officers did not name or provide identifying information for the three out-of-state suspects in the illegal demonstration.
“Florida is a law-and-order state. Today’s arrest demonstrates Florida’s commitment to protecting residents from attention-seeking extremists,” Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Executive Director Dave Kerner said in a statement, describing the offending signage as “intimidation, vitriol and hate directed towards people of faith.”
