Florida’s Republican governor has announced plans to establish a state militia consisting of trained civilians “unencumbered by the federal government”.
Ron DeSantis said the Florida State Guard, which would answer solely to him, would be a 200-strong civilian-based military unit to support emergency response efforts in the event of natural disasters and unspecified “other state emergencies”.
He requested $3.5 million from the state budget to recruit, train and equip members as part of a military budget proposal.
Florida established a State Guard in 1941 to plug the gap left by members of the National Guard — which falls under both state and federal control — who were deployed during the Second World War. It was disbanded in 1947.
Re-establishing it now, DeSantis said, would “allow