Afraid of upsetting the terrorists?


By John Labriola - A discussion on a resolution sponsored by Citrus County Commissioner Diana Finegan to express the county’s support for securing the southern border and cracking down on illegal immigration took a nasty turn last week as Commissioner Rebecca Bays claimed the measure puts Citrus County at risk for a terrorist attack.

“You got a nuclear power plant that’s decommissioned and it still has nuclear cells sitting out there. You have two gas lines running through this state. You think a terrorist if he wants to cripple Florida is not going to look at our county?” Bays said. (Watch video HERE or by clicking the image above.)

Her shocking remarks drew a stunned reaction from Finegan, who chided Bays for having “put that out there for the whole world.”

“I did!” Bays barked back, to which Finegan replied: “That is nonsensical.”

Others in the audience shared Finegan's astonishment at Bays’ words. 

“My reaction was, ‘Is she nuts?’” said Tod Cloud, a Republican candidate for the Florida House of Representatives who has spoken out in support of the border security resolution. “I'm sitting there in awe listening to her saying we're telling the terrorists to come to Citrus County, which was totally off the wall and nuts.”

The border discussion took place at last week’s commission meeting as Finegan gave an update on her resolution, which she pulled from a previous agenda so she could rework the language and bring it back at an upcoming meeting. The original resolution, which the Citrus County Republican Party endorsed and asked her to sponsor, needed updating because it asked Gov. DeSantis to take some actions which he already has against illegal immigration. Finegan is working with State Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, a leader against illegal immigration in the Florida Legislature, on a revised resolution that will lay out the impact of Biden’s open border policies on Citrus County, support Gov. Ron DeSantis’ actions against the illegal invasion, and urge Congress and the federal government to take immediate steps to secure the border.

The outrage over Bays' remarks resurfaced at this Monday's Citrus County delegation meeting, where local elected officials, advocacy organizations and citizens presented their legislative wish lists to Sen. Ingoglia and State Rep. Ralph Massullo. Bruce Bryn, chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Citrus County, denounced Bays for making the argument “that the citizens of Citrus County shouldn't take a collective stand against illegal immigration because it might upset the terrorists.” He added that DeSantis should suspend Bays from office for her “despicable and malicious” statements that “actually gave terrorists a blueprint for attack by naming vulnerabilities that they could go after in our county.”

At last week's meeting, Bays also falsely stated that no other county "has made a resolution like this." 

In fact, over 40 counties in Texas and other border states have passed border security resolutions similar to what Finegan is proposing.  

Florida is a maritime border state with over 1,300 miles of coastline, and thousands of migrants try to come ashore every year. But the majority of illegals are now entering Florida from other states, having made it across Biden's open border from Mexico and onto government-paid flights and bus trips to be released into communities across the state, often in the dead of night. According to Customs and Border Patrol records, in just the first half of this year, more than 150,000 migrants entered the state illegally – most of them coming from Haiti, Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, .

Finegan said that although it's the federal government's job to secure the border, it’s important for the county commission to express to Congress the community's strong desire for action and “collectively say our citizens care about the issue and this is how we're showing you.”

Commissioner Jeff Kinnard agreed and pledged his support for the resolution. 

“I think it's important for both our state and federal leaders to hear from local leaders and local governments. Otherwise the narrative is driven by the media,” Kinnard said.

Commissioner Holly Davis, who chaired the meeting because Chairwoman Ruthie Schlabach was absent due to a scheduled surgery, said she was “on the fence” and would wait to see the revised resolution but hoped it wouldn't include "inflammatory or partisan language.”

“Honestly we have roads to pave and we do have a lot of other things,” Davis added.

Finegan dismissed the idea that the resolution would prevent other important county business from getting done. 

“We're not so myopic that we can only focus on one thing,” she said.

Residents can share their thoughts about the border resolution discussion by contacting commissioners at the email addresses below: 

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