MIAMI – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Tampa’s top prosecutor Thursday, charging him with incompetence and dereliction of duty for vowing not to prosecute those who seek or perform abortions.
Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, suspended Andrew H. Warren, the elected Hillsborough County state’s attorney. In June, Mr. Warren, a Democrat, joined 83 elected prosecutors across the country who pledged not to prosecute those who seek or perform abortions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Florida imposed a 15-week abortion ban in April.
Mr. DeSantis said the statement and other actions by Mr. Warren — including a policy of not prosecuting crimes that begin with an encounter between police officers and someone on a bicycle or on foot who commits a noncriminal offense — amounted to “incompetence and willful defiance of their duties,” and that the approach of the employment prosecutor left him no choice but to suspend him.
Mr. DeSantis appeared at the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, where he was flanked by a group of uniformed sheriffs and police officers. Law enforcement officials expressed frustration with Mr. Warren for not prosecuting certain crimes. “Andrew Warren is a fraud,” said Brian Dugan, a former chief of the Tampa Police Department.
The governor’s surprise decision immediately raised concerns among Democrats who say he has become increasingly heavy-handed.
Mr. Warren did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This developing story will be updated.