Brian Laundrie Protests Prompt Florida to Advance Bill That Would Make Demonstrations Outside Homes Illegal

The protests outside the house of Brain Laundrie had inspired a new Florida bill that would make such demonstrations outside of homes illegal.

According to Fox 13 Tampa Bay, the pickets outside the home of Laundrie's parents and by anti-maskers at a school board member's home were cited before a Florida Senate committee unanimously approved the bill on Monday.

The bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee would make such disturbances illegal. Under the bill, picketing in front of a house with an intent to harass or disturb a person will be a second-degree misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

It cited the state's "significant interest" to protect the well-being and privacy of a home and the residents from the harmful effect of targeted picketing.

Orange County sheriff's Lt. Mike Crabb, who spoke in favor of the bill, said that Laundrie "had days and days of protests" at his parents' home as he was "the murderer from southwest Florida." However, Crabb noted that it was not right even if Laundrie and his parents' were elected officials.

"He's (Brian Laundrie) not an elected official, his parents weren't elected officials either, but that wasn't right either," Crabb said.

On the other hand, Republican State Senator Dennis Baxley from North Central Florida noted that picketing at public places or an elected official's office is different from holding it outside people's homes.

Baxley said demonstrations in front of homes should be off-limits, elected official or not.

"Is there nothing sacred?... This thing of personally attacking people and their families to terrorize them, I just don't want that happening to anyone," the senator noted.

Brian Laundrie Family Lawyer Reacts to Protests

Protesters started to gather outside Brian Laundrie's house in North Port, Florida after he went home without his fiancée, Gabby Petito.

The picketers were upset over Laundrie, and his family's silence throughout the investigation, which investigators said made the search for Petito more difficult.

Petito disappeared on a cross-country road trip with Laundrie. They were traveling to Oregon when Petito stopped communicating with her family in Wyoming in late August.

Laundrie was named a person of interest by the North Port police after returning home on September 1 or 10 days before Petito was reported missing by her family.

Steven Bertolino, the attorney for the Laundrie family, earlier said the protesters outside his clients' house were causing a "ruckus."

The lawyer noted that Chris and Roberta Laundrie had done nothing wrong, and they deserve their privacy. Bertolino said protesters remained outside his clients' house even after Laundrie's remains were found.

"This protesting. This witch hunt. This mob-style crucifixion of Chris and Roberta is just wrong," the lawyer said back in October, as Fox 13 reported.

Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie's Death

Last month, the FBI revealed that Brian Laundrie confessed to killing Gabby Petito in a message left in his notebook.

In its final report on the case, the FBI said a review of the notebook revealed written statements by Laundrie claiming responsibility for Petito's death.

The FBI noted that its investigation has concluded that Laundrie was the only person responsible for Petito's "tragic death."

Apart from the notebook, the FBI confirmed that they also found a "backpack" and a "revolver" upon further search of the area, where Laundrie's remains were found.

Petito's body was found at the Spread Creek Dispersed Campground near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on September 19. A Teton County, Wyoming coroner said she was strangled to death by a "human being," and the manner of death was homicide.

Meanwhile, Brian Laundrie's skeletal remains were discovered at the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in Florida on October 20. His autopsy report showed that he died of a gunshot wound to the head, and the manner of death was suicide.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

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