Florida Sheriff Threatens to Kill Unruly Protestors Ahead of Saturday's 'No Kings' Protests: 'Graveyard Dead'

"I don’t want to hear any whining later saying, ‘We didn’t know,' " warned Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey before nationwide protests begin on Saturday, June 14

By
Meredith Kile
Meredith Kile is a Digital News Writer-Editor at PEOPLE. She has been an entertainment and political journalist for more than a decade, previously working for Entertainment Tonight, VICE and Al Jazeera America.
Published on June 13, 2025 04:43PM EDT
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Protesters continue to march and chant in an approximately one-square mile area of downtown Los Angeles in response to a series of immigration raids, on June 11, 2025 in Los Angeles, California., Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey speaks during a news conference with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at the Polk County Sheriff's Office, on April 19, 2021.
As Los Angeles protests make national news, Florida-based Sheriff Wayne Ivey is sending an aggressive warning to locals in his own area.Credit :

David McNew/Getty; Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty

NEED TO KNOW

  • A Florida sheriff issued a violent warning to potential protestors in his county during a June 12 press conference.
  • Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey warned that if any protestors get violent with law enforcement, "We will kill you graveyard dead."
  • Dozens of nationwide "No Kings" protests are planned for June 14, coinciding with President Donald Trump's multi-million dollar military parade in Washington, D.C.

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey issueda violent warning to potential protesters in Florida on Thursday, June 12.

Speaking to reporters from behind a podium emblazoned with the words, “Florida: The anti-riot state,” Ivey said he, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, and his fellow law enforcement personnel welcome democratic, peaceful protests. However, he said, “If you let it turn violent — whoa, you do not want to do that in Brevard County."

"If you spit on us, you're going to the hospital, and then jail," he warned. "If you hit one of us, you're going to the hospital and jail, and most likely [will] get bitten by one of our big, beautiful dogs that we have here."

The threats got more intense as Ivey continued: “Throw a brick, a firebomb or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains at. Because we will kill you graveyard dead. We’re not going to play.”

Ivey's warnings come as increased immigration raids and anti-deportation protests enter their second week in downtown Los Angeles.

On Friday, June 13, PresidentDonald Trump won his latest legal battle, allowing him tokeep National Guard troops stationed amid the protests.More than 700 Marines are also set to arrive in the city ahead of the weekend.

Smoke fills the air as law enforcement officers in riot gear advance during protests in Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025. Following a series of aggressive federal immigration operations in Los Angeles, tensions escalated when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted a high-profile raid on a Home Depot location. The raid sparked widespread protests across the city, where demonstrators decried the targeting of immigrant communities and the separation of families. Clashes soon broke out between protesters and federal agents, prompting U.S. President Donald Trump to deploy 2,000 National Guard troops to the city, a move harshly criticized by California officials, including the governor, as "purposefully inflammatory."
Law enforcement officers wear riot gear amid protests in Los Angeles on June 8, 2025.

DAVID PASHAEE/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty

Despite warnings from Trump, Ivey, theDepartment of Homeland Security and other agencies, millions of protestors are expected to take to the streets in cities across America on Saturday, June 14, as part of the "No Kings" movement.

Thewebsite for the "national day of defiance" — which coincides with Trump's multi-million dollar military parade in Washington, D.C., in celebration of the Army's 250th anniversary and his own 79th birthday — features a map displaying hundreds of planned protests against the president's "authoritarianism."

"We’re not gathering to feed his ego. We’re building a movement that leaves him behind," the No Kings website reads. "The flag doesn’t belong to President Trump. It belongs to us. We’re not watching history happen. We’re making it. On June 14, we’re showing up everywhere he isn’t—to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings."

Related Stories

In Florida, multiple No Kings protests are scheduled in areas like Orlando, Apopka, Kissimmee and Lake Mary. However, Uthmeier said, “We are not California. We do not allow rioting in the state of Florida.”

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Ivey agreed, concluding his remarks by reiterating that he and his fellow law enforcement "invite" nonviolent protest.

“Go protest all you want. Do it peacefully. Stand on the mountaintops and yell your opinion, your views,” he said.

"But don’t you dare break the law, because it won’t go well for you," the sheriff warned. "I don’t want to hear any whining later saying, ‘We didn’t know.' "

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