Florida’s Attorney General called for an investigation into a former state senator for a Facebook post about ICE officers’ location. The former lawmaker, Linda Stewart, claims the call for an investigation infringes on her First Amendment rights. A First Amendment expert stated that reporting on law enforcement activities in a public place is generally protected speech. A former Orlando-area lawmaker is facing a potential investigation by the state Attorney General’s Office for posting on Facebook that ICE officers were near an Orlando bus station. But former state Sen. Linda Stewart says Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is putting a chilling effect on her freedom of speech. Uthmeier called for Stewart to be investigated on a Sept. 8 X post for “harassing law enforcement” after she posted on Facebook that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was in downtown Orlando’s Lynx Central Station, a major bus station. Stewart, a Democrat who served in the Florida Senate 2016–24, said in an interview with the USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida that there’s no law that says she can’t post about law enforcement activity. She said this was “absolutely” a freedom of speech issue, and she doesn’t understand what Uthmeier, a Republican, would try to
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