{"id":296585,"date":"2026-06-05T00:46:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T00:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/296585\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T00:46:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T00:46:07","slug":"florida-governor-candidate-threatens-to-send-civilians-armed-with-ar-15s-to-end-teen-takeovers-after-weekend-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/296585\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida governor candidate threatens to send civilians armed with AR-15s to end ‘teen takeovers’ after weekend shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

A provocative candidate for Florida governor threatened to send a heavily armed team to address the Sunshine State\u2019s next \u201cteen takeover\u201d <\/a>after a teenager was shot at a youth riot over the weekend.<\/p>\n

James Fishback, a far-right Republican running for governor of Florida<\/a>, warned that he would fight fire with fire if a \u201cteen takeover\u201d descends onto any of the state\u2019s 67 counties.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we find out that a teen takeover<\/a> is showing up, we\u2019re showing up with a dozen people with AR-15s. We\u2019re gonna exercise our Second Amendment right and we are gonna protect communities like this,\u201d Fishback said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Florida governor candidate James Fishback said his team will respond to the next teen takeover armed with AR-15s. x\/j_fishback<\/p>\n

The long-shot gubernatorial hopeful indicated that the ultimatum was a response to a chaotic riot in Clearwater, Florida on Sunday, where a 17-year-old boy was shot multiple times.<\/p>\n

Noel Marsh III, 16, was arrested in connection with the shooting on Tuesday, according to the Clearwater Police Department<\/a>. He was charged with attempted second-degree murder, discharging a firearm in public and unlawful possession of a firearm by a minor. <\/p>\n

The teenage victim remains hospitalized, but is expected to be OK.<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s mutiny was advertised as a \u201clink up\u201d online and attracted hundreds of adrenaline-fueled teenagers.<\/p>\n

Most \u201ctakeovers\u201d follow the same predictable formula. The mob flocks to a large open space, typically a park<\/a> or a mall \u2014 advertised on social media \u2014 and start brawling with one another<\/a> at random.<\/p>\n

Many hotspots have attempted to institute curfews<\/a> to curb the teenage anarchy, but with little success.<\/p>\n

Noel Marsh III, 16, was arrested for allegedly shooting a 17-year-old at a takeover in Clearwater, Florida. ZUMAPRESS.com<\/p>\n

Fishback is the first public figure to suggest fighting violence with violence.<\/p>\n

Even his staunchest supporters were wary of his proposition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like James, but I hope this is more of a threat than a prediction. Unless someone\u2019s life is in danger, I don\u2019t want shooting,\u201d one person commented on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cGotta be honest. Unhinged, brother. Unhinged. We do not need a showdown at the OK Corral. Call in SWAT teams. Call in the State Guard. Do not turn this into a standoff with citizens on both sides,\u201d another man added.<\/p>\n

Fishback has gained notoriety for his outlandish stances and tactics.<\/p>\n

In February, the 31-year-old made a campaign Tinder account<\/a> \u201cto meet young female voters where they are.\u201d <\/p>\n

Hundreds of teens wreaked havoc in Clearwater on Sunday. ZUMAPRESS.com<\/p>\n

The teens fought each other at random until someone opened fire in the crowd. ZUMAPRESS.com<\/p>\n

Then, in May, he married a mystery blonde woman<\/a> mere weeks after ditching his longtime girlfriend.<\/p>\n

Fishback is also embroiled in a long-running legal spat with hedge fund titan David Einhorn \u2014 and was dumped by his legal team when he refused to pay a $150,000 bill<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He told The Post that the only person he ever repays is his mother. Then, he took to X<\/a> to ponder, \u201cWhy on earth would I pay [my attorney] for losing?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A provocative candidate for Florida governor threatened to send a heavily armed team to address the Sunshine State\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,6281,5557,10954,4940,4278],"class_list":["post-296585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-governor","tag-guns","tag-second-amendment","tag-teens","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}