Gov. DeSantis: Jacksonville woman accused of 'punching' trooper enforcing ICE operations facing felony charge

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A Jacksonville woman was arrested after she allegedly "assaulted" a state trooper last week. 

What we know:

Jennifer Cruz was arrested on a felony charge after officials say she interfered with joint federal and state law enforcement operations in Jacksonville on Jan. 13. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed the incident during a Jan. 15 press conference at Jacksonville's Mayo Clinic, while discussing ICE operations. 

"If ICE is doing operations, that's obviously their call. Our guys have helped in different situations," DeSantis said, saying over 20,000 state and local apprehensions have been conducted in the past 10 months. 

"I do know there was woman who came out and assaulted one of our troopers," he continued. "Let me just tell you guys, this is not Minneapolis. That is not going to end well for you in Florida. You have a right to go out there and criticize government policy. You can go out there and protest within respected zones, but the idea that you're gonna assault one of our troopers is unacceptable and you are going to face consequences as a result of that."

Cruz is accused of attempting to run away from state troopers when they attempted to detain her, Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said in a Jan. 20 statement. After she was detained, Cruz injured a state trooper who was hospitalized from the incident, FHP said. 

Body camera footage shows Cruz kicking at a trooper while she was restrained. Cruz appeared to be smiling as troopers held her against at vehicle. 

"We have a lady in Jacksonville that allegedly punched one of our state troopers. I've got to tell you: you picked the wrong state to do that in," DeSantis said Jan. 20. "That ain't gonna fly here." 

Cruz was arrested on felony charges and continued to resist and hit state and federal officers, FHP said. 

"I think it's odd, you have some people – there's certain laws they don't like, and they think the way to combat that is not to win elections and change laws. But, to just simply assault the people who are enforcing the laws?" DeSantis said.  "These guys that are out there, they've been treated very horribly across the country, and they really have a target on their back."

What they're saying:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to the incident, saying in an X post, It's a "really bad decision to attack one of our troopers."

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier posted a portion of the body camera footage on X, saying, "Don’t interfere with law enforcement, punch cops, or resist arrest in Florida."