Veterans just hit DeSantis with one stunning request that left him scrambling to defend his record

Governor Ron DeSantis built his political brand on being pro-military.

He’s constantly bragging about making Florida the most “veteran-friendly state” in America.

But veterans just hit DeSantis with one stunning request that left him scrambling to defend his record.

Military veterans demand DeSantis stop executing their brothers-in-arms

More than 130 military veterans from nearly every branch of the armed services marched into Tallahassee on Wednesday with a simple but powerful message for Ron DeSantis.

Stop executing our fellow veterans.

The delegation gathered at the Challenger Learning Center at 11 a.m. to present DeSantis with a letter that represents over 1,400 collective years of military service.

Their demand cuts straight to the heart of DeSantis’s carefully crafted political image.

“We can never be a veteran friendly state when our leader is signing off on their deaths at the hands of the State,” the veterans wrote in their letter.

The timing couldn’t be more pointed.

DeSantis is preparing to execute 67-year-old veteran Kayle Bates on August 19 – making him the fourth veteran and tenth person Florida has killed this year.

That would give Florida more executions than any other state in 2025.

But the veterans aren’t backing down from this fight.

“The military instills in all of us an unbreakable code of honor: leave no one behind,” their letter states. “That obligation does not end at the end of one’s duty. To a great degree that is where it begins for our mentally injured soldiers, Marines, sailors, and airmen.”

Veteran-friendly rhetoric meets harsh reality

Since taking office, DeSantis has authorized the executions of five veterans: Bobby Joe Long, Duane Owen, Edward James, Jeffrey Hutchinson, and Edward Zakrzewski.

Close to 30 more veterans remain on Florida’s death row.

The veterans pulled no punches in calling out the hypocrisy.

“To execute a veteran who was broken by war and left without adequate care is not justice,” they wrote. “It is a failure of duty. It is the final abandonment.”

This hits especially hard considering DeSantis’s own military background.

The governor served as a Navy lawyer in Iraq and regularly touts his veteran status on the campaign trail.

But these battle-tested veterans see right through the political spin.

“As an Iraq combat veteran yourself, we believe that you know what it means to serve,” the letter continues. “We know what it means when no one comes for you after the fight. We know the discipline, the sacrifice, and the silent wounds that follow you home.”

The case of Jeffrey Hutchinson shows exactly what these veterans are talking about.

Florida executed the Army combat veteran earlier this year despite reports that he suffered severe mental health issues after serving in the Gulf War.

His lawyers said Hutchinson battled post-traumatic stress disorder and paranoia related to claims of government surveillance.

But DeSantis signed his death warrant anyway.

Legal challenges expose secretive execution process

Kayle Bates filed a federal lawsuit claiming Florida’s execution warrant process “is infected with racial discrimination and unconstitutional arbitrariness.”¹

The statistical analysis backing up his claim is damning.

According to court documents, 95% of the executions DeSantis has authorized involved white victims.

“Governor DeSantis has not executed a single white defendant for killing a non-white defendant,” the lawsuit states.²

Another death row prisoner, Curtis Windom – scheduled for execution on August 28 – is challenging the rushed timeline that gives his lawyers virtually no time to mount a defense.

His attorneys had less than five days between the warrant signing and court deadlines for filing motions.

Because of prison restrictions on weekends and another execution happening at the facility, Windom’s lawyers had just one day – Friday, August 1 – to meaningfully consult with their client.

That’s not justice – that’s an assembly line.

The Florida Supreme Court denied Bates’s appeals on August 12, the same day a federal district court dismissed his civil rights lawsuit.³

But the damage to DeSantis’s reputation is already done.

Veterans invoke Supreme Court precedent for military leniency

The veterans aren’t just making an emotional appeal – they’re citing legal precedent from the highest court in the land.

Their letter references the Supreme Court’s instruction in Porter v. McCollum that “Our Nation has a long tradition of according leniency to veterans in recognition of their service.”

The Court specifically noted that military service, including “extensive combat experience,” should be considered mitigating factors because of “the intense stress and mental and emotional toll that combat takes.”⁴

Air Force veteran and Florida death row exoneree Ron Wright called the execution of service members “a betrayal.”

“We urge Governor DeSantis to recognize the humanity of these men and women and take action to prevent their needless deaths,” Wright said.⁵

Captain Art Cody, Director of the Center for Veteran Criminal Advocacy, put it even more bluntly: “Executing our nation’s warriors should call for deep soul searching.”⁶

U.S. Army Master Sergeant Brent Schneider, who works as an assistant public defender, added that “Florida should be protecting our veterans and ensuring those who return home with injuries, both visible and invisible, get the support that they deserve.”⁷

Impossible choice between brand and base

This controversy puts DeSantis in an impossible political position.

His hardcore law-and-order supporters expect him to carry out executions without mercy.

But his veteran-friendly brand depends on supporting the military community.

The veterans who signed this letter represent the exact demographic DeSantis needs for any future presidential run.

These aren’t anti-death penalty activists – they’re military veterans who served their country and understand sacrifice better than anyone.

When they say executing broken veterans is “the final abandonment,” that carries weight with voters who respect military service.

DeSantis has built his entire political career on being tougher than everyone else.

But 130 combat veterans just told him he’s not tough enough to show mercy to his fellow warriors.

Florida has already carried out more executions this year than any other state – and the most under any governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

The question now is whether DeSantis will stick to his execution schedule or listen to the veterans who say leave no one behind.

Either way, his carefully crafted image as America’s most veteran-friendly governor just took a direct hit from the people who know military service best.

And that’s a wound that won’t heal easily in Republican primary politics.

¹ 42 U.S.C. § 1983 Complaint Filed on Behalf of Kayle Barrington Bates, Northern District of Florida, July 29, 2025.

² Ibid.

³ Order, Bates v. DeSantis, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, August 12, 2025.

⁴ Porter v. McCollum, 558 U.S. 30 (2009).

⁵ Alex DeLuca, “Veterans Urge Florida Gov. DeSantis to Stop Executing Veterans,” New Times Broward-Palm Beach, August 13, 2025.

⁶ Ibid.

⁷ Sergio R. Bustos, “Veterans plead to Gov. DeSantis to halt executions of military veterans on state’s death row,” WLRN Public Media, August 13, 2025.