On Sept. 29, 2025, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a press conference at the University of Florida (UF) to celebrate the Florida higher education system’s high standings in 2026 college rankings. DeSantis discussed how he believes that universities in other states do not handle campus protests as well as Florida universities do, noting a specific instance from Florida State University that happened over a year ago.
On April 25, 2024, in the midst of student protests about the war in Gaza across the country, a pro-Palestinian protest at FSU, “Occupy Landis,” was quickly met by the FSU Police Department (FSUPD). Organizers were asked to take down tents on the green space per FSU regulation 2.007, which prohibits camping on university lands.
The protest, organized by Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), FSU students and members of the broader Tallahassee community, was then nearly brought to an end as the sprinklers on Landis Green were turned on. Afterward, questions were raised as to whether the sprinkler activation was planned by FSU to attempt to remove the protestors from Landis Green.
At the press conference, Governor DeSantis commented on the protest and sprinklers.
“I think it was Florida State and President McCullough can correct me, they tried to take over the lawn and like ten minutes later, they just turned the sprinklers on and those guys got off that lawn very quickly,” DeSantis said at the UF press conference.
President Richard McCullough did not speak at the event.
The university denied the claim that the sprinklers were activated purposely, with an FSU spokesperson telling the Tallahassee Democrat that “work on our grounds happens throughout the day.” The university did not release an official statement to students at the time.
DeSantis’s mention of a direct association between the sprinkler activation and FSU’s administration at the address has caused questions about the event to recirculate.
“During the encampment, SDS suspected that the sprinklers had been turned on purposefully to disrupt our peaceful demonstration,” Tallahassee SDS said to the FSView. “DeSantis’s quotes only confirm what we already knew.”
Video footage posted to SDS Tallahassee’s Instagram on April 26, 2024 shows an attendee attempting to block a sprinkler near the group’s encampment.
“Tallahassee SDS, formerly FSU SDS, tried to operate under FSU’s code of conduct while being an authentic voice for students,” Tallahassee SDS said in a statement to the FSView. “We found, in one way or another, that FSU would prefer to soak us with sprinklers than work for change.”
The FSView contacted both FSU and the Executive Office of Governor DeSantis with requests for comment, but did not receive a response.
The protest also saw a counter-demonstration during the encampments, as pro-Israel supporters began their own protest not far away. FSUPD then set up barricades to keep the groups separated.
“It’s important to show that there are people that disagree with them,” Maximo Fernandez, an FSU student and counter-protester, said to WCTV at the event. “It felt important to do that and as well, just to show … the Jews at FSU that I’m there for them, you know, we all stand together.”
Michaela Galligan is the News Editor for the FSView & Florida Flambeau, the student-run, independent online news service for the FSU community. Email our staff at contact@fsview.com.
This article originally appeared on FSU News: DeSantis’ comments reignite debate over FSU sprinkler protest incident
Reporting by Michaela Galligan, News Editor / FSU News
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