Nikki Fried, Florida’s agriculture commissioner, is running as a Democrat in the 2022 Florida gubernatorial race. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

(JTA) — Nikki Fried, who chairs Florida’s Democratic Party, was arrested at a protest for abortion rights in the state capital, along with 10 other demonstrators.

The protest on Monday night, which took place outside Tallahassee City Hall, was in opposition to a proposed six-week abortion ban in Florida that the state senate passed Monday evening. The bill must pass the state House of Representatives before heading to the desk of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Fried, who is Jewish, previously served as Florida’s commissioner of agriculture, a rare Democrat elected to statewide office in Florida. Last year, she mounted an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for governor. She became the state Democratic Party chair earlier this year.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The legislation that the state Senate advanced would tighten Florida’s already limited access to abortion. A Boynton Beach synagogue filed an early lawsuit challenging the state’s new 15-week abortion ban last year, part of a wave of activism by Jewish leaders across the country to make religious freedom arguments in favor of abortion rights.

Fried and the other protesters were arrested hours after the state Senate vote, according to the Tallahassee Democrat, a local newspaper. The arrest occurred they sat in a circle on the ground and sang “Lean on Me,” surrounding a yellow flag with a picture of a uterus. Fried wore a T-shirt reading “Just f**k!ng vote.”

The protest, which was led by women, had begun early in the day. Also arrested was state Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book. Both were released overnight, according to a local TV station.

“I’m out. And not ever backing down,” Fried tweeted along with a photo of herself in handcuffs Monday night. The tweet also repeated the slogan on her shirt.

“Florida Democrats will not back down in our defense of abortion rights,” the state Democratic Party tweeted. “Our Chair made that clear tonight.”

The state Republican Party chairman, Christian Ziegler, posted a tweet Tuesday morning mocking Fried and asking if federal loans are available because the state Democrats are “in need of extra cash to bailout their Chairman.”

This article originally appeared on JTA.org.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount