Florida official lay dying for 20 minutes outside Ron DeSantis’ office
One of ron DeSantis’ handpicked staff died in the Florida State Capitol Building (Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)
Ron DeSantis’ election fraud chief lay dying in a hallway in the governor’s office for more than 20 minutes before anyone came to help, a police report has revealed.
Peter Antonacci, 74, was handpicked by the controversial Republican governor and presidential candidate in 2022 to head up his Office of Election Crimes and Security.
A little more than two months after the appointment however, on 23 September, Antonacci was declared dead in the Florida State capitol building.
A police report shared with Florida Bulldog details CCTV footage which captured him “abruptly” leaving a meeting with 11 other individuals, including secretary of state James Byrd, at 1.46pm, before collapsing.
The report documents he was “agitated during the whole meeting” but never showed signs of a medical issue.
“Upon exiting the conference room, Mr. Antonacci is observed staggering as he moved forward until he collapsed to the floor. Mr. Antonacci did not appear to move once he collapsed,” the report reads.
It adds that as he fell, he hit his head on a door, which left a “small laceration on his forehead”.
It was not until 24 minutes later that Department of Law Enforcement commissioner Mark Glass came to his aid, describing his face in the report as “purple and blue” by that point.
Glass performed CPR and used a defibrillator on Antonacci until paramedics arrived.
Leon County Emergency Medical Services rushed Antonacci to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital (TMH) where he was pronounced dead by medical staff.
Anne Longman, Antonacci’s widow, and his primary care doctor, Stacia Groll, said he had a “long history of heart disease and cardiac issues that resulted in several surgeries”.
The doctor signed a death certificate without an autopsy – a decision criticised by and described as “unusual” by an anonymous Florida medical examiner, speaking to the Florida Bulldog.
“I’m wondering why he didn’t go through the medical examiner’s office seeing that he died in the governor’s office,” they said.
“Wouldn’t they want to do that, just to [cover their a**es]? I mean, [Governor Lawton] Chiles died at the executive mansion [on Dec. 12, 1998] and he went through the medical examiner’s office.”
DeSantis described Antonacci as a “dedicated, tenacious, and assiduous public servant, lawyer, and respected professional, a friend to all in the State of Florida”.
The governor added: “His fighting passion will be missed, and his legacy will persist in the hearts and minds of many.”
