No Trial for Angie Nixon: Resolves Case with Pretrial Intervention
TALLAHASSEE - On Friday, May 15, Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers detained Florida House Representative and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Angie Nixon and charged her with trespassing after getting a warning and resisting an officer without violence, both misdemeanors punishable by a year in jail. Nixon and several others were present at the Florida Capitol to protest, with Nixon reportedly trying to speak to Governor Ron DeSantis' office about affordability in the state.
Ofc. Michael Baver reported the following:
“On Friday, May 15, 2026, at 11:52 am, The Florida Department of Law Enforcement Capitol Police were notified of an unlawful assembly inside the Florida Capitol at 400 South Main Street, Tallahassee Florida 32399. The assembly was in the Governor’s Office Lobby Room PL05 and was disrupting capitol business. The individuals were loudly chanting… yelling, and unreasonably disrupting the performance of official duties and functions of a state office and employees.
At 5:00 pm, the Florida Capitol was closed for business and [Nixon] was instructed several times to leave the Governor's office. [Nixon] refused to leave the Governor's office. [Nixon] was detained and escorted to the Capitol Police Office Room P2. [She] was issued a Notice to Appear…”
Court records further suggest the case was created with a notice to appear. Following the incident, Nixon posted a video that appears to show her walking out of the Leon County Jail. Nixon indicated that she was arrested with three other individuals. It’s unclear if she was formally booked into jail and she was not required to post a bond before her release from police custody.
On August 28, Leon County Judge Carlos Rey recused himself from the case, court records show.
Nixon and her attorney initially indicated they would fight the charges at trial but later reached an agreement with the Office of State Attorney Jack Campbell in the 2nd Judicial Circuit to resolve the case with a pretrial diversion. This means Nixon agreed to abide by certain conditions in exchange for prosecutors agreeing to later drop the charges outright.
The content of the pretrial diversion agreement and its exact conditions are unclear but it reportedly involves a $250 fine and 15 hours of community service.
Nixon issued the following statement:
“From the beginning, I have been clear: I did nothing wrong, and I will not plead guilty to something I did not do. That hasn’t changed. Elected leaders being accessible to the people they serve is fundamental to a functioning democracy. People should be able to walk into their government offices, speak with their leaders directly and have a conversation - whether they agree or disagree. If people cannot come to us to demand answers, challenge our decisions or simply ask to be heard, then what are our offices for? That is what I was doing that day. I went to the Governor’s office to have a conversation about the decisions being made in our state and how they were affecting Floridians. I stood my ground then, and I stand by my actions today.
The State Attorney has offered a resolution that requires no guilty plea and results in this case being dismissed, saving days of court time and tens of thousands in taxpayer dollars. I will complete that process without changing my position or backing away from what brought me there in the first place. I have spent my life showing up, speaking out and fighting for people who too often feel like their government isn’t listening. An arrest didn’t change that. This case won’t change that. I’m still standing, I’m still fighting, and I’m still going to show up.”
The conclusion of Nixon’s case may not mean the end for her legal troubles. On September 23, the National Legal and Policy Center told U.S. District Attorney John Heekin and other government officials that Nixon should be criminally prosecuted for undercutting her liabilities on senate candidate financial forms.
In 2021, Nixon had to pay a $250 fine after receiving a similar complaint relating to her liability reporting. According to the Florida Times Union, “An attorney representing Nixon told a state Commission on Ethics investigator Nixon had read the form ‘but did not in every instance fully understand the instructions’ as she completed it.”
Ashley Moody, Nixon’s senate opponent, was recently accused of playing a role in the alleged scheme from the governor’s office to divert $10 million in taxpayer funds for sick children to fight against the cannabis legalization amendment that was on the ballot last election. Moody, nor any other individuals have been charged or assigned personal criminal responsibility.
In September 2022, Moody was subject to an ethics complaint for her support of a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the 2020 Presidential Election results in four swing states won by Joe Biden.
