{"id":2478579,"date":"2025-08-25T15:44:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T19:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/florida-lieutenant-governor-rejects-leniency-for-illegal-trucker-after-2-8-million-petition-signatures\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T15:46:04","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T19:46:04","slug":"florida-lieutenant-governor-rejects-leniency-for-illegal-trucker-after-2-8-million-petition-signatures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/florida-lieutenant-governor-rejects-leniency-for-illegal-trucker-after-2-8-million-petition-signatures\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida lieutenant governor rejects leniency for illegal trucker after 2.8 million petition signatures"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fflorida-lieutenant-governor-rejects-leniency-for-illegal-trucker-after-2-8-million-petition-signatures%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2478579&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article reports on Florida Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins&#8217; firm stance against leniency for Harjinder Singh, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/illegal-immigrant-accused-of-raping-impregnating-10-year-old-ohio-girl-is-indicted-by-grand-jury\/\" title=\"Illegal Immigrant Accused Of Raping, Impregnating 10...Year...Old Ohio Girl Is Indicted By Grand Jury\">illegal immigrant accused<\/a> of causing a deadly semitruck crash that killed three people on the Florida Turnpike. Despite a petition gathering over 2.8 million signatures advocating for a lighter sentence, Collins declared there would be &#8220;absolutely no leniency.&#8221; singh, who entered the U.S. illegally in 2018, faces up too 45 years in prison for vehicular homicide after allegedly making an illegal U-turn that caused the fatal accident. Supporters argue the crash was a tragic accident and highlight Singh&#8217;s background and intentions to support his family, while critics emphasize accountability and public safety, pointing out Singh&#8217;s failure to pass English and road sign tests despite holding commercial driver&#8217;s licenses from sanctuary states.A counter-petition opposing leniency has also gained traction, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >underscoring divisive public reactions surrounding<\/a> the case. <br \/> <!DOCTYPE html><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Florida lieutenant governor rejects leniency for illegal trucker after 2.8 million petition signatures<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2210021\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/immigration\/3778215\/florida-judge-order-alligator-alcatraz-shut-down-60-days\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Florida<\/a> Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, a Republican, said Monday that there would be &ldquo;absolutely no leniency&rdquo; for an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3779879\/judge-denies-bond-for-illegal-immigrant-who-caused-deadly-florida-crash\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">illegal immigrant<\/a> accused of killing three people in a semitruck crash on the Florida Turnpike despite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3780311\/over-2-million-sign-petition-fair-sentencing-illegal-immigrant-florida-crash\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a petition<\/a> signed by more than 2.8 million people pushing for mercy.<\/p>\n<p>Harjinder Singh, 28, was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide and is facing up to 45 years in prison after allegedly attempting an illegal U-turn in a semitruck on Aug. 12. Singh, who authorities said entered the United States illegally in 2018, was later arrested in California and extradited back to Florida.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3781233\/jeanine-pirro-12-days-no-homicides-trump-dc-crime-crackdown\/\">Jeanine Pirro celebrates 12 days of no homicides after Trump DC crime crackdown<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/immigration\/3780579\/kilmar-abrego-garcia-ice-custody-deportation-pending\/\">Kilmar Abrego Garcia taken into ICE custody with deportation pending<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/in_focus\/3762514\/trump-promise-deport-one-million-illegal-immigrants-first-year\/\">Trump promised to deport a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/analysis-bidens-immigration-policies-may-fuel-migrant-caravan-crisis-at-southern-border\/\" title=\"Analysis: Biden\u2019s immigration policies may fuel migrant caravan crisis at southern border\">million illegal immigrants<\/a> in his first year. Can he do it?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>In the weeks since his arrest, a Change.org petition titled &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.change.org\/p\/free-petition-plea-for-fair-sentencing?source_location=search\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Justice for Harjinder Singh<\/a>&rdquo; has drawn more than 2.8 million signatures. Signers argue that the crash was a tragic accident rather than a deliberate act, and are urging Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) to commute Singh&rsquo;s sentence if he is convicted.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This was a tragic accident &mdash; not a deliberate act. While accountability matters, the severity of the charges against him does not align with the circumstances of the incident,&rdquo; the petition says.<\/p>\n<p>The petition&rsquo;s creator, Manisha Kaushal, signed it on behalf of &ldquo;Collective Punjabi youth,&rdquo; and much of the support has come from Indian nationals or diaspora communities abroad. Commenters from Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom described Singh as a hardworking young man supporting his family.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;45 yrs of imprisonment?? Is it fair for a young boy who left his home country to have bright future, support family???&rdquo; wrote one supporter from Mississauga, Ontario.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 640px; max-height: 360px; min-width: 320px; min-height: 180px; overflow: hidden;\">\n<div style=\"position: relative; width: 100%; padding-top: 56.25%;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/share.grabien.com\/share?id=3094736&amp;userid=11311&amp;loginid=10455&amp;playercolor=%23000000&amp;playersize=auto&amp;code=6c20f8b3e9b2b2c94cdd99fbea60dd9a\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: 0px;\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Collins dismissed the idea of leniency outright during an appearance on Fox News&rsquo;s<em> America&rsquo;s Newsroom<\/em> with Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Absolutely not,&rdquo; Collins said. &ldquo;He illegally entered in 2018, put people&rsquo;s lives at risk, and doesn&rsquo;t understand the language or the signs. We think because of his ethnicity, he is supposed to not have accountability? That&rsquo;s not how this works. It is ridiculous.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Of course, he fled back to California. We know Newsom doesn&rsquo;t care about this or doesn&rsquo;t take it seriously,&rdquo; Collins added.<\/p>\n<p>Federal officials said Singh&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/08\/19\/us-news\/illegal-migrant-truck-driver-in-deadly-florida-crash-failed-english-road-sign-tests-despite-getting-licenses-from-2-sanctuary-states\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lack of qualifications<\/a> extended beyond Florida. According to the Department of Transportation, Singh badly flunked English and road sign tests.<\/p>\n<p>When tested for English proficiency by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Singh answered just two out of 12 questions correctly, and he only identified one out of four highway signs correctly.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these failures, Singh was granted a commercial driver&rsquo;s license in California and Washington, both sanctuary states, raising questions about oversight and enforcement of federal licensing standards.<\/p>\n<p>The crash occurred when Singh&rsquo;s semitruck U-turned and blocked all four lanes. A minivan hit the truck, killing all three passengers instantly. Video footage from Singh&rsquo;s cab reportedly showed him sitting motionless as the chaos unfolded outside.<\/p>\n<p>Collins stressed that while millions of people may rally for Singh, the three Floridians killed in the crash have not seen petitions on their behalf.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It is about those three lives,&rdquo; he told Perino. &ldquo;He will pay the price, do his time, and go back to where he came from.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.change.org\/p\/deport-supporters-of-harjinder-singh-s-commutation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">counter petition<\/a> titled &ldquo;Deport Supporters of Harjinder Singh&rsquo;s Commutation&rdquo; has also gained momentum, collecting more than 29,000 signatures. Launched by a self-described truck driver and &ldquo;heritage American,&rdquo; the counter petition denounces efforts to seek leniency for Singh.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/watch\/2212030\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA TAKEN INTO ICE CUSTODY WITH DEPORTATION PENDING<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When Harjinder Singh, the Indian truck driver, attempted an illegal U-turn on the interstate, it resulted in a tragic accident that took the lives of three innocent people. Yet, over 500,000 individuals have signed a petition to commute his sentence, showing disregard for justice and the value of these lives,&rdquo; the counter petition says.<\/p>\n<p>It continues, &ldquo;These signatories not only undermine the legal system but also pose a potential threat to public safety by advocating leniency for someone whose actions led to irreversible consequences. It&rsquo;s crucial that our country sends a clear message: We will not tolerate such recklessness, nor will we shelter those who support it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Florida Lt. Gov. denies leniency for trucker despite 2.8M signatures<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2678,"featured_media":2478580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Jay-Collins.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[5113,61965,48079],"class_list":["post-2478579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-florida","tag-illegal-trucker","tag-lieutenant-governor"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Jay-Collins.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2478579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2678"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2478579"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2478579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2478583,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2478579\/revisions\/2478583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2478580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2478579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2478579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2478579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}