On Sunday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) was heckled and booed as he spoke at a vigil for the victims of the Jacksonville shooting at a Dollar General store where a 21-year-old white gunman shot and killed three black people.
DeSantis said Florida intended to allocate funds to improve security at Edward Waters University, the historically black college that the gunman went to before the shooting but left without being confronted.
DeSantis said, “We are not going to allow these institutions to be targeted by people.”
But the heckling continued, leading a councilwoman to tell the audience to put aside their political differences.
“You had a major league scumbag come from Clay County up here, and what he did, what he did is totally unacceptable in the state of Florida,” DeSantis continued.
The shooter, armed with an AR-like rifle and a Glock handgun, was identified as Ryan Palmeter.
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters stated that Palmeter was a “maniac” who wanted to kill black people. The victims included Angela Michelle Carr, 52; Anolt Joseph Laguerre Jr., 19; and Jarrald De’Shaun Gallion, 29.
On Monday morning, the GOP presidential candidate gave a news brief about Tropical Storm Idalia. He also announced that Florida would dedicate $1 million in funding to increase security at Edward Waters University.
DeSantis has been the subject of ridicule from the left over his focus on an “anti-woke” agenda and attempts to relax gun restrictions. Florida has experienced numerous mass shootings recently, including at Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016 and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in 2018.
The governor has also faced condemnation from Flordia’s Black community after the state established new public school standards that teach students that some black people benefitted from slavery by teaching them useful skills.
