The Florida governor and candidate for the GOP presidential nomination has made anti-„wokeness“ a centerpiece of his campaign. That drew the boos, but some in the crowd applauded him.
Hundreds of people gathered Sunday at prayer vigils and in church, in frustration and exhaustion, to mourn yet — this one the killing of three Black people in Florida by a White, 21-year-old man who authorities say left behind white supremacist ramblings that read like „the diary of a madman.“
Following services earlier in the day, about 200 people showed up at a Sunday evening vigil a block from the Dollar General store in Jacksonville where officials said Ryan Palmeter opened fire Saturday using guns he bought legally despite a past involuntary commitment for a mental health exam.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis – who is running for the GOP nomination for president and has loosened gun laws in Florida and antagonized civil rights leaders by deriding „wokeness“ — was loudly booed as he addressed the vigil.
Ju’Coby Pittman, a Jacksonville city councilwoman who represents the neighborhood where the shooting happened and who CBS Jacksonville affiliate WJAX-TV reports organized the vigil — stepped in to ask the crowd to listen.
„It ain’t about parties today,“ she said. „A bullet don’t know a party.“
DeSantis said the state would be announcing financial support Monday for security at Edward Waters University, the historically black college near where the shooting occurred, and to help the affected families. He called the gunman a „major league s—bag.“
Some people in the crowd yelled, „He was a racist!“ referring to the shooter, WJAX says. Others applauded the governor’s comments.
„What he did is totally unacceptable in the state of Florida,“ DeSantis said. „We are not going to let people be targeted based on their race.“
Sheriff T.K. Waters identified those killed as Angela Michelle Carr, 52, who was shot in her car; store employee A.J. Laguerre, 19, who was shot as he tried to flee; and customer Jerrald Gallion, 29, who was shot as he entered the store in a predominantly Black neighborhood.
Gallion attended St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Bishop John Guns told the crowd. He was the 33rd murder victim in the 27 years Guns has been there, he said.
„In two weeks, I have to preach a funeral of a man who should still be alive,“ Guns said. „He was not a gangster, he was not a thug – he was a father who gave his life to Jesus and was trying to get it together.
„I wept in church today like a baby because my heart is tired.
