By some measures, Jacksonville, Florida, was making strides to emerge from its racist past
By some measures, the city was making strides to emerge from its racist past. But the killing of three Black people Saturday by a young, white shooter was a painful and startling reminder that the remnants of racism continue to fester in Jacksonville, Florida.
What happened in Jacksonville, said longtime resident Rodney Hurst, 79, «could have happened anywhere, except it did happen in Jacksonville.”
The shooting occurred as the Jacksonville community prepared for an annual commemoration of what is known as Ax Handle Saturday. In an unforgettable exhibition of brutality 63 years ago, a mob of white people used baseball bats and ax handles to club peaceful Black demonstrators protesting segregation at a downtown lunch counter on Aug. 27, 1960. Police first stood by but joined the white mob when the Black group began fighting back. Instead of collaring any white instigators, police arrested several Black people.
Hurst, who was 16 when the historic violence erupted, has been encouraged by progress following the Civil Rights movement, but worries racism once again has become normalized by the nation’s divisive politics.
Even so, he said, «Jacksonville did not need anybody to help its racism along.”
Jacksonville County Sheriff T.K. Waters said notes left by the 21-year-old shooter, Ryan Palmeter, made it clear he was targeting Black residents of a predominantly African American neighborhood in Jacksonville.
Palmeter used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and a Glock handgun to kill his victims, Waters said, both weapons bought legally earlier this year despite his involuntarily committment for a 72-hour mental health examination in 2017.
He fatally shot Angela Michelle Carr, 52, as she sat in her car and chased A.J. Laguerre, 19, through a Dollar General store before shooting him. The third victim, Jerrald Gallion, 29, was killed as he entered the store.
