JACKSONVILLE SHOOTING: Ron DeSantis booed at vigil after three killed in ‘racially motivated’ shooting in Florida

There were at least 346 mass shootings recorded during the first six months of 2023 through the weekend of July 4, a rate of at least one each day, exceeding rates of mass shootings at similar points in the calendar in previous years.

President Joe Biden said he has spoken with local officials in Jacksonville, Florida, as well as Gov. Ron DeSantis, to see if the families of the victims want to contact them.

“Two of them are willing to be contacted, and the other one doesn’t want to be contacted,” Biden said Monday as he met with organizers of the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington.

“I allow it — just let it settle because everyone deals with deep loss differently and it’s important, I know from experience, it’s important to try to do it in a way that’s very helpful and reduces anxiety more. So I haven’t spoken to them yet,” Biden said.

A press release from Mr. Crump said the daughter of a Jacksonville shooting victim has appointed civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump to retain power of attorney.

Armesha Payne, 52-year-old daughter of Angela Carr, will join Mr. Crump at a press conference to talk more about retaining Mr. Crump.

In a statement about the shooting, Mr Crump said: “Hate is poisonous, destructive and deadly. Three families and an entire community confront the devastating effects of boundless hate. The children are now without their loving parents and these families will never be complete again. This senseless and violent act is the latest in a long line of reminders that words drive ideology that lead to action, unspeakable actions, and we are all paying the price.

The shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, came on the same day as the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

At the time of the shooting, thousands were visiting Washington, D.C., to attend Reverend Al Sharpton’s commemoration of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Rudolph McKissick, national board member of Sharpton’s National Action Network, was not in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. However, his thoughts on the shooting touched on issues raised by the civil rights leader.

“The irony is that on the day we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood up and spoke about the dream of racial equality and love, we still live in a country where that dream was not really realized,” MacKissick said. This dream of fanaticism.”

The gunman who fatally shot three people at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida, Saturday afternoon in a racially motivated attack has been identified as 21-year-old Ryan Christopher Palmiter.

Palmeter is believed to have left the home he shared with his parents on the outskirts of Clay County around 11.40am on Saturday, arriving in his gray Honda Element first on the campus of Edward Waters University (EWU), a historically black college, about an hour later, but was turned away by a security guard. When he refused to identify himself.

The individual returned to his vehicle and left campus without incident. “The incident was reported to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office by EWU security,” the school said in a subsequent press release.

Before carrying out the massacre at a nearby Dollar General branch, Palmeter sent a text message to his father advising him to look at his personal computer, where the suspect’s parents duly found “several statements” intended to explain his actions, which Sheriff Waters described as “the diary of a man.” Crazy” during the press conference on Sunday.

Palmeter’s father called the Clay County sheriff’s office around 2 p.m. to report the data, but by then it was already too late.

Palmeter’s writings, which included a will and a note announcing his intention to end his life, are now being examined by investigators.

When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was booed during a vigil for victims of a mass shooting over the weekend, Jacksonville City Councilwoman Jacoby Pittman defended him.

“I wanted the audience to calm down because I wanted it to sit still and I wanted it to be a catharsis for the population and the community for unity,” Pittman told CNN on Monday.

Ms. Pittman became the subject of criticism as many felt Mr. DeSantis’ appearance was purely political and deserved to be booed because he supported relaxing gun laws in the state.

But Ms. Bateman says her defense of Mr. DeSantis was only to allow the community and families of the victims to come together and leave Mr. DeSantis’ politics out of the matter.

He added, “That vigil was not related to the governor, and I will say that I do not support any of the positions or policies implemented by the governor.”

“It was about focusing on the families that were there and the hate that got into their community,” said Ms. Bateman.

Police in Jacksonville, Florida released horrifying footage showing the gunman who carried out a mass shooting at a Dollar General store entering the building and opening fire.

The video, captured on security cameras, shows the suspect armed with an AR-15 rifle standing outside the store, aiming his firearm at the windshield of a car and starting to fire the shots.

The alleged gunman who fatally shot three people at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday was able to legally purchase the weapons he used in the attack, even though he was taken into state care after suffering a mental health crisis. Execution said.

“In this case, there was nothing illegal about his possession of firearms,” ​​Sheriff TK Waters said, stressing that the weapons were not owned by the suspect’s parents, who refused to allow him to keep the firearms in their home.

A photo shared on the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page over the weekend showed a close-up of one of the weapons, with at least one marked with a swastika.

The weapon was an AR-15 engraved with the words “Palmetto State Armory” and “PA-15,” and the manufacturer’s website describes the PA-15 as “our interpretation of the legendary AR-15 you have come to love.” “.

The sheriff said that although the gunman had no criminal record, he was previously involved in a 2016 domestic incident involving his brother James – who is now reportedly serving jail time for armed robbery – but was not arrested.

More importantly, he was also taken into state custody in 2017 under Florida’s Baker Act, a law that allows people to be “relocated to a reception facility for forced screening” for up to 72 hours if they are deemed a danger to themselves or others. during a mental health crisis.

Speaking to CNN later Sunday, Sheriff Waters explained, “If there is a situation under the Baker Act, they are prohibited from obtaining weapons.”

When asked why, in this case, El Gouman was able to purchase it, the sheriff said, “We don’t know whether the Baker Act was properly recorded, and whether it was considered a complete Baker Act.”

The investigation is ongoing but the sheriff’s words seem to illustrate two possible scenarios – an administrative error or a ruling in favor of the gunman – which may explain why he was allowed to buy the guns after he was flagged as a cause for concern and held pending investigation. Examination by medical professionals as required by law.