Ron DeSantis calls racist Dollar General shooter ‘major league scumbag’ at prayer vigil

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Monday, August 28, 2023

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called the white man who fatally shot three black people at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville because of their race, “a major league scumbag” at a prayer vigil for the victims Sunday where he was booed by some as he promised help for the grieving community.

"What he did was totally unacceptable in the state of Florida. We are not going to let people be targeted based on their race. We are going to stand up, and we are going to do what we need to do, to make sure that evil does not triumph in the state of Florida," DeSantis said during a brief appearance at one of two prayer vigils held in the community to remember the shooting victims on Sunday.

Another prayer vigil held at the St. Paul A.M.E. Church in Jacksonville also featured elected officials.

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Officials say the 21-year-old white man, Ryan Palmeter, carried out his hate-filled attack shortly before 2 p.m. Eastern time at a Dollar General less than a mile from the small historically black Edward Waters University. Angela Michelle Carr, 52, Anolt Joseph “AJ” Laguerre Jr., 19, and Jerrald De’Shaun Gallion, 29, were all fatally shot by Palmeter.

Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said at a press conference on Saturday night that Palmeter had sent three separate manifestos to his parents, the media and federal agents, detailing his “disgusting ideology of hate.”

“Plainly put, this shooting was racially motivated, and he hated black people. He wanted to kill n------. That’s the one and only time I will use that word,” said Waters.

DeSantis had to get support from Jacksonville councilwoman Ju’Coby Pittman as he tried to address mourners disconcerted by his presence at the prayer vigil.

“OK. Listen y'all, we fixin' to put parties aside. It ain't about parties today," she said to applause. "A bullet don't know a party, so don't get me started. Now if the governor wanted to come here and he bringing gifts to my community, y’all know I’m taking the gifts because we’ve been through enough already, and I don’t want to go through no more,” Pittman said as she urged the crowd to be respectful. 

DeSantis went on to promise that funds have been allocated for the community and he would announce more on Monday that would help the affected families beyond just security. He also noted that he is working with Edward Water University to ensure the university has what it needs.

"Florida stands with the community. Help is on the way," the Florida governor said.

Sabrina Rozier, the maternal grandmother of Gallion’s 4-year-old daughter, said in an interview with journalist Destiny McKeiver at the prayer vigil that the family had not yet told the girl that her father is dead.

“When his mom called me, I’m thinking, just shot. When we found out, when I got the chance, that it was this, my heart melted for my granddaughter because she was his world, and he was her world,” Rozier said. “Now we’re trying to figure out how to tell her because we haven’t told her yet.”

The sheriff said Carr was sitting in a parking lot when she was shot without warning. At the end of his rampage, Palmeter took his own life.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the shooting is being investigated as a hate crime and offered condolences to those mourning the victims Sunday.

“Yesterday in Jacksonville, Florida, three people were killed in a horrific act of hate. In the wake of the mass shooting, FBI and ATF agents responded to the scene and are continuing to work closely with local law enforcement on the ground. The Justice Department is investigating this attack as a hate crime and an act of racially motivated violent extremism. The entire Justice Department extends its deepest condolences to the loved ones of the victims and to the Jacksonville community as they mourn an unimaginable loss,” Garland said.

“No person in this country should have to live in fear of hate-fueled violence and no family should have to grieve the loss of a loved one to bigotry and hate. One of the Justice Department’s first priorities upon its founding in 1870 was to bring to justice white supremacists who used violence to terrorize black Americans,” he added. “That remains our urgent charge today. The Justice Department will never stop working to protect everyone in our country from unlawful acts of hate.”