‘Your policies caused this’: Ron DeSantis booed at vigil for victims of Florida Dollar General store shooting

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis from Florida was booed as he attended a vigil held for three black people murdered by a gunman in a racially-motivated attack at a Dollar General store.

The victims of Ryan Palmeter have been identified as AJ Laguerre, 19, Angela Michelle Carr, 52, and Jerrald Gallion, 29. Ryan eventually turned the gun on himself.

Ron faced sharp criticism at the vigil he spoke at, with one person yelling, “Your policies caused this!” Ron has loosened gun control in Florida.

Ron went on to say that the state would be offering financial support for security at Edward Waters University, near which the rampage took place. Ryan was initially seen at university, a historically Black college in Jacksonville, before he carried out his killing spree.

Ron DeSantis met with boos
Before Ron’s speech, councilwoman Ju’Coby Pittman demanded better state funding. “Let’s be honest, we don’t get the money we should get. But when I ask for some money this week, we gonna get it,” she said.

Looking at the community leaders in the audience, including Sheriff T.K. Waters, who claimed the attack was racially motivated, Ju’Coby said, “I’m proud of what you did yesterday. Because guess what, you called a spade a spade. We cannot continue to hide behind. We cannot have someone come from another county, and shoot up this community. It ain’t no black-on-black crime. It’s a hate crime.”

She then directly addressed Ron, saying, “Governor, I know you here. In order to make a difference, you gotta see it up close in personal.”

As Ron went up to the podium and began speaking, he was met with boos from the crowd. “Councilwoman, I gotcha, don’t worry about it. We’ve already been looking to identify funds to be able to help one, security at Edward Waters College. We are not going to allow these institutions to be targeted by people,” Ron said.

As the crowd shut Ron off, the councilwoman tried to silence them, saying, “It ain’t about parties today. A bullet don’t know a party.” Ron continued, “We’re going to be announcing some stuff tomorrow morning which I think will help, not only with security, but also an attempt to help these families. What he did was totally unacceptable in the state of Florida.”

He added, “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.”

‘The diary of a madman’
The 21-year shooter, who targeted the Jacksonville shop, shot AJ dead as he tried to escape. Angela was gunned down by 11 bullets as she sat in her car in the parking lot outside the store. Gerald was killed while he was entering the shop with his girlfriend, Sheriff TK Waters confirmed, according to New York Post. Many other people managed to flee the store as Ryan attempted to shoot them.

It is believed that Ryan acted alone in the attack. A suicide note and multiple racist manifestos were found in Ryan’s computer at his parents’ Clay County house, where he lived. “The manifesto is, quite frankly, the diary of a madman,” Sheriff Waters said. “He was just completely irrational. But with irrational thoughts, he knew what he was doing. He was 100% lucid.”