Florida governor Ron DeSantis booed at vigil as hundreds mourn racist killings

Hundreds of people gathered at prayer vigils and in church after the killing of three black people in Florida by a white, 21-year-old man.

Following services earlier in the day, about 200 people showed up at a Sunday evening vigil near the Dollar General store in Jacksonville where officials said Ryan Palmeter opened fire on Saturday using guns he bought legally despite a past involuntary commitment for a mental health exam.

Authorities say Palmeter left behind white supremacist ramblings that read like “the diary of a madman”.

Republican governor Ron DeSantis – who is running for the party’s nomination for president, has loosened gun laws in Florida and antagonised civil rights leaders by deriding “wokeness” – was loudly booed as he addressed the vigil.

Ju’Coby Pittman, a Jacksonville city councilwoman who represents the neighbourhood where the shooting happened, stepped in to ask the crowd to listen.

“It ain’t about parties today,” she said. “A bullet don’t know a party.”

Mr DeSantis said that on Monday the state would be announcing financial support 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 scumbag”.

“What he did is totally unacceptable in the state of Florida,” Mr DeSantis said. “We are not going to let people be targeted based on their race.”

Sheriff TK Waters identified those killed as Angela Michelle Carr, 52, who was shot in her car; store employee AJ Laguerre, 19, who was shot as he tried to flee; and customer Jerrald Gallion, 29, who was shot as he entered the store.

Mr 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 Mr Guns has been there, he said.

“In two weeks I have to preach a funeral of a man who should still be alive,” Mr 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. We are exhausted.”

The latest in a long history of US racist killings unfolded early on Saturday afternoon after Palmeter first parked at Edward Waters University.

The sheriff said a video posted on TikTok with no timestamp showed Palmeter donning a bullet-resistant vest. A university security guard spotted Palmeter and parked near him. Palmeter drove off and the security guard flagged down a Jacksonville sheriff’s officer who was about to send out an alert to other officers when the shooting began at the store.

Palmeter used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and a Glock handgun in the shooting, Mr Waters said. He had legally purchased the guns in recent months even though he had been involuntarily committed for a mental health examination in 2017. Because Palmeter was released after the examination, that would have not shown up on his background checks.

Palmeter killed himself as police arrived, about 11 minutes after the shooting began.

Palmeter lived with his parents in neighbouring Clay County. He texted his father during the shooting and told him to break into his room, Mr Waters said. The father then found a suicide note, a will and the racist writings Mr Waters described as “quite frankly, the diary of a madman”.

“He was just completely irrational,” Mr Waters said. “But with irrational thoughts, he knew what he was doing. He was 100% lucid.”

The sheriff said Palmeter, wearing his vest covered by a shirt, gloves and a mask, first stopped in front of Ms Carr’s vehicle and fired 11 shots with his rifle through her windscreen, killing her.

He entered the store and turned to his right, shooting Mr Laguerre, video shows. Numerous people fled through the back door, the sheriff said. He chased after them and fired, but missed. He went back inside the store and found Mr Gallion entering the front door with his girlfriend. He shot dead Mr Gallion.

He then chased a woman through the store and fired, but missed.

“We must say clearly and forcefully that white supremacy has no place in America,” President Joe Biden said in a statement on Sunday. “We must refuse to live in a country where black families going to the store or black students going to school live in fear of being gunned down because of the colour of their skin.”

Mr Biden spoke to Jacksonville mayor Donna Deegan in the wake of Saturday’s horrific shooting. The president also spoke with Mr Waters. In both calls, he offered his full support to the people of Jacksonville, according to a statement on Sunday evening from the White House.