Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis faced off with a heckler, who blamed him for a recent racially-motivated mass shooting in Jacksonville, Florida. On August 26th, four people were killed inside a Dollar General store. In response to the tragedy Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters found three manifestos written by the now-deceased shooter.
At a press conference held on Thursday, the heckler was heard accusing DeSantis of being responsible for the shooting. The governor rejected the accusation. “First of all, I did not allow anything with that,” he said. “I’m not gonna let you accuse me of committing criminal activity. I am not going to take that.”
DeSantis then explained that the shooter had been subject to the Baker Act, which provides emergency services and temporary detainment of individuals who are a threat to themselves or others.
The heckler brought up the issue again, leading DeSantis to respond. “No, no, no, there is the truth”, said the governor. “There is something about the truth. It is not, everyone doesn’t have their own truth. No, you don’t get to come here and blame me for some madman. That is not appropriate and I’m not going to accept it.”
Governor DeSantis showcased his administration’s support for law enforcement and the low crime rate in Florida as evidence that his approach has worked. “We have done more for law enforcement in this state than anybody in the United States. Our crime rate in Florida is at a 50-year low,” he said.
The governor also commented on the shooter’s cowardly act. “This guy killed himself rather than face the music and accept responsibility for his actions,” said DeSantis. “And so, he took the coward’s way out, but we condemn what happened in the strongest possible terms, we’ve offered support for Sheriff Waters and the city of Jacksonville, and we send our condolences to the victims and their families who were the victims of a very cowardly act.”
No matter how you feel about Desantis’s work in Florida you have to admit, you cannot accuse his state of being ‘light on crime’. While they might have experienced more than their share of shootings, Florida laws aren’t really to blame. The state is a melting pot for the Nation with a large majority of their transplanted residents moving down from blue states.