Ron DeSantis condemned the murder of three Black people by a racist gunman in Jacksonville, saying he “took the coward’s way out” and, “The shooting, based on the manifesto that they discovered from the scumbag who did this, was racially motivated. He was targeting people based on their race. That is totally unacceptable.” But what he’s ignoring is that the racist shooter probably voted for him. He’s the kind of guy that DeSantis and Republicans appeal to. Republicans have crafted their messages to speak to people like the racist shooter in Jacksonville.
The victims are Angela Michelle Carr, 52; Anolt Joseph Laguerre Jr., known as A.J., 29; and Jerrald De’Shaun Gallion, 19. I’m not going to write the killer’s name. We have enough Kyle Rittenhouses and George Zimmermans.
There are a few things about this racist shooter that are not surprising. He lives in Florida, he lives in Jacksonville, he bought his gun legally, he has a manifesto, and he lives with his parents.
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said the killer had authored “several manifestos” for media, his parents, and law enforcement detailing his hatred for Black people.” His manifesto for his parents detailed his “disgusting ideology of hate.” The killer was wearing a tactical vest, and a mask, and was armed with a Glock pistol and an AR-15 style assault rifle with Swastikas, plural, on it.
The killer went to a historically black college, Edward Waters University, where he put on his vest and a mask before going to the local branch of the Dollar General. It’s reported that he was yelling racial slurs during his rampage.
And before you scream at me that the Republican Party isn’t the racist party, just this weekend, GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said a Black female congressional representative was a part of the “modern KKK” and a “grand wizard” for fighting racism.
People like Ron DeSantis can condemn a racist shooter while ignoring that he gave the guy dog whistles. Ron DeSantis ran campaign commercials teaching his children how to build a racist border wall out of Legos. He’s signed laws making it harder for Black people to vote. He signed a law that made it legal to run down Black protesters. He’s canceling Black history courses in his state. He is instructing Florida schools to teach that slaves learned skills they could use for their “personal benefit.”
Then you have Donald Trump, the most racist president since Andrew Jackson. MAGAts can’t identify one successful policy from the Trump administration but what they love is their shared hate.
Last year, a racist Trump supporter shot and killed ten Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo. He was hunting Black people. In 2019, a racist Trump supporter killed 22 at a Walmart in El Paso. He was hunting Mexicans.
The Republican Party is the party of hate. They’re also the party of guns. The shooter purchased his two guns legally despite being involved in a “domestic call” in 2016 and undergoing a mental illness examination in 2017.
Racist Republicans are against all common sense gun laws that would prevent racist shooters from going on racist shooting rampages. So yeah, today, Republicans lost a voter. This racist shooter was theirs. These murders belong to them too.
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