Video: DeSantis Breaks Silence on Jacksonville Shooter, Rips 'Scumbag' Shooter

By Richard Moorhead August 27, 2023 at 7:24am

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is speaking out about a Jacksonville mass shooting that cost three citizens of his state their lives on Saturday.

The governor and 2024 presidential hopeful addressed the tragedy in a recorded statement in Iowa.

NEW: Gov. Ron DeSantis denounces “coward” Jacksonville shooter who allegedly targeted Black people

“This guy killed himself rather than face the music. He took the coward’s way out. We condemn what happened in the strongest possible terms.”pic.twitter.com/IuZ5y3y5cj

— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) August 26, 2023

Unearthed evidence following the shooting suggests that the perpetrator of the shootings did so with the goal of targeting a specific demographic.

Jacksonville Sheriff T.K Waters indicated that an investigation into the shooter discovered manifestos in which he explained his desire to target black people.

WARNING: The following video clip contains language that the viewer may find offensive

Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters reports on the mass shooting:

“”Plaintly put, the shooting was racially motivated, and he hated black people. He wanted to kill n*ggers.”” pic.twitter.com/GpKCjGvY63

— Jeff Charles, An Awful Pundit🏴 (@jeffcharlesjr) August 27, 2023

Should DeSantis pause the campaign to deal with the aftermath?

The gunman also used weapons with swastikas drawn on them.

Racist shooter painted Glock with swastikas in advance of attack at Jacksonville Dollar General. 3 people were killed, all of them Black. @FCN2go https://t.co/USKGSnZ4am pic.twitter.com/LujYX5R58A

— anne schindler (@schindy) August 26, 2023

DeSantis didn’t wait to condemn the deceased gunman’s acts, including his racial motivation.

“This shooting, based on the manifesto from the scumbag that did this, was racially motivated,” the governor said.

DeSantis added that the gunman “was targeting people based on their race,” and described that as “totally unacceptable.”

The fiery Florida governor went on to accuse the shooter of cowardice for killing himself — instead of facing justice in a criminal trial for his acts.

“This guy killed himself rather than face the music and accept responsibility for his actions and so he took the coward’s way out,” he said. “But we condemn what happened in the strongest possible terms.”

The perpetrator of the shooting attempted to access a historically black university before targeting a retail store in Jacksonville, according to CNN.

DeSantis pledged support for Sheriff Waters and the Jacksonville community in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Authorities haven’t positively identified the perpetrator of the mass shooting as of Sunday morning, according to WLTV-TV.

As of this writing, there has been no indication that DeSantis will abandon his campaign trail to personally address the tragedy in Florida, though that possibility does remain.

Submit a Correction →