[ad_1]
Thursday’s row became particularly heated when an unidentified member of the public accused DeSantis of allowing “people to chase people like me.”
“Oh, that’s nonsense. It’s so absurd! DeSantis responded during the press conference which took place in Jacksonville. He went on to tout his law enforcement record and his bonuses for police officers moving into the state.
The exchange of about three minutes was at first cordial, the two men thanking each other for their military service. The man, who was not pictured in the video but who the governor’s office said was standing in the back next to reporters, accused the governor of supporting policies that ‘hurt people like me’ and said the guns should be given to “hateful people”.
He then brought up the mass shooting, but DeSantis stopped him and replied, “I’m not going to let you accuse me of committing criminal activity. I will not accept this.
The governor then referred to the fact that the accused shooter, 21-year-old Ryan Palmeter, had a history of mental illness. Police report he was involuntarily committed to emergency mental health services as a teenager.
“He should have been ruled ineligible,” DeSantis said. “But they didn’t incarcerate him involuntarily.” As the man began to respond, DeSantis cut him off and said, “There you go. There is something in the truth. This is not the case: everyone does not have their own truth.
DeSantis did not mention that Palmeter also had a racist manifesto and drew swastikas on his guns.
Democrats also accused DeSantis of creating an environment in Florida conducive to shootings. They specifically blame policies such as the relaxation of gun laws and the end of diversity programs, as well as the banning of what he calls “critical race theory” in schools, referring to progressive views on race relations.
Some black Floridians booed and booed DeSantis when he attended a vigil for the deceased, pledging funding for safety and telling the public that “targeting people because of their race has no place in this state of Florida”.
At the end of the press conference, Florida surgeon general Joe Ladapo, who is black, called on the public to wait before leaving. With DeSantis standing next to him behind the lectern, he called the man DeSantis was arguing with “totally crazy” and praised DeSantis as a “good man.”
“It’s terrible that people are taking advantage of the fact that he has a different color from the poor victims of this tragedy to try to implicate him in this tragedy,” Ladapo said.
[ad_2]
Cnn