Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shot down an audience member who attempted to place blame on him for the recent “racially motivated” shooting at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville.
During a press conference about COVID mandates, the man pointed a finger at the Republican governor, claiming his policies “hurt people like myself and the people that I love."
He continued: “You have allowed weapons to fill the street into immature, hateful people that have caused the deaths of the people who were murdered a couple weeks ago. Trayvon Martin was not the first.”
“So, first of all, I did not allow anything with that,” DeSantis interjected, before the heckler tried to speak over him.
“Well listen, excuse me, I’m not gonna let you accuse me of committing criminal activity,” DeSantis said to cheers. “I am not going to take that. I’m not gonna take that. So, you want to have a civil conversation, that’s one thing. Trying to say that I’m letting — that guy was Baker Acted. He should have been ruled ineligible, but they didn’t involuntarily commit him, so—”
After trying to interrupt, DeSantis once again shot it down.
“No, no, no, there is the truth,” the governor said. “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.”
The governor went on to tout Florida’s low crime rate and his administration’s support for law enforcement.
“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. “We have enacted policies so that people have a chance to live in safety. We have attracted people to come to this state in large part because we’ve had a commitment to public safety. So the notion that somehow we’re not supportive of safety is absurd and we put our money where our mouth is, we put support behind policies to hold people accountable who hurt other people.”
“You have allowed people to hunt people like me”:
— The Recount (@therecount) September 7, 2023
A Black audience member gets into a back and forth with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) at a Jacksonville news conference after questioning state policies he says have led to violence against Black people. pic.twitter.com/7G99npsvZ8