A Gov. Ron DeSantis news conference in Jacksonville turned heated Thursday morning after a Black man in the crowd said the Florida governor’s policies contributed to the racist murder of three Black residents in Jacksonville last month.
During the question and answer portion of the news conference held on Jacksonville’s Southside, a Black man who was not a member of the media and identified himself as an Air Force veteran, said he is one of the Americans who does not agree with DeSantis’ policies.
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“I feel that you have enacted policies that hurt people like myself,” he said before referring to the recent shooting at a Dollar General store in New Town. “You have allowed weapons to be put on the street into immature hateful people that have caused the deaths of the people who were murdered a couple weeks ago.”
DeSantis then cut the man off.
“So first of all, I did not allow anything with that,” DeSantis rebutted while raising his voice and pointing at the man. “Excuse me. I’m not gonna let you accuse me of committing criminal activity. I am not going to take that. I’m not going to take that. You want to have a civil conversation that’s one thing…try to say that I’m letting…that guy was Baker Acted. He should have been ruled ineligible, but they didn’t involuntarily commit him.”
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The man continued to speak to DeSantis but what he was saying was not clear.
“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,” DeSantis continued.
The Orange Park man accused in the racially-motivated attack was temporarily involuntarily held under the Baker Act in 2017, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said, but he later added, “There was nothing illegal about him owning the firearms.”
The act allows people to be involuntarily detained and subject to an examination for up to 72 hours during a mental health crisis.
Waters said the man was confined through the Baker Act and then released without further involuntary commitment. The sheriff did not share what led to the Baker Act but said normally a person who has been detained under the act is not eligible to purchase firearms.
DeSantis has been criticized for not explicitly describing the killer as a racist at a vigil in Jacksonville. DeSantis was booed at the vigil, where he called the shooter “a major-league scumbag” and said, “We are not going to let people be targeted based on their race.”