Photos: YouTube Screenshots
President Joe Biden, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas all released statements regarding Saturday’s racially-motivated mass shooting which took the lives of three Black people at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida.
21-year-old Ryan Christopher Palmeter, identified as the gunman, was armed with an AR-15 style rifle and a handgun, when he murdered Angela Michelle Carr, 52, Anolt Joseph “AJ” Laguerre Jr., 19, and Jerrald Gallion, 29. Reportedly, Palmeter, before targeting Black people at the Dollar General store, tried to enter Edward Waters University, a HBCU, but was turned away by security.
After murdering Carr, Laguerre, and Gallion, Palmeter shot himself to death.
Sunday, President Joe Biden released the following statement:
“On Saturday, our nation marked the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington — a seminal moment in our history and in our work towards equal opportunity for all Americans. But this day of remembrance and commemoration ended with yet another American community wounded by an act of gun violence, reportedly fueled by hate-filled animus and carried out with two firearms.
“Yesterday in Jacksonville, Florida a white gunman went on a shooting rampage at a store near a Historically Black University and killed three Black individuals. While we still need to learn more about the motivation for Saturday’s shooting, law enforcement has opened a federal civil rights investigation and is treating this incident as a possible hate crime and act of domestic violent extremism.
“Even as we continue searching for answers, we must say clearly and forcefully that white supremacy has no place in America. We must refuse to live in a country where Black families going to the store or Black students going to school live in fear of being gunned down because of the color of their skin. Hate must have no safe harbor. Silence is complicity and we must not remain silent.
“Jill and I are praying for the victims and their families, and we grieve with the people of Jacksonville.”
Sunday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland also released a statement:
“Yesterday in Jacksonville, Florida, three people were killed in a horrific act of hate. In the wake of the mass shooting, FBI and ATF agents responded to the scene and are continuing to work closely with local law enforcement on the ground. The Justice Department is investigating this attack as a hate crime and an act of racially-motivated violent extremism. The entire Justice Department extends its deepest condolences to the loved ones of the victims and to the Jacksonville community as they mourn an unimaginable loss.
“No person in this country should have to live in fear of hate-fueled violence and no family should have to grieve the loss of a loved one to bigotry and hate. One of the Justice Department’s first priorities upon its founding in 1870 was to bring to justice white supremacists who used violence to terrorize Black Americans. That remains our urgent charge today. The Justice Department will never stop working to protect everyone in our country from unlawful acts of hate.”
On Saturday, Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas released this statement:
“The Department of Homeland Security is closely monitoring the situation surrounding this afternoon’s racially-motivated shooting in Jacksonville, Florida that led to the tragic, senseless death of three innocent people today. We are and will continue to provide support to law enforcement and to the Jacksonville community to help keep Floridians safe.”
“I have spoken with Jacksonville Mayor Deegan and to national civil rights leaders. Too many Americans – in Jacksonville and across our country – have lost a loved one because of racially-motivated violence. The Department of Homeland Security is committed to working with our state and local partners to help prevent another such abhorrent, tragic event from occurring.”
