The Fire This Time: Jacksonville FL

This past Saturday, there was a shooting in Jacksonville FL at a Dollar General store.  The death toll was 2 men, 1 women and ultimately the gunman, 21-year-old Ryan Palmeter, took his own life. 

Four people dead which is not really all that bad for a mass shooting which is of course a horrible thing to say. But with mass shootings occurring so frequently, the best comfort we can find is "it could've been worse". 

And it could've been. Before firing upon innocent victims at the Dollar General, Palmeter attempted to gain entry to a local university but was turned back by campus security.  One can only imagine the horrific death toll if Palmeter turned his guns on a dorm full of students.  

But let's talk about means and motive for this horrendous killing.  

Ryan Palmeter obtained his guns legally and given he's from Florida, I'm hard pressed to determine how in hell in could've gotten them illegally.  In the wake of excessive gun violence and a public outcry for the government to do something about that, Florida has led the way in making it easier to obtain a gun. 

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed into law legislation passed by a Republican led legislature to remove barriers to gun ownership.  

So Ryan Palmeter's means to commit mass murder had few if any roadblocks to slow him down. 

And as for motive...

Here are some hints:

• His victims at the Dollar General were all black.
• His intended victims at the historically black university were all black.   

21-year-old Ryan Palmeter was racist as fuck.  

Besides the Nazi symbol on his weapon, Palmeter helpfully left behind a racist manifesto.  Sheriff T.K. Waters said “The manifesto is, quite frankly, the diary of a madman.  He was just completely irrational. But with irrational thoughts, he knew what he was doing. He was 100% lucid.”

There was a vigil for the victims on Sunday night where Ron DeSantis decided to put in an appearance. Which is what governors should do in a time of tragedy. 

DeSantis got booed at the vigil which was what you get when you make it easier for madmen to get guns and fuel the fire of their racist ideology.  

Rudolph McKissick, senior pastor of the Bethel Church in Jacksonville, had this to say:  “This divide exists because of the ongoing disenfranchisement of Black people and a governor, who is really propelling himself forward through bigoted, racially motivated, misogynistic, xenophobic actions to throw red meat to a Republican base." 

Or to put it another way, Ron DeSantis, that's what you get, bitch!