Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) is fighting back against criticism that his policies led to the racially motivated shooting at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, HuffPost reports.
During a press conference in Jacksonville, DeSantis was speaking about his stance against increasing public health measures amid the surge of COVID-19 cases before a Black man linked the Republican’s policies to last month’s shooting that left three Black people dead.
The man, who spoke up once the floor was opened for questions, slammed DeSantis for allowing “immature people” to access firearms, which “caused the deaths of the people who were murdered a couple weeks ago.”
“I’m not going to let you accuse me of committing criminal activity,” DeSantis responded. “I am not going to take that.”
The man then said DeSantis “allowed people to hunt people like me.”
“Oh, that is nonsense,” DeSantis replied. “That is such nonsense.”
In a video of the press conference, the man appeared to be ushered out of the room after making the comments.
The criticism comes after a white gunman, identified as Ryan Christopher Palmeter, opened fire at a Jacksonville Dollar General on August 26, using a swastika-emblazoned rifle.
DeSantis rejected criticism linking him to the shooting on Thursday.
“We’ve done more to support law enforcement in this state than anybody throughout the United States,” the governor said at the press conference. “The notion that we’re not supportive of safety is absurd.”
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