Edward Waters University gets security money after shooting

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday said $1 million will go to Edward Waters University, a historically Black school in Jacksonville, for security upgrades. 

That comes after a 21-year-old Clay County resident fatally shot three Black people at a nearby Dollar General store.

“We are not going to allow our HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities) to be targeted by these people,” DeSantis said while at the state Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee to give a hurricane update.

“We also have (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) on site today evaluating security on campus and making recommendations for any additional infrastructure improvements.”

Authorities said Ryan Christopher Palmeter attempted Saturday to park at the university but was refused entry. A short time later, he drove to the Dollar General store, where he used an AR-15-style rifle to carry out what police said was a racially motivated shooting that killed an employee and two customers.

The $1 million will come from the Volunteer Florida Foundation.

Also, DeSantis said $100,000 will go to help families of the victims, Angela Michelle Carr, 52, Jerrald De’Shaun Gallion, 29, and store employee Anolt Joseph Laguerre Jr., 19.

State Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, issued a statement criticizing DeSantis and saying his “track record speaks louder than his hollow words."

She added, "We need actions, not publicity stunts. I urge the governor to do more than make empty gestures and call folks names. It's time for him to truly reckon with the damage he has caused, to apologize for the harm he has inflicted, and to actively work towards undoing the racist system he’s helped uphold and grow.”

In statements Sunday, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris said a federal civil-rights investigation has been opened and the shooting is being treated as a possible hate crime and an 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,” Biden said. “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.”