JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — There was a moment Sunday when Gov. Ron DeSantis began losing the crowd.
Boos and shouts of dissent overtook his comments at Sunday’s prayer vigil for the victims of the racist attack at a Jacksonville Dollar General. “You’re not welcome here,” shouted one. “Your policies caused this.”
As the cries reached a crescendo, Jacksonville City Councilmember Ju’Coby Pittman grabbed the mic and silenced his dissenters.
“Now y'all just be quiet just a minute and let the let the governor say what he has to say,” she directed. Pittman explained, “If the governor wanted to come here, and he’s bringing gifts to my community, y'all know I'm taking the gifts, because we've been through enough already.”
Taking back the mic, DeSantis called what the killer did “unacceptable in the state of Florida,” describing the killer as “a major league scumbag.”
“He’s a racist!” retorted one.
DeSantis, who has made “anti-woke,” race-based rhetoric a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, has been criticized for fanning the flames of intolerance. He followed through on his financial promise the next day, pledging $1 million to improve security at Edward Waters University and $100,000 to assist the shooting victims' families.
But DeSantis’ donation was overshadowed by Pittman’s defense, including at Monday’s Unity Rally in Downtown Jacksonville. Speakers evoked her by name and by reference, one activist deriding leaders who “begged him for money.”
Speaking to NPR, State Rep. Angie Nixon described a throughline between race-related policy discussion and violent acts.
“We know that the anti-woke, the stop-woke terminology was nothing more than a dog whistle. Woke, if you replace it, it’s ‘Black.’”
In an interview with ABC, Pittman pushed back on the criticism. “It's not about Governor DeSantis. It's about the people in my community who have lost their lives.”
Pittman, who was initially appointed by Gov. Rick Scott, said her defense of DeSantis did not mean she agrees with all of his policies.
“I don't support the governor’s stance because I am a Black woman. And a lot of those legislation that he supports -- we just saw what happened to my community, you know, with carrying a concealed weapon. Anyone can carry a gun at this time. And I don't, I don't agree.”