JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — During a news conference in Tallahassee Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he will allocate $1 million in funding to Edward Waters University, a historically Black university in Jacksonville, to increase security. The news comes in the wake of a racially-motivated mass shooting at a Dollar General near the campus. A Black woman and two Black men were killed. Police said the shooter first approached EWU, but was confronted by a security guard and left for the Dollar General.
DeSantis also announced Volunteer Florida will be donating $100,000 to the families of three victims; Angela Michelle Carr, 52, Anolt Joseph "A.J." Laguerre Jr., 19, and Jarrad De'Shawn Gallion, 29.
At a prayer vigil in Jacksonville Sunday, DeSantis was met with mixed reactions as he addressed the gathered crowd. Several people in the crowd booed the governor. They were quieted down by Jacksonville City Councilwoman Ju'Coby Pittman, who told the crowd: "If the governor wanted to come here and he's bringing gifts, you all know I'm taking the gifts. Because we've been through enough already, and I don't want to go through no more."
DeSantis promised he would bring funding to the city, saying his office was "looking to identify funds" for EWU's security. “You are not going to target HBCUs and get away with it,” DeSantis said. “We’re going to hold you accountable. We’re not going to let it happen.”
State Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, responded to the governor's announcement for money for EWU and the shooting victims as a "band-aid" offer.
“Let me be perfectly clear: no amount of money can erase the pain caused by years of marginalization and oppression. Our historically Black institutions have faced an uphill battle for decades, and I invite DeSantis to go back through unfilled budget requests and line item vetoes to begin to provide the funding they’ve needed for years. For it to take murder for him to dig in his overflowing coffers for support is appalling," Nixon stated in a news release.
“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,” Nixon stated.