Jacksonville Democrat shushes DeSantis hecklers at shooting vigil

A Democratic Jacksonville City Council member explained Monday why she opted to shut down community members who booed and heckled Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis while he tried to make remarks at a vigil for the victims of a racially motivated shooting over the weekend.

Ju’Coby Pittman grabbed the microphone and told the audience, “it ain’t about parties today,” allowing the Republican presidential candidate to finish his remarks.

“I had no idea that the governor was coming. The emcee of the event for that day called him up. He was just only was supposed to have been acknowledged as being there,” Pittman told CNN.

The Sunday vigil was convened after three black people were shot and killed by a white man at a Dollar General store on Saturday afternoon.

“I wanted the audience to calm down because I wanted him to sit down and I wanted it to be the event that was for the residents and the community that had come together for unity,” she added.

Pittman underscored that she doesn’t “support any of the stances or policies that the governor has implemented.”

Some progressives pounced on DeSantis following the attack. For instance, Florida State Rep. Angie Nixon claimed the governor had “blood on his hands” after revelations emerged that the suspected shooter had white supremacist beliefs.

Despite the boos, DeSantis vowed that he was not going to “allow these institutions to be targeted by people.”

On Monday, he announced a $1 million grant to bolster security at Edward Waters University, historically black school where the shooter is believed to have gone first before moving on to the Dollar General store.

DeSantis also strongly condemned the hateful rampage.

“What he did is totally unacceptable in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said of the gunman. “We are not going to let people be targeted based on their race.”

Meanwhile DeSantis is grappling with a second crisis looming over the Sunshine State — Tropical Storm Idalia.

The storm is projected to turn into a Category 3 hurricane as soon as Monday and is forecast to make landfall Tuesday, according to experts and the National Weather Service.

DeSantis scrapped planned appearances at a pair of campaign events in South Carolina Monday and has begun marshaling resources in preparation for the storm.