Ju’Coby Pittman bashes Ron DeSantis, ‘right-wing politicians’ after racist Jax shooting

After days of criticism, Jacksonville City Council member Ju’Coby Pittman explains why she called for “civility” when a crowd jeered Gov. Ron DeSantis at a local vigil.

And in the process, she’s repudiating the Governor, who made a rare trip into hostile territory in Jacksonville Sunday afternoon to offer words of comfort after yet another incident of racist violence became part of the city’s history.

Pittman, a Democrat, positioned herself Thursday with people who called for accountability for the Governor in the wake of a White man with swastikas on his rifle killing three people at a New Town Dollar General last weekend.

DeSantis promised Jacksonville residents that “help is on the way” after three Black people were killed by a White man at a Dollar General near Edward Waters University. He appropriated $1 million for security enhancements at the school and another $100,000 in aid for the victims’ families. But Pittman’s statement, released four days after the vigil, suggests his help wasn’t sought.

“Let me be clear. The perpetrator alone isn’t responsible for this tragedy,” Pittman writes. “It is also the armchair generals, extreme right-wing politicians who created policies for racists and gun-toting White supremacists to thrive.”

Pittman also repudiated DeSantis’ remarks, asserting she did not invite the Governor or request his presence.

“I did not invite him to speak, and I was not happy he chose to do so because it caused much disruption,” Pittman said.

“I do not support any policies that diminish our race and who we are as a people,” she added. “Nor do I support the Governor’s ideology of building political dynasties at our expense that hurts Black and Brown communities.”

After Pittman quieted the crowd, the Governor offered brief remarks, saying that a “major league scumbag (came) from Clay County up here” and that “what he did is totally unacceptable in the state of Florida.”

DeSantis vetoed budget appropriations from Rep. Angie Nixon, who represents the part of Jacksonville containing the university. His appropriations in the wake of the murders did not mollify her.

“For it to take murder for him to dig into his overflowing coffers is appalling,” Nixon said Monday afternoon, calling on DeSantis to “actively work toward undoing the racist system he’s helped uphold and grow.”

It seems Pittman is making a similar call, though only after days passed between the vigil and the statement on the Thursday before Labor Day Weekend.