JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Tempers flared over the weekend in an already tense environment as the New Town community came together for what was supposed to be a meeting focused on healing after a racially motivated triple shooting the previous weekend.
The Saturday event allowed city leaders such as City Councilwoman Ju’Coby Pittman, who’s over District 10, which is a predominately Black area, to hear concerns from residents from the broken community constantly shaken by violence.
The tension that led to an argument that spewed outside of the meeting on Saturday began at a prayer vigil that was held one day after three lives were lost in the shooting. Various city leaders, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters and Mayor Donna Deegan were in attendance at the vigil.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also made a stop in the city to attend the vigil as well. His visit wasn’t received well by everyone at the event as he was met by boos when he was introduced.
Pittman stepped in to speak to the crowd, stating, “We [are going to] put parties aside.”
DeSantis offered financial support for the victims’ families and Edward Waters University, which was the location where the gunman was caught on camera getting prepared for the shooting.
“If the governor wants to come here and he’s bringing gifts to my community, y’all know I’m taking the gifts,” Pittman said to the crowd at the vigil.
“What I meant by that was resources,” Pittman said on Monday. “The areas that I represent are African-American communities. Those communities have been left behind so many times.”
Pittman added her intent had nothing to do with supporting the governor but rather to keep politics out of a somber memorial where the governor wasn’t supposed to be called up to speak.
“First of all, I wasn’t aware the governor was coming. Maybe about an hour before and the governor was just supposed to be acknowledged in the audience. The individuals that were on the program to speak were myself, the mayor and the sheriff. Unfortunately, it was an honest mistake that was made. Someone accidentally called him up there and it was too late to turn around at that point,” Pittman said. “I was an emotional wreck myself about the situation that happened and dealing with the families and feeling what they were feeling. And unfortunately, the crowd was in the back and they were upset about what happened. I felt their pain but at the same time, it was really about the families. It was not intended to be about the governor.”
In the past week since the vigil, her response received a lot of criticism and backlash, prompting the councilwoman to release a statement.
At the community meeting, Pastor Dr. Stanley McAllister expressed frustration over the DeSantis incident, causing the argument between Pittman and the pastor.
“That’s inappropriate. What you did was minimize people whose hurt and their pain and their feelings. They have a right to feel. As a councilwoman, it wasn’t a good look. It wasn’t a good look because there are people that believe he is one of the people that’s pushing this agenda,” McAllister said.
Pittman said in no way were her comments about DeSantis an endorsement for the governor.
“Absolutely not. Some of the things that the governor or legislation has put into place has hurt African Americans, has wounded them,” Pittman said. “Whitewashed what our history should be. Unfortunately, by him being there, there is still anger. There are things going on in our community right now that they blame our governor for. This was not about the governor, it was my role to take control.”
McAllister told News4JAX on Saturday that he and another person were asked to leave when elected officials didn’t want to hear real concerns.
That’s when the heated argument made its way outside, and Pittman and McAllister were seen going back and forth.
Daniel Cronrath is a political science professor at Florida State College of Jacksonville. He said it’s a political reality that when a polarizing political figure like DeSantis shows up in a community where he may not be politically popular there can be fall out.
“It’s sad when you have victims and you have families of victims and a community that’s grieving and anything becomes unnecessarily politicized. But the reality is for individuals that are living in neighborhoods that have higher crime rates, this isn’t just politics. This a way of life. And they’ve been dealing with this a very long time, looking for help,” Cronrath said.