(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s decision last Thursday to publish Donald Trump’s mugshot resulted in black people showing an outpouring of support for the former president, who’s widely perceived as a victim of a politically motivated Justice Department.
The more he is persecuted by the government, the more he is loved by the people. pic.twitter.com/Cwj37Ou7fP
— Dr. Benjamin Braddock (@GraduatedBen) August 25, 2023
But the moment of racial harmony was interrupted less than 48 hours later, with alleged white supremacist Ryan Palmeter gunning down three black people in Jacksonville, Florida.
Despite Trump’s support among black voters having nearly tripled from 2020—due in large part, no doubt, to poverty rates among blacks skyrocketing under Joe Biden after seeing all-time highs in employment under Trump—racial grifters were quick to blame the MAGA movement for Saturday’s tragedy.
One such grifter, the president of NAACP’s Jacksonville chapter, Isaiah Rumlin, explicitly called for the DOJ to investigate Trump supporters over the shooting.
“I think the federal government and the Justice Department are going to have to do a better job exercising [sic] exactly where these hate groups exist,” Rumlin said Monday on CNN.
“We see these confederate signs and the Trump signs constantly on our streets, and we know from that standpoint there’s hatred and we’re just going to have to deal with it,” he said.
“And the Justice Department needs to be here today, looking into it.”
It’s not clear exactly what Rumlin would like the DOJ to do, as the interview ended abruptly after his call for federal intervention.
In any event, information is already trickling out that undermines the narrative that Palmeter was motivated by MAGA.
For starters, even mainstream media are acknowledging Palmeter’s mental health issues—something typical of nearly every mass shooter, regardless of ideology.
Palmeter, 21, had been involved in a 2016 domestic violence incident that did not lead to an arrest, and was involuntarily committed for a 72-hour mental health examination the following year. He used two guns—a Glock handgun and an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle—which authorities said were purchased legally earlier this year.
Skeptics have further noted that Palmeter’s parents are registered Democrats.
The father of another allegedly white supremacist shooter, Buffalo’s Payton Gendron’s was a card-carrying Democrat, too—though this turned out to be a minor detail in Gendron’s case, as it was later revealed that he may have been manipulated by at least one “former” federal agent he was talking to minutes before his shooting spree.
Others raised red flags about the timing of the shooting. Along with immediately following Trump’s mugshot, it also comes months the NAACP warned in May that “Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.”
Still others wondered about Palmeter’s lack of social media presence—odd for most young people, yet alone a supposed white supremacist, who are typically radicalized online.
Despite the unanswered questions and possible counters to the quickly developing narrative about Palmeter, the FBI is nevertheless investigating his shooting spree as a racially motivated hate crime—citing the “manifestos” he allegedly left behind as the reason for this.
Meanwhile, authorities have yet to release the manifesto of transgender killer Audrey Hale, who murdered six Christians, including three children, in March.
Luckily for those who want the facts over anti-Trump spin on Saturday’s tragic event, Sheriff T.K. Waters has pushed back against the grifting—racial and otherwise.
Speaking at a Sunday press conference, Waters acknowledged Palmeter’s white supremacism, but didn’t attribute that as the main factor. Rather, it was the 21-year-old’s deranged psychology, according to Waters, who is a black man.
“Plainly put, this shooting was racially motivated, and he hated Black people. He wanted to kill n—,” he said, latter adding, “The manifesto is, quite frankly, the diary of a madman.”
Waters also pushed back against the gun-control narrative, much to the delight of conservatives and other Second Amendment supporters.
We’re thankful for the leadership of Sheriff Waters in Florida this weekend.⁰⁰And he’s absolutely right, the problem is the individual. Wicked people will always do wicked things.
— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) August 28, 2023
“If I could take my gun off right now, and I lay it on this counter, nothing will happen. It’ll sit there—but as soon as wicked person grabs ahold of that handgun and starts shooting people with it—there’s the problem,” the sheriff said.
“The problem is the individual.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
