Joe Biden declares 'white supremacy has no place' in US as Florida mourns racist killings

US President Joe Biden squashed white supremacist beliefs on Sunday in remarks following a deadly shooting in Florida that claimed the lives of three Black people. The 80-year-old declared that “white supremacy has no place in America," adding that the nation must not remain silent on racially-motivated atrocities. 

“We must refuse to live in a country where Black families going to the store or Black students going to school live in fear of being gunned down because of the color of their skin. Hate must have no safe harbor. Silence is complicity and we must not remain silent," Biden said in a statement issued by the White House. 

DeSantis condemns killings

On Saturday, a white man carrying a high-powered rifle and a handgun while wearing a  tactical vest and mask opened fire at a store, killing two men and one woman before ultimately shooting himself. The Federal Bureau of Investigation identified the rampage as a hate crime after officials deduced that it was racially motivated. 

Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, branded the killer a “hateful lunatic” who had previously been turned away from a historically Black college or university (HBCU) campus. “We will not allow HBCUs to be targeted," he said on Sunday, according to The Guardian. 

Who were the victims and the perpetrator involved in the Florida shooting? 

The victims of the shooting were identified as 52-year-old  Angela Michelle Carr, 19-year-old Anolt Joseph “AJ” Laguerre Jr and 29-year-old Jerrald De’Shaun Gallion. 21-year-old Ryan Christopher Palmeter was named as the assailant who left a suicide note at his parents' residence in a suburb of Jacksonville before unleashing the attack. 

Sherri Onks, special agent in charge of the Jacksonville FBI office, revealed that a civil rights investigation has been opened as the agency continues to prioritise hate crimes. “Hate crimes are always and will always remain a top priority for the FBI because they are not only an attack on a victim, they’re also meant to threaten and intimidate an entire community,” Onks said.