On Saturday, a mentally disturbed man opened fire in Jacksonville, killing three black individuals in a racially motivated shooting. The local Sheriff took to the podium to confirm that various writings were found confirming his viewpoints and hatred. He also stressed that arguing about guns and political affiliations completely misses the point of what occurred.

It didn't take long, though, for partisans to ignore his calls to focus on the shooter who committed the crime. Networks like CNN decried that DeSantis didn't somehow teleport to the scene of the crime immediately (he arrived the next day to appear in person). Meanwhile, Democrat politicians chose to blame the governor, claiming he pushes "anti-black" policies. 

Now, the Associated Press has joined the fray with an absolutely disgusting article. 

Ron DeSantis scoffed when the NAACP issued a travel advisory this spring warning Black people to use “extreme care” if traveling to Florida.

Just three months later, DeSantis is leading his state through the aftermath of a racist attack that left three African Americans dead.…

— Steve Peoples (@sppeoples) August 29, 2023

Ron DeSantis scoffed when the NAACP issued a travel advisory this spring warning Black people to use “extreme care” if traveling to Florida. 

The leading civil rights group argued that the state’s loose gun laws and the Republican governor’s “anti-woke” campaign to deny the existence of systemic racism created a culture of “open hostility towards African Americans and people of color.” 

Just three months later, DeSantis is leading his state through the aftermath of a racist attack that left three African Americans dead. Black leaders in Florida — and across the nation — say they’re outraged by his actions and rhetoric ahead of the shooting.

You may remember the name Steve Peoples because he's the same reporter who wrote a false story about Ron DeSantis back in May. After receiving backlash, including video citations showing he lied, Peoples was forced to "update" his story. Apparently, he learned nothing and is back for more. 

Most notable in the piece is that while DeSantis' supposed "rhetoric" is blamed for the shooting, nowhere is any of that actual "rhetoric" cited. There are no examples given of what DeSantis has said that would somehow incite a racist to go kill black people. Instead, the article is simply full of generalized accusations put out by far-left partisans. 

The idea that the NAACP's "travel advisory" has somehow been vindicated is insane. How many black Americans have died between the time they put that farcical document out and this latest shooting? How many black Americans die every weekend in major Democrat-led cities in blue states? Why are there no travel advisories for those areas? The answer is that the NAACP was looking to make a political statement, not actually help anyone. Florida's crime rate is lower than the national average, and black Americans are not at any actual higher statistical risk within the state. A single shooting does not change that. 

Regardless, it didn't take long for conservatives to start ripping Peoples' apart for his platforming of misleading, ghoulish claims.

That was some garbage. Wow. You failed to mention any of the "rhetoric" that led to this shooting and you spelled hurricane wrong. Scoffing at the far left NAACP is the right thing to do.

— Karol Markowicz (@karol) August 29, 2023

If you read the underlying story, @sppeoples doesn't give a single example of DeSantis's "rhetoric" that contributed to the problem. And he relies on DeSantis's Democrat political opponents who only characterize DeSantis's statements, without actual examples. https://t.co/fTbdOEYm9i

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) August 29, 2023

It's been said before, but this needs to stop. It is not DeSantis' fault that a crazy man with no mainstream political views did something evil. It is also not the fault of the Republican Party as a whole. These kinds of accusations only fly when a shooter can be forced into some right-wing caricature. When it's a far-left transgender shooter killing six people in Nashville, the Associated Press doesn't do this. Enough.