On the 60th Anniversary of King’s Speech... 3 Dead in 'Black Hate' Shooting

On the 26th (local time), a shooting occurred at a discount store in Jacksonville, Florida, USA, resulting in the deaths of three Black individuals, and the suspect also took his own life at the scene. Police have launched an investigation, viewing the mass shooting as a hate crime motivated by racial hatred.

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

According to local media including the AP News, the shooting took place around 2 p.m. at a Dollar General store, where two Black men and one Black woman were killed. The suspect, a white man in his 20s, is believed by police to have taken his own life after the attack.

The firearms used by the shooter included an AR-15 style rifle engraved with a symbol resembling the Nazi swastika (Hakenkreuz), and a Glock pistol. Police also reported that the perpetrator was wearing a bulletproof vest during the attack.

The Jacksonville sheriff held a press conference stating, "This shooting was motivated by racial factors," and added, "He hated Black people." It was found that the suspect had written several detailed manifestos expressing hatred toward Black people, addressed to the media, his parents, and judicial authorities before carrying out the attack.

The shooter drove from nearby Clay County and was seen on the campus of Edward Waters College, a prestigious historically Black college, before heading to the crime scene. The college issued a statement saying that the suspect, who appeared on campus shortly before the shooting, did not comply with a campus security officer’s request for identification and returned to his vehicle.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The incident was reported to U.S. President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, condemned the suspect, saying, "He chose the path of a coward," and added, "He targeted victims based on race, which is absolutely unacceptable."

The shooting occurred on the day when thousands of Black people gathered in Washington D.C. to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the "March on Washington" and to call for the end of racial discrimination. In August 1963, Black civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. led about 250,000 people in the march and delivered his historic speech, "I Have a Dream."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.