Did Trump's Support Among Black Voters Just Skyrocket? Why the Jacksonville Killer Didn't Attack a College, 80% of Haitian Capital Under Gang Control
Plus, Ramaswamy rises, U.S. Infrastructure continues to collapse as major NYC water line breaks.
Hey, welcome to the Five.
Lets dive into the news!
[one]
The mass shooting over the weekend could have taken place at a college, rather than a retail location.
A White gunman who killed three Black people at a Jacksonville Dollar General store Saturday legally purchased the two firearms used in the racially motivated attack, local law enforcement confirmed.
The man, identified Sunday as 21-year-old Ryan Christopher Palmeter of Clay County, Fla., on Saturday drove to Edward Waters University, a historically Black college, but was refused entry, according to the school. He then drove to the nearby store, where he opened fire using an AR-15-style rifle inscribed with Nazi insignia, authorities said.
Police described a methodic rampage that lasted less than 11 minutes and killed Angela Michelle Carr, 52; Anolt Joseph Laguerre Jr., 19, a Dollar General employee; and Jerrald De’Shaun Gallion, 29.
Palmeter is thought to have acted alone and did not know the victims. Local law enforcement said that he “hated Black people” and left behind evidence that the attack was racially motivated. About 30 percent of Jacksonville’s 970,000 residents are Black.
Waters said during a Saturday news conference that Palmeter detailed a “disgusting ideology of hate” toward Black people in writings before the attack. The FBI’s Jacksonville office is investigating the shooting as a hate crime, the agency said in a statement posted on social media.
“The Justice Department is investigating this attack as a hate crime and an act of racially motivated violent extremism,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Sunday. He also extended condolences to “the loved ones of the victims and to the Jacksonville community as they mourn an unimaginable loss.”
Several media pundits online have pointed out two differences in this story and other recent mass shootings.
A. This is a pretty clear A/B test between a “hard” target (armed individuals on site—via campus security) and a “soft” one (victims were unarmed).
B. In the case of the Jacksonville slaying, the motive (white supremacy) was released immediately, which is quite different from the Nashville shooting at Covenant Christian School, where the trans-identifying shooter’s Manifesto is being held for at least a year, unless The Tennessean Newspaper wins a lawsuit to have the documents released.
The decision to release motive/documents (or not) lies in the hands of the local Sherriff, so we shouldn’t go dive deep into conspiracy theories here. The Columbine documents, seized in 1999, are sealed until 2027. It’s certainly possible that the late Nashville killer is being given special treatment due to identifying as trans, but there’s plenty of evidence that Sheriffs have held back manifestos as well.
[two]
The trend of black and Latino voters drifting away from being Democratic party stronghold groups may be expanding in Atlanta, where pro-Trump protests broke out due to the ex-President’s arrest.
The Atlanta Daily World reports:
In the hours leading to the historic arrest of Donald Trump, the scene at the Fulton County Jail became a spectacle that featured national news media, political arguments, a group of Black Trump supporters, and elements that showcased the country’s deep divide.
The excruciating Georgia heat did little to deter Trump supporters and opposers who baked in temperatures that reached nearly 100 degrees, waiting for a glimpse of the former president’s motorcade.
Traffic in the West Midtown community was at a standstill as authorities blocked several streets around the jail. To add to the confusion, the Atlanta Falcons hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Mercedes Benz Stadium, just a few blocks east of the Fulton County Jail.
Outside of the Fulton County Jail, a mixture of national media, Trump supporters and opposers, stood behind barricades.
A group infamously known as “Blacks for Trump” wore shirts with their logo and proclaimed their love for the four-time indicted president to anyone who would listen.
“I don’t believe half of the stuff they are saying about Trump,” said Dorthy Harp, a Black Trump supporter. “Why are they always trying to attack the man? It’s because he wants to run for president again.”
Several feet away from Harp, a Trump opposer held a sign that read, “Trump Will Die In Prison.” He spoke about the case against Trump by saying, “I think out of all of his indictments, this one should worry him the most. The indictment is a great explanation of how Trump and his team attempted to disenfranchise the voters in Georgia.”
There were other moments where Trump supporters and opposers yelled at each other, both seeking ways to state their case about his guilt or innocence.
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms spoke with media to share her thoughts about the case. Several clueless Trump supporters thought that the she was Fani Willis and began yelling, “lock her up!”
I won’t pretend to know where this goes…maybe nowhere.
But it’s foolish to try to assume the outcome of the next election based on the previous ones. The 2020 election was dramatically impacted by COVID and big tech’s suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story, and the 2016 election may have swung towards Trump, in part, due to the actions of the FBI opening up a case against Hillary Clinton.
In other words, what got us here probably won’t be the factor that determines the outcome of the 2024 election.
[three]
After last week’s very heated Republican Primary debate, Ron Desantis took another dive in the polls…and formerly unknown biotech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy jumped substantially, thanks to his fiery (and controversial) debate performance…and for his relentless schedule in Iowa, the first state to hold a primary in the 2024 election season.
At the conclusion of Vivek Ramaswamy’s second campaign stop here on Saturday – his sixth event out of eight over two days in Iowa – his staff rushed him towards their campaign bus. The businessman-turned-politician was late for a flight across the state to his next event. But as reporters and camera crews crowded the bus to see him off, Ramaswamy stopped and took time for questions.
It was hardly a new occurrence. He’d held impromptu press availabilities after nearly every event on this tour up to that point. More striking was that, nearly 72 hours after playing a starring role in Wednesday’s heated and highly combative Republican primary debate, he was still taking stock of the defining moment of his campaign thus far.
“I think it’s a major accomplishment that many people are able to pronounce my name now. That’s the true mark of a real milestone on this campaign,” Ramaswamy joked. “If we got there, anything’s possible.”
Ramaswamy’s ascent from political unknown to attention-grabbing insurgent has been one of the most unexpected developments of the Republican primary so far. The only candidate in the race with no previous role in public life, he became a central figure in the first primary debate, standing in the middle of the stage and receiving sharp attacks from several Republican rivals after pre-debate nationwide polls of Republican voters put him in third place behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump, who did not attend the event.
For many voters in Iowa, the debate was their introduction to the 38-year-old candidate. Some told CNN they came away intrigued, if not entirely convinced, by his message.
At this point, ANY candidate other than Trump for the nomination is an incredbily long shot, as Trump sits at 49.2%, compared to Desantis at 14.9% (and dropping), Ramaswamy at 10% (and rising), and a gaggle of also-rans sitting at 0-3%, hoping for a book deal or TV commentary gig for their efforts.
Source: FiveThirtyEight.
Have a though about a story in this issue? Drop a comment to be featured!
[four]
Well, this one is complicated.
A Christian group brought literal knives to a gunfight.
NPR reports:
A powerful gang opened fire Saturday on a large group of parishioners led by a pastor as they marched through a community armed with machetes to rid the area of gang members.
The attack was filmed in real time by journalists at the scene, and several people were killed and others injured, Marie Yolène Gilles, director of human rights group Fondasyon Je Klere, told The Associated Press.
She watched online as hundreds of people from a local church marched through Canaan, a makeshift town in the outskirts of the capital of Port-au-Prince founded by survivors who lost their homes in the devastating 2010 earthquake.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many people were killed and injured in the attack.
Canaan is controlled by a gang led by a man identified only as “Jeff,” who is believed to be allied with the “5 Seconds” gang.
Gangs have grown more powerful since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, and they are estimated to control up to 80 percent of Port-au-Prince.
I’m not sure how much I can add here, as it’s as it’s a horrible situation all the way around.
It’s beyond me why a local church thought they could go at violent murders…and win.
It’s also beyond me why we have sent 4x ($75 billion) of Haiti’s entire GDP ($20 billion) to Ukraine to sustain a war that likely could have been peacefully negotiated to an end if both sides.
Meanwhile, a neighboring nation just a two hour flight from Miami is languishing in a hellscape straight out of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy…and nobody seems to care.
[five]
And finally…America’s core continues to rot.
No, that’s not an opinion on the moral state of the nation…but a reflection of an aging infrastructure.
A 127-year-old water main under New York’s Times Square gave way early Tuesday, flooding midtown streets and the city’s busiest subway station.
The 20-inch (half-meter) water main gave way under 40th Street and Seventh Avenue at 3 a.m., said Rohit Aggarwala, commissioner of New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection.
The rushing water was only a few inches deep on the street, but videos posted on social media showed the flood cascading into the Times Square subway station down stairwells and through ventilation grates. The water turned the trenches that carry the subway tracks into mini rivers and soaked train platforms.
It took DEP crews about an hour to find the source of the leak and shut the water off, Aggarwala said.
The excavation left a big hole at the intersection of 40th Street and Seventh Avenue, where workers were digging with heavy equipment to get to the broken section of pipe.
While that intersection remained closed to car traffic, surrounding streets were open by rush hour.
This may seem like a one-off story, but the facts point to something far different. Over 70% of America’s power grid is more than 25 years old, and there is a water main break every two minutes in the U.S., dumping 6 billion gallons of water per year.
Oh, and our bridges are collapsing, with nearly 10% of U.S. bridges in “poor” condition (aka they could collapse).
And on that happy note, see you Friday for Culture & Commentary.
-sth