City Council member Rahman Johnson speaks about new anti-hate legislation with co-sponsor Reggie Gaffney Jr., left, on Monday, April 22, 2024. | Casmira Harrison, Jacksonville Today
Published on April 23, 2024 at 3:10 pm
Jacksonville city leaders gathered Monday just over a block from the Dollar General store where a racially motivated shooting killed three Black people in August.
Standing before a large wooden cross planted to remember Angela Michelle Carr, Anolt “AJ” Laguerre and Jerrald Gallion, City Council members announced legislation with enhanced fines and jail time for people who commit hate crimes.
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Six council members planned to file the bill Tuesday evening. Five of them assembled Monday to speak of its need.
Among them, Reggie Gaffney Jr. said the legislation declares a zero-tolerance stance on hate crime and antisemitism. Gaffney said he was happy to help file the legislation but also sad that three people had died.
He recalled swastikas projected on Downtown buildings in January.
“I’m sad because the hate sign had to be flashed on a public building for us to be here. I am sad because now I have friends who don’t feel safe in the city of Jacksonville,” Gaffney said. ” So what are we going to do? Where do we go from here? Do we just allow an event like this to happen, or (do we) we come together and create meaningful change? So today, I challenge everyone to love more, smile more and pay kindness forward.”
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Sen. Tracie Davis stood with City Council members and faith leaders as they called for anti-hate legislation. She said she was deeply affected by the shooting that took place a little over a thousand feet from where she stood.
“I’ve had my eyes glued to the Dollar General sign,” Davis said. “Coming back to this spot, it’s very emotional.”
For Rep. Angie Nixon, whose district was the site of the shooting, raw emotions surfaced again as she thanked those who filed the bill, which she called “a step in the right direction.”
“It is time that we stop with the racism, stop with the Islamophobia, stop with the antisemitism; stop with the ant-LBGTQ rhetoric and the anti-trans rhetoric, and really start coming together as a community,” Nixon said. “It does not matter who we love; it doesn’t matter who we worship; it doesn’t matter how much money we make or what color we are. We should all be afforded the opportunity to live happy, prosperous and safe.”
The nine-page bill is co-signed by Gaffney and fellow council members Jimmy Peluso, Ju’Coby Pittman, Rahman Johnson, Tyrona Clark-Murray and Matt Carlucci. It states that between 2020 and 2022, there has been a massive increase in hate crimes investigated and prosecuted in Florida, including 24 reported to the FBI by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
The complaints included a charter plane pulling a Confederate flag and banner last fall during Jacksonville Jaguars games. And in January, an antisemitic message was projected on the outside of TIAA Bank Field, onto a Downtown apartment building and later onto the headquarters of CSX.
In late January, City Council approved a bill that prohibits the projection of unauthorized signs or messages onto public or private buildings without the owner’s permission, a reaction to a string of antisemitic displays around Jacksonville. But the city’s codes fail to include enhanced penalties that can be imposed as a deterrent against commission of hate crime, so some council members have been working on ways to strengthen criminal penalties, Peluso said.
The new bill addresses several classes of crimes including noise, littering, disruption of public order, and unlawful signs and projections. It says fines or jail penalties under those ordinances can be tripled against anyone convicted of “expressing, or attempting to promote, animosity, hostility or malice against a person or persons or against the property” because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age or disability.
Peluso reminded everyone that the bill is filed 240 days after the triple shooting just a block from where the group stood Monday.
“This man’s racist and homophobic manifesto proved that hate was his motivations, and since those many weeks, my colleagues and I have been hard at work ensuring that something was done,” Peluso said. “Our communities have asked us, and we have finally answered that call. Today we are unveiling an anti-hate bill aimed at improving public safety and sending a message that hate has no home here in Jacksonville.”
After Monday’s news conference, Davis said she hopes the state Legislature can put forth a zero-tolerance stance on hate crimes as well.
“This legislation, it talks about zero tolerance. And that’s what this body that you see in front of you will be about — zero tolerance,” Davis said. “And everyone, just keep the family continually in your prayers. Their anxiety and their loss is nowhere near over.”
Public hearings on the bill are set for May 28.
Jacksonville Today reporter Casmira Harrison contributed to this report.
