DeSantis silent on shooting in Hollywood on Memorial Day
Other elected leaders have spoken out while governor campaigns for president
Gov. Ron DeSantis, on the presidential campaign trail in Iowa, hasn’t publicly commented on the Memorial Day shooting in which nine people were wounded on Hollywood beach in his home state.
He did speak by phone with the city’s mayor, Josh Levy, about 24 hours after the shooting — shortly before he went on stage in Clive, Iowa, for the “kickoff ” of his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
DeSantis’ office disclosed the 6:30 p.m. phone call when it distributed a list of his official activities for the day at 10:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Besides the phone call with Levy, two other items were on the schedule: a call with the state Elections Canvassing Commission and a meeting with his chief of staff. At 8:44 p.m., his office said DeSantis had signed three bills into law that day.
As of early Wednesday afternoon, there was nothing on DeSantis’ Twitter or Facebook pages about the Monday shooting, though he did post on Tuesday that he had signed legislation aimed at expanding access to music education for students from kindergarten through second grade. “We believe music education plays an important role in a child’s development, and we will continue to ensure our students receive a well-rounded education,” he said.
The governor’s press office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday about the Levy phone call or whether DeSantis had made any public statement about the shooting.
He had three scheduled campaign events in Iowa on Wednesday, and has campaign stops in New Hampshire on Thursday and South Carolina on Friday. Those are the first three states on the Republican presidential nominating calendar.
Other top elected officials were quicker to express their concern.
“My heart aches for the victims of the shooting on Hollywood Beach. It’s another act of senseless gun violence, a public health crisis that must be addressed. Hoping for full recoveries for those injured. I’ve been in communication with Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy and offered my full support for anything the city may need,” U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz posted on Twitter less than three hours after the incident.
The Broward Democrat’s district includes the location where the shooting took place.
On Tuesday morning, U.S. Sen. Rick
Scott, R-Fla., posted that he was “Heartbroken and angry to see this senseless violence. I just spoke with the mayor and police chief and will continue monitoring the situation. Please join Ann and me in praying for the Hollywood, Florida, community and the families impacted.”
Scott, who was DeSantis’ predecessor for two terms, was governor when Florida experienced two massacres, the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where 17 people were killed, and the 2016 shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in which a gunman killed 49 people.
Levy said he was grateful for the support from a range of elected officials, including the governor.
He said the shooting isn’t the kind of an issue that should be viewed through a partisan lens. “Responding to crime is not a red or a blue issue,” he said in a telephone interview.
Levy said the governor’s office had called him early Tuesday afternoon to tell him DeSantis would be phoning. “I did not feel the governor’s call was late. It was less than 24 hours after the incident and his office called earlier in the day as well. I appreciate his personal outreach,” he added later via text message.
Levy said DeSantis asked if there was anything he could do or the state could assist with. Levy said he told DeSantis that the city police chief had informed him that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was participating in the investigation from the beginning.
“And then we discussed briefly the details of what took place and he offered if there was anything else that he could do to let him know,” he said.
Levy said he “appreciates the support and partnership that our city gets from county, state and federal agencies, and officials, and I always appreciate the outreach and I know that they’re always there to help.” The mayor said calls offering assistance came from from Broward Mayor Lamar Fisher; State Attorney Harold Pryor; state Sen. Jason Pizzo and state Reps. Hillary Cassel and Marie Woodson; and mayors of nearby cities.
He said the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs offered assistance on behalf of President Joe Biden and the office of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., also reached out.
U.S. Reps. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Lois Frankel and Frederica Wilson, all South Florida Democrats, all posted statements concern and condemnations of what Cherfilus-McCormick called “senseless gun violence.” As of mid-afternoon Wednesday, Rubio hasn’t posted about the shooting.
As a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, DeSantis’ actions as governor face heightened scrutiny — and criticism from political opponents.
About four hours after the shooting on Monday evening, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, a Democrat who has been critical of DeSantis and is widely seen as a potential presidential candidate in the figure, reacted on Twitter.
Newsom criticized DeSantis for signing a law that eliminates the requirement for people to get a state permit to go through a firearms training class and get a permit before carrying a concealed weapon, arguing it would increase the chances of shootings like the one at Hollywood beach.
“DeSantis signed a permit-less carry bill in April that removes requirements for: -background checks -instruction -training+oversight,” Newsom wrote. “Until our leaders have the courage to stop bowing down to the NRA and enact common sense gun safety this kind of senseless violence will continue.”
Within 15 minutes, DeSantis press secretary Jeremy Redfern responded on Twitter, rejecting Newsom’s reaction. “Hi Gavin, How does a law that doesn’t take effect until July 1st change this outcome?”
When the Fort Lauderdale area was inundated with historic rains in mid-April, DeSantis was at political events in Ohio as he was preparing to make his presidential campaign official.
After Donald Trump Jr., son of the former president who is the frontrunner for the 2024 presidential nomination, tweeted criticism that “Fort Lauderdale is under water and DeSantis is campaigning in Ohio right now instead of taking care of the people suffering in his state,” the governor called three Broward county officials.
He returned to April, DeSantis was at political events in Ohio. He returned to Florida at night, and held a private event with supporters to sign a new law expanding the state’s prohibition on most abortions. The next day he flew to Virginia and New Hampshire for more political events.
State agencies provided assistance, but DeSantis never personally visited the scene in Broward County.
A detailed, preliminary state assessment of damage from the historic April 12-13 flooding reported more than $100 million of damage, “major damage” to almost 1,100 homes, and hundreds of temporary and permanent layoffs by affected businesses.
Democrats strongly criticized DeSantis’ absence, but the governor’s office pointed to the presence of Kevin Guthrie, director of the state emergency management agency, in Broward.