International

A white man fatally shoots 3 Black people at a Florida store in a hate crime, then kills himself

Published

3 years ago

August 27, 2023

Law enforcement officers investigate the scene of a mass shooting at a Dollar General store Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux) The Associated Press

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A masked white man fatally shot three Black people inside a Jacksonville, Florida, Dollar General store in a predominately African-American neighborhood on Saturday, in an attack where he used a gun painted with a swastika, officials said.

The shooter, who had also posted racist writings, then killed himself.

Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters told a news conference that the attack that left two men and one woman dead was definitely “racially motivated.”

“He hated Black people,” Waters said after reviewing the man’s writings, which were sent to federal law enforcement officials and at least one media outlet shortly before the attack. He added that the gunman acted alone and “there is absolutely no evidence the shooter is part of any larger group.”

Waters said the shooter, who was in his 20s, used a Glock handgun and an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle with at least one of them painted with a swastika. He was wearing a bullet-resistant vest. He said the shooter had once been involved in a 2016 domestic violence incident and was once involuntarily committed to a mental hospital for examination. He did not provide further details on those incidents.

Officials didn’t immediately release the names of the victims or the shooter.

The sheriff said the gunman had left behind in his writings evidence that leads investigators to believe that he committed the shooting because it was the fifth anniversary of when another gunman opened fire during a video game tournament in Jacksonville, killing two people before fatally shooting himself.

The shooting happened just before 2 p.m. at a Dollar General about three-quarters of a mile from Edward Waters University, a small historically Black university.

In a statement, the university said that shortly before the shooting, one of its security officers saw the man near the school’s library and asked him to identify himself. When he refused, he was asked to leave. The man returned to his car.

Sheriff Waters said the man was spotted putting on his vest and mask before leaving. He said it is unknown if he had originally planned to attack the school.

“I can’t tell you what his mindset was while he was there, but he did go there,” the sheriff said.

The shooter had driven to Jacksonville from neighboring Clay County, where he lived with his parents, the sheriff said. That house was being searched late Saturday.

Shortly before the attack, the shooter sent his father a text message telling him to check his computer. The father found the writings and the family notified 911, but the shooting had already begun, Sheriff Waters said.

“This is a dark day in Jacksonville’s history. There is no place for hate in this community,” the sheriff said. “I am sickened by this cowardly shooter’s personal ideology.” He said the investigation will continue. The FBI was helping the sheriff’s office and said it had opened a hate crime investigation.

Mayor Donna Deegan said she is “heartbroken.”

“This is a community that has suffered again and again. So many times this is where we end up,” Deegan said. “This is something that should not and must not continue to happen in our community.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis, after speaking by phone with the sheriff, called the shooter a “scumbag” and denounced his racist motivation.

“This guy killed himself rather than face the music and accept responsibility for his actions. He took the coward’s way out,” said DeSantis, who was in Iowa campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination.

Both President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland were briefed on the shooting, officials said.

Dollar General’s corporate office said in a statement that the company was supporting its Jacksonville employees “as we work closely with law enforcement.”

Virginia Bradford lives in the neighborhood of modest brick and cinder block houses near the store. She frequently shops at the Dollar General, and said she meant to go there Saturday for detergent and bleach, but got sidetracked by other plans.

“That’s my store,” Bradford told reporters, looking past patrol cars with flashing lights blocking the street to the store a block away. “I know everyone in the store. It’s sad.”

Unsettled by the racist killings, Bradford, who is Black, said she doubts she’ll ever go back.

“I won’t even send my kids up there anymore,” she said. “My nerves are bad.”

Penny Jones told The Associated Press in a phone interview that she worked at the store, located a few blocks away from her home, until a few months ago.

“I’m just waiting to hear about my co-workers that I used to work with,” Jones said. “I don’t know if it’s safe to move about the neighborhood.”

Jones added that she was “feeling awkward, scared.”

Rudolph McKissick, a national board member of the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, was in Jacksonville on Saturday when the shooting occurred.

“As it began to unfold, and I began to see the truth of it, my heart ached on several levels,” said McKissick, who is a Baptist bishop and senior pastor of the Bethel Church in Jacksonville.

The neighborhood of the shooting is known as Newton. “It’s a Black neighborhood, and what we don’t want is for it to be painted in some kind of light, that it is filled with plight, violence and decadence,” McKissick said.

The shooting took place within hours of the conclusion of a commemorative March on Washington in the nation’s capital, where organizers drew attention to the growing threat of hate-motivated violence against people of color.

Reached by The Associated Press on Saturday evening, march attendee and Jacksonville native Marsha Dean Phelts said learning of the shooting was “a death blow.”

“It hurts,” Phelts said by phone while on a charter bus home from Washington. Many fellow bus riders began hearing about the deadly shooting in their community, just before they all boarded to make the long journey back, she said.

“It’s a neighborhood, a Black community that we come out of,” said Phelts, 79, who is Black. “It’s where our college is, Edward Waters University.”

LaTonya Thomas, 52, who also was riding a charter bus from the march home to Jacksonville, said she wouldn’t allow the shooting to completely dampen her spirits. But she did feel sadness.

“We took this long journey from Jacksonville, Florida, to be a part of history,” she said. “When I was told that there was a white shooter in a predominantly Black area, I felt like that was a targeted situation.”

The attack on a shopping center in a predominately Black neighborhood will undoubtedly evoke fears of past shootings targeting Black Americans, like the one at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket in 2022, and one at a historic African Methodist Episcopal church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.

The Buffalo supermarket shooting, in particular, stands apart as one of the deadliest targeted attacks on Black people by a white lone gunman in U.S. history. Ten people were killed by the gunman, who has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The shooting happened one day before the 63rd anniversary of one of Jacksonville’s most notorious racist incidents, “Ax Handle Saturday.” A group of Black protesters were conducting a peaceful sit-in at a city park to protest the Jim Crow laws that kept them out of white-owned stores and restaurants. That’s when they were attacked by 200 members of the Ku Klux Klan, who hit them with bats and ax handles as police stood by.

Only when members of a Black street gang arrived to fight the Klansmen did the police intercede. Only Black people were arrested. (ABC News)

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International

Thousands flee South Africa as anti-immigrant deadline sparks nationwide protests

Published

2 weeks ago

July 1, 2026

Advocate News Nigeria

/10] Anti-immigrant marchers walk through the streets of Johannesburg on the day of an unofficial deadline set by anti-immigrant groups for all undocumented migrants to leave, in Johannesburg, South Africa, June 30. REUTERS/Oupa Nkosi Purchase Licensing Rights

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Thousands of people marched Tuesday in cities across South Africa to demand the departure of undocumented foreign nationals after a weeks-long campaign that has sent thousands fleeing and claimed four lives.

Protesters gesture towards people they believe to be undocumented foreign nationals while marching during a demonstration by the “March and March” and Operation Dudula movements marking an unofficial deadline set by citizen-led groups for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa, in Johannesburg, on June 30, 2026. Thousands of demonstrators massed across South African cities on June 30, 2026, venting anger at undocumented foreign nationals as police mounted a major operation to head off looting and xenophobic violence that has claimed four lives. The nationwide protests cap weeks of demonstrations called by a loose coalition of minor political parties and small citizen-led vigilante groups, which set an unofficial June 30 deadline for foreigners without residency papers to leave. (Photo by EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP)

Police were out in force for the nationwide protests which capped a campaign of demonstrations led by citizen-led vigilante groups that set an unofficial June 30 deadline for foreigners without papers to leave.

There were isolated reports of looting, stone-throwing and confrontation, including near Johannesburg where security forces escorted a handful of foreign nationals away from a mob brandishing large sticks.

Crowds of demonstrators moved through the centre of the city, South Africa’s financial capital, where most shops were shuttered, workers stayed home, and transport hubs were quiet.

Protesters, some wearing traditional Zulu attire, chant slogans as they gather during a demonstration by the “March and March” and Operation Dudula movements marking an unofficial deadline set by citizen-led groups for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa, in Johannesburg, on June 30, 2026. South African police deployed to head off unrest and protests on June 30, 2026, the unofficial deadline set by anti-immigrant groups for undocumented foreign nationals to leave that has already pushed thousands to flee. Officers were out in force to prevent violence and looting by the xenophobic groups, while hundreds of foreign nationals took refuge in several cities, urgently seeking help to leave. (Photo by EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP)

They waved flags and placards, watched by police in bulletproof jackets and riot helmets.

In the southeastern city of Durban, the Zulu heartland, protesters turned out in traditional warrior attire, carrying spears, whips and shields and some draped in leopard skins.

Protesters throw rocks at a building while marching with others during a demonstration by the “March and March” and Operation Dudula movements marking an unofficial deadline set by citizen-led groups for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa, in Johannesburg, on June 30, 2026. Thousands of demonstrators massed across South African cities on June 30, 2026, venting anger at undocumented foreign nationals as police mounted a major operation to head off looting and xenophobic violence that has claimed four lives. The nationwide protests cap weeks of demonstrations called by a loose coalition of minor political parties and small citizen-led vigilante groups, which set an unofficial June 30 deadline for foreigners without residency papers to leave. (Photo by EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP)

A resident waves a South African flag in support as protesters march during a demonstration by the “March and March” and Operation Dudula movements marking an unofficial deadline set by citizen-led groups for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa, in Johannesburg, on June 30, 2026. Thousands of demonstrators massed across South African cities on June 30, 2026, venting anger at undocumented foreign nationals as police mounted a major operation to head off looting and xenophobic violence that has claimed four lives. The nationwide protests cap weeks of demonstrations called by a loose coalition of minor political parties and small citizen-led vigilante groups, which set an unofficial June 30 deadline for foreigners without residency papers to leave. (Photo by EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP)

Demonstrator Brightness Gumbi, 48, said she was frustrated at not being able to afford to rent a premises for her business while foreign nationals were able to run shops.

Members of the Zulu regiment known as the Amabutho chant slogans as they march during a demonstration by the “March and March” movement marking an unofficial deadline set by citizen-led groups for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa, in Durban, on June 30, 2026. Thousands of demonstrators massed across South African cities on June 30, 2026, venting anger at undocumented foreign nationals as police mounted a major operation to head off looting and xenophobic violence that has claimed four lives. The nationwide protests cap weeks of demonstrations called by a loose coalition of minor political parties and small citizen-led vigilante groups, which set an unofficial June 30 deadline for foreigners without residency papers to leave. (Photo by RAJESH JANTILAL / AFP)

“The illegal foreigners manage to pay it because they sell drugs to our people,” she told AFP. “I hope through these demonstrations our president will hear our cries and enforce stricter laws.”

Protesters gather outside a building they believe is occupied by undocumented foreign nationals during a demonstration by the “March and March” and Operation Dudula movements marking an unofficial deadline set by citizen-led groups for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa, in Johannesburg, on June 30, 2026. Thousands of demonstrators massed across South African cities on June 30, 2026, venting anger at undocumented foreign nationals as police mounted a major operation to head off looting and xenophobic violence that has claimed four lives. The nationwide protests cap weeks of demonstrations called by a loose coalition of minor political parties and small citizen-led vigilante groups, which set an unofficial June 30 deadline for foreigners without residency papers to leave. (Photo by EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP)

In tourist magnet Cape Town, only about 100 people joined a march through the city centre, passing a counterprotest against Afrophobia and xenophobia.

– ‘Mass deportation’-

One of the continent’s wealthiest countries, South Africa is a magnet for migrant labour while grappling with an unemployment rate above 30 percent, high crime and a breakdown in services in many areas.

Groups mobilising against illegal immigrants say they take jobs and services from locals, claims that analysts say is unfairly scapegoating foreign nationals for government failures.

“South Africans have been replaced by illegal foreigners, increasing unemployment,” the leader of the anti-immigrant March and March group, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, told a crowd in Durban.

“We want mass deportation,” she said. “For the next six months we want the government to get rid of the people who have not left.”

At least two Mozambicans, an Ethiopian and a Malawian have been killed in the latest outburst of anti-immigrant violence, according to police.

Several African governments — including Nigeria, Malawi, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique — have organised voluntary repatriation flights and buses for their citizens.

South Africa has seen previous flare-up of violence targeting undocumented foreign nationals, but this is the first time governments have simultaneously organised repatriations.

More than 25,000 people had been processed for departure in recent weeks, authorities said Monday.

– ‘I’m scared’ –

As the protests unfolded in several cities, hundreds of migrants — mostly Malawians and Zimbabweans — gathered in Cape Town, Johannesburg and other centres, waiting for assistance to go home.

Some said their landlords had evicted them or their employers had fired them, fearing fines from officials or attacks by vigilante groups.

“The people in South Africa, they don’t want us here. I’m scared,” said a 23-year-old Zimbabwean woman, who asked to remain anonymous, where around 2,000 people were waiting for buses.

Only a few dozen Malawians remained at a site in Durban from where several thousand had been bused out in recent days, either taken back to their country or to a processing site near the border with Zimbabwe.

“I thought I could stay on but neighbours warned us last night,” 32-year-old Adam John told AFP. “I felt that it is better to try and get home while I still can.”

– ‘Weaponised’ –

Concerned about a repeat of unrest five years ago when around 350 people were killed in days of looting and riots, the government put in place a massive security deployment for Tuesday’s mobilisation.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced stepped-up government plans to combat illegal immigration and called on traditional leaders to use their “standing to calm tensions”.

Coming ahead of local government elections in November, the anti-migrant push has been “politically weaponised”, labour analyst Dale McKinley said.

Previous anti-foreigner riots in South Africa have proved deadly. In 2008, violence left 62 people dead.

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International

$300bn reconstruction aid, sanctions lift’ – US-Iran MoU details emerge

Published

4 weeks ago

June 17, 2026

Advocate News Nigeria

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The following is the text of the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding, as read out by a senior US official to reporters on Wednesday:

“The United States of America and Islamic Republic of Iran have jointly agreed in good faith on (a date yet to be determined, the official said), on the following:

“Paragraph 1 – The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran and their allies in the current war, by signing this MOU, declare an immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and undertake from now on not to initiate any war or any military operation against each other and to refrain from the threat or use of force against each other, and ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon. The final deal will confirm the permanent termination of the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and other provisions of this paragraph.

“Paragraph 2 – The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran undertake to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and to refrain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs.

“Paragraph 3 – The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran commit to negotiating and achieving the final deal in maximum 60 days extendable with mutual consent.

“Paragraph 4 – Immediately upon the signing of this MOU, the United States of America will begin the removal of its naval blockade and any disturbances or impediments against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and will fully end the naval blockade within 30 days. During this period, the traffic of vessels will be in proportion to the numbers of pre-war traffic being restored by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States of America further undertakes to remove its forces from the proximity of the Islamic Republic of Iran within 30 days after the final deal.

“Paragraph 5 – Upon the signing of this MOU, the Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days only, from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman, and vice versa. The traffic of commercial vessels will immediately start, and considering the need for removing the technical and military obstacles, and de-mining by the Islamic Republic of Iran, will be instated within 30 days. The Islamic Republic of Iran will conduct dialogue with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz, in discussion with other Persian Gulf littoral states, in line with the applicable international law and the sovereign rights of coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz.

“Paragraph 6 – The United States of America undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive mutually agreed plan with at least USD 300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The mechanism for the implementation of this plan will be finalized as part of a final deal within 60 days. All required licenses, waivers, and permissions needed for the relevant financial transactions will be granted by the United States of America.

“Paragraph 7 – The United States of America undertakes to terminate all types of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the United Nations Security Council resolutions, IAEA Board of Governors resolutions, and all unilateral US sanctions, primary and secondary, in an agreed-upon schedule as part of the final deal. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America acknowledge the critical importance of the sanctions termination issue above mentioned, and express their intentions to immediately address these issues in the negotiations in order to achieve mutual agreement on them.

“Paragraph 8 – The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran have agreed to resolve the disposition of stockpiled enriched material pursuant to a mechanism that will be mutually agreed upon in accordance with the schedule mentioned in Paragraph 7, with the minimum methodology to be down-blending on site under the supervision of the IAEA. The two parties also agreed to discuss the issue of enrichment and other mutually agreed matters related to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear needs, based on a satisfactory framework being agreed upon in the final deal. The final deal will confirm the provisions of this paragraph. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran acknowledge the critical importance of the nuclear issues above mentioned, and express their intention to immediately address these issues in the negotiation in order to achieve mutual agreement on them.

“Paragraph 9 – Pending the final deal, the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran agree to maintain the status quo. The Islamic Republic of Iran will maintain the current status quo of its nuclear program, and the United States of America will not impose any new sanctions, and will not deploy additional forces in the region.

“Paragraph 10 – The United States of America undertakes that immediately upon the signing of this MOU, and until the termination of sanctions, US Department of Treasury will issue waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products and derivatives, and all associated services, including banking transactions, insurances, transportation, etc.

“Paragraph 11 – The United States of America undertakes to make fully available for use the frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran upon the implementation of this MOU. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran will mutually agree on the procedures related to the release of these funds during the negotiations. Such funds, whether retained in the original account or transferred, shall be made fully usable for payment to any ultimate beneficiary designated by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States of America undertakes to issue all necessary licenses and authorizations accordingly.

“Paragraph 12 – The United States of America and Islamic Republic of Iran agree that an executive mechanism will be established to monitor the successful implementation of this MOU and the future compliance of the final deal.

“Paragraph 13 – After signing this MOU and subject to the beginning of the implementation of Paragraphs 1, 4, 5, 10 and 11 of this MOU, and the continuing implementation of these measures, the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran will start negotiations regarding the final deal exclusively on the other paragraphs.

“Paragraph 14 – The final deal will be endorsed by a binding UNSC resolution.”

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International

Iran threatens retaliation, says US strikes violated ceasefire

Published

2 months ago

May 26, 2026

Advocate News Nigeria

US President Donald Trump

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Iran’s foreign ministry on Tuesday accused the United States of violating a fragile ceasefire during the past 48 hours in the southern coastal province of Hormozgan, without specifying the incident.

The accusation comes after US Central Command said its forces had on Monday attacked missile sites and boats in southern Iran that were trying to lay mines in the Gulf, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it fired at US aircraft trying to enter its airspace.

“The US terrorist army, continuing its illegal and unjustified actions since the ceasefire… has, in the past 48 hours, committed a gross violation of the ceasefire in the Hormozgan region,” the Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement.

It added that Tehran “will not leave any evil unanswered and will not hesitate to defend the Iranian nation,” without elaborating.

Tuesday’s statement came as a top Iranian delegation was in Qatar for talks as part of a “diplomatic process” aimed at ending the war with the United States, which broke out on February 28