South Daytona, Florida –-(Ammoland.com)-At least 4 bullets were fired through the windows of the Volusia County Republican headquarters late Sunday night or early Monday morning.
At the time of the shooting, no one was in the building. Workers arrived Monday morning to find the windows shot out of the South Daytona building. The shooting happened on the same day that gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis was scheduled to visit the location.
“I’m angry. I’m mad — I mean Ron DeSantis is coming here today. I don’t know if they are trying to send a message to Ron, but I’ve notified the campaign that we’ve had this incident here,” Tony Ledbetter, Volusia County Republican Chair told WFTV, the local ABC affiliate.
South Daytona Police are investigating the incident that left shattered glass on the sidewalk of the Nova Fountain strip mall according to Police Captain Mark Cheatham. Police will step up patrols around the area to prevent a repeat of the shooting incident.
There is a tightly contested race for the Governors seat in Florida between Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum. The incumbent Republican Governor Rick Scott is in his second term and cannot run again due to term limitations in Florida.
Political violence is on the rise across the country. In 2017 James Hodgkinson, who was a radical leftist, shot up a Congressional softball practice. The shooting ended in the wounding Republican Congressman Steve Scalise. Earlier this year the Republican Party office in Laramie, Wyoming was set on fire.
Republican workers believe that this attack was politically motivated. The shooter did not shoot up any neighboring businesses. Both Democrats and Republicans have condemned the attack.
“Glad everyone at the Volusia County Republican headquarters is okay and that no one was inside when the shooting happened. Violence of any kind does not belong in our state and I appreciate law enforcement’s quick response to keep these Floridians safe,” Governor Rick Scott said in a Tweet.
Democratic State Representative Patrick Henry emailed out a statement that read:
“After one of the deadliest and most violent weeks in America, I’m disheartened and angry to learn that shots were fired at a Republican Party office in my district.”
The Florida Democratic Party did not share Henry’s sentiment. They seemed to deflect any idea that it was a Democrat that lashed out at the Republican’s headquarters.
“Our reaction is it’s appalling,” Jewel Dickson, the Volusia Democratic Party chair said of the shooting. “It’s a sign of things going wrong. I would not be quick to blame a Democrat for doing that. It could be anybody angry.”
Police are checking security camera from surrounding business to see if they can find any identifiable information about the shooter or shooters. Police are also asking for any witnesses to come forward with any knowledge of who did the shooting.
Police could charge the perpetrators of the shooting of a hate crime. Committing a crime in Florida against someone for political reasons is considered a hate crime under the law .
Police do not have any suspects at this time but are asking anyone with information to come forward.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on leftist deplatforming methods and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, on Facebook at realjohncrump, or at www.crumpy.com.