Eminem and Machine Gun Kelly were named as targets by a man who shot and killed three Black people at a store in Jacksonville, Florida over the weekend.
21-year-old Ryan Palmeter murdered two men, Anolt Joseph “AJ” Laguerre Jr (19) and Jerrald Gallion (29), and one woman, Angela Michelle Carr (52), at a Dollar General on Saturday (August 26) before turning the gun on himself.
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In writings reviewed by Rolling Stone, the shooter stated his desire to kill both Eminem and MGK in racist and homophobic diatribes.
“Eminem (aka Marshall Mathers, aka Slim Shady aka Ken Keniff, aka the white guy from D12): Stared the abyss (being n-ggerdly) and the abyss stared back (becoming a n-gger),” he wrote in one passage. “Walks the edge of n-gger lover and honorary n-gger.
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“Fell off not because his new stuff sucked but because the lyrics were gay annoying liberal shit. ROE for Total N-gger Death is to include Eminem (aka Marshall Mathers, aka Slim Shady aka Ken Keniff, aka the white guy from D12) as a valid target and he is to be killed on sight.”
Palmeter then mentioned Machine Gun Kelly, and suggested he may have once been close enough to actually shoot the rapper.
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“Colson Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly): Honorable n-gger,” he wrote. “To be killed on sight like Eminem because I didn’t get a shot at him up in Ohio.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray mentioned the shooter’s writings during a briefing call with law enforcement and community leaders on Monday (August 28).
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He said the investigation “reveals the perpetrator of Saturday’s attack through his own writings, through the references he made, and through his actions, make clear his intentions, his actions, his motivations, his hate.”
Officials said Palmeter entered a Jacksonville Dollar General in a tactical vest, armed with a handgun and AR-15 rifle that had swastika markings on it.
Authorities said he previously stopped at a Family Dollar store roughly a mile away from where the shooting took place. He was also seen on the campus of Edward Waters University, which is a historically Black institution.
“The shooter used multiple electronic devices with a significant amount of data,” Sherri Onks, Special Agent in charge of FBI Jacksonville office, said during Monday’s call.
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“So far we have identified multiple writings that show a hatred against African Americans and belief in the inferiority of Black people. There’s also evidence he harbored anti LGBTQ+ and anti-Semitic grievances.”
She stated the weapons and body armor used “had references to previous mass shootings” and that the shooter hoped to inspire others to carry out similar attacks.
