Services are being held to honor and remember the three lives lost in the Jacksonville, FL, shooting.

On Friday, September 8, funeral services were held for the three Black people killed in the racially motivated shooting at a Jacksonville Dollar General. Friends, family, and community members gathered to mourn the victims, while also speaking out against the rise of hate crimes and the lack of gun violence reform.

At Angela Michelle Carr's funeral service, civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton called attention to the lax gun laws that allowed the shooter to purchase assault-style rifles despite having a history of mental health issues. He asked, “How many people have to die before you get up — whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat — and say we’ve got to stop this, and we’ve got to bring some sanity back in this country?”

Reverend David Green St. shared, “We gather together as a hurting community because this was not just an attack on the Carr family and our other two families who lost their loved ones. This was an attack on our entire community. Rhetoric and other policies and governors have made it comfortable for people to come out of the closet with their hatred of those of us whose skin has been kissed by nature’s sun.”

The memorial service for 19-year-old A.J. Laguerre was also on Friday. Laguerre had only just graduated high school the previous year. He had taken a job at the Dollar General to financially support his grandmother and four siblings after their mother passed away in 2009. Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan attended the heartfelt service, where security was provided by the city's authorities.

The final service was held for Jerrald Gallion, 29, on Saturday. His family praised him for working three jobs to care for his young daughter, Je Asia Gallion. They spoke of the loving father they had lost to this senseless tragedy.

The three Black people who were killed in Jacksonville were beloved by their community, and their funerals served as a reminder of the urgent need for reform to combat hate crimes and gun violence.

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