“Steeped” in the culture of the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, where his stepmother was a longtime deputy, alleged Florida State University shooter Phoenix Ikner was widely known for his racist views, telling classmates that Black people were ruining his community. Ikner, suspected of killing two people and wounding six others after opening fire on FSU’s campus, also believed civil rights icon “Rosa Parks was in the wrong” when she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white man. His opinions were so disturbing that one classmate at Ikner’s former college, Tallahassee State College, recalled thinking that “this man should not have access to firearms.” Police say Ikner was using his mother’s service weapon when he opened fire just before noon Thursday. The gunman emerged from an orange Hummer outside the student union with a firearm and a rifle. One witness described how he icily shot a woman right in front of him. FSU Police Chief Jason Trumbower said Ikner was able to shoot multiple people before officers were able to neutralize him. He was hospitalized with his injuries, though the severity of his wounds is not yet clear. Ikner’s views on race came to the surface at a political discussion group he participated in while attending Tallahassee State. “He espoused so much white supremacist rhetoric and far-right rhetoric” that he was eventually kicked out,” said Ryan Seybold, the group’s president at the time. Like Ikner, Seybold recently transferred to FSU. Current group president Riley Pusins said the alleged killer was a fierce advocate for President Donald Trump’s agenda and often made “inappropriate comments” that often crossed the line. Most in the group viewed Ikner as “a fascist.” He liked to remind them he had access to guns, the New York Post reports. Leon County deputies trained him how to shoot while he served on the department’s Youth Advisory Council. (…) He often advertised his views on clothing, wearing a National Rifle Association T-shirt and another that included the inscription “Don’t tread on me,” taken from an early American flag, known as the Gadsden Flag, which features a coiled timber rattlesnake ready to strike. The flag was appropriated by the Ku Klux Klan in the last century and regained popularity within the Tea Party movement that vehemently opposed former President Barack Obama in the early 2010s.
via atlantablackstar: ‘Rosa Parks Was In the Wrong’: Alleged FSU Shooter Known for White Supremacist Views Was Raised in Sheriff’s Office Culture and Worshipped Donald Trump, Reports Show
siehe auch: FSU Shooting Suspect Had History Of White Supremacist Views And Anti-Black Hate Speech, Classmate Claims. Florida State University shooting suspect Phoenix Ikner had a history of promoting white supremacist views and expressing anti-Black hate speech, which made those who knew him concerned and uncomfortable long before the attack, according to police and former and current classmates. Ikner, 20, was confirmed as the gunman in Thursday’s attack at FSU that left two people dead and six others injured. Leon County Sheriff Walter A. McNeil said Ikner was also a student at the university and the stepson of veteran Leon County sheriff deputy Jessica Ikner. McNeil added that the gun Ikner used in the shooting belonged to his stepmother (…) Ikner was known for making alarming comments that left people around him uncomfortable, including one classmate, Lucas Luzietti, a political student who shared a federal politics class with the 20-year-old in 2023. “I got into arguments with him in class over how gross the things he said were,” Luzietti told USA Today. He said Ikner often shared conspiracy theories, including one about former President Joe Biden falsely being elected to office, and racist views on Black people, stating that civil rights activist “Rosa Parks was in the wrong” and that Black people were ruining his neighborhood. “I remember thinking this man should not have access to firearms,” Luzietti explained, per USA Today. But, “what are you supposed to do? His mother was a cop and Florida doesn’t have very strong red flag laws.”; FSU Suspected Shooter Labeled a Fascist By Political Discussion Group At Former College: ‘So Much White Supremacist Rhetoric’. A former member of the political discussion group said Phoenix Ikner also espoused far-right views and advocated for Donald Trump’s agenda. Phoenix Ikner, the 20-year-old suspected to be the shooter at Florida State University’s Tallahassee campus on Thursday, was labeled a fascist by members of a political discussion group he attended in the past. Speaking to NBC News, Ryan Seybold said the group took place at Tallahassee State College and Ikner was asked to not return to the group because of his views. “He espoused so much white supremacist rhetoric and far-right rhetoric,” said Seybold, who was the group president at the time. Both had transferred to FSU by the time the shooting took place. Riley Pusins, who currently presides the club, said Ikner also advocated for President Donald Trump’s agenda and did not respect its guidelines. Pusins said Ikner often made “inappropriate comments” and would “go up the line” in the meeting and then cross it. Ikner, the son of a sheriff’s deputy, got hold of one of his mother’s weapons that officials said was used in the shooting.