Earlier today an internet rumor started that Nikolaus Cruz, the young man who murdered 17 students at a Florida high school, was affiliated with some white supremacist militia. Allegedly, he belonged to some group called the “Republic of Florida.” The source of this was the claim by the group’s “captain,” some mope named Jordan Jereb.
Outlets, like the Daily Beast, ran images like this trying to link the shooter to Trump:
Then the story started to unravel. Vox.com’s Zack Beauchamp, who is most famous for discovering a bridge linking Gaza to the West Bank that the Israelis regularly block to f*** with the Palestinians (I am not making this up, read the correction), started asking questions of people who research these groups:
I'm surprised at how many outlets and reporters are flatly asserting that the Florida shooter was a white supremacist. The evidence is actually pretty thin!
— Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp) February 15, 2018
For one thing, the Republic of Florida is based in Tallahassee — which is 430 miles from his high school
— Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp) February 15, 2018
The 430 miles thing should have been a major warning to anyone pushing this story.
And @jjmacnab, an honest-to-goodness expert on white supremacists, points out there are contradictions in the statements that allegedly show he was in the group pic.twitter.com/rdgGoQF6YN
— Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp) February 15, 2018
Another expert, @intelwire, also has qualms https://t.co/qnGfsGcriu
— Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp) February 15, 2018
Look: The shooter might really turn out to have been affiliated with the Republic of Florida. But right now, there just isn't nearly enough evidence to be as certain as a lot of the coverage is.
— Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp) February 15, 2018
The Republic of Florida Militia, a white nationalist hate group we have been monitoring, has claimed the suspect in the massacre in Parkland, Florida, is a member.
We cannot confirm the link between Nikolas Cruz and the ROF.https://t.co/c5gj5qmcL1
— Southern Poverty Law Center (@splcenter) February 15, 2018
And when the SPLC can’t link any random white guy to a hate group or militia, you know you are on thin ice.
Then the police weighed in:
Local law enforcement sources have not found a connection between accused Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz and a Tallahassee-based paramilitary group.
Leon County law enforcement sources told the Tallahassee Democrat that they could not find information linking Cruz, 19, to the Republic of Florida Militia, as claimed by the group’s self-proclaimed leader Jordan Jereb.
…
In a profanity-laced post hours later on a social media site, an account bearing Jereb’s name said the whole thing was a “legit misunderstanding,” saying they have more than one member named Nikolas. He also said he not slept “for like 2 days.”
His Twitter account has been suspended but this was the tweet referenced in the above quote.
CNN is still hard at work polishing that plastic apple:
Well that's good, because CNN just a few minutes ago reported his claim, complete with a graphic showing his travel rout from South Florida to Tallahassee, but without noting the cops saying they found no connection.
Oh, the streaming app is also running the apple ad right now. https://t.co/TSpMZwERMk
— James Hasson (@JamesHasson20) February 16, 2018
And for those of you seeing alt-right, white nationalist supremacist separatist in your sock drawer, behold your enemy
The post About That White Supremacist Link to the Florida Shooter? Eh, Not So Much appeared first on RedState.
