FSU Shooting Suspect Was Once Allegedly Kicked Out of Political Discussion Group for White Supremacist Views: Reports

The alleged gunman in the mass shooting at Florida State University reportedly held white supremacist views so extreme that he was once kicked out of a student political discussion group.

The mass shooting at FSU’s campus in Tallahassee unfolded around 12 p.m. on Thursday, April 17, killing two people and injuring six.  

Police arrested 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner in connection with the shooting.

As authorities investigate the shooting, more is coming to light about who Ikner is — including his extreme right-wing views, according to those who knew him. 

Reid Seybold, who knew Ikner through a student political discussion group a few years before the shooting, said Ikner’s views made others uncomfortable. 

“He espoused so much white supremacist rhetoric and far-right rhetoric, as well,” Seybold told NBC News.

“He had continually made enough people uncomfortable where certain people had stopped coming,” he told CNN. “That’s kind of when we reached the breaking point with Phoenix, and we asked him to leave.”

His views included comments such as “ravages of multiculturalism…[were] ruining America,” Seybold told the outlet. 

Riley Pusins, who is the current president of the political discussion group, told NBC News that Ikner would push the line during the meeting, and would go even further in his comments after the meetings. 

Ikner also allegedly espoused what the Tallahassee Democrat reported were extremist conspiracy theories and hateful ideas. He reportedly said “Rosa Parks was in the wrong,” and made comments dehumanizing the Black community, per the outlet.

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Ikner has been identified as the stepson of a Leon County sheriff’s deputy who has been with the department for 20 years.

He was deeply “embedded” in the law enforcement community and attended training programs the sheriff’s office held, Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil said at a press conference after the shooting.

As of publishing time, authorities had not announced the identities of the deceased or those who are injured.