The 19-year-old accused of being the gunman in the deadly shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida on Wednesday belonged to a white supremacist militia, the group’s leader claimed Friday.
The leader of the “Republic of Florida” white supremacist militia claimed in interviews with the Anti-Defamation League and the Associated Press that accused Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz belonged to the group and trained with other members in paramilitary drills.
Cruz was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder after in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday.
The group describes itself as a “white civil rights organization fighting for white identitarian politics,” according to the ADL. Militia leader Jordan Jereb told the AP that the group wants to create a “white ethno-state” in Florida.
Several people claiming to be members of the militia posted on section of the 4chan forum popular with white supremacists, saying that Cruz was part of the group.
Jereb told the ADL that ROF had not instructed or wanted Cruz to conduct a school shooting. Wednesday’s shooting was the 18th school shooting so far this year, with at least 17 dead and 14 injured.
“He acted on his own behalf of what he just did and he’s solely responsible for what he just did,” Jereb told the AP, adding that he thought Cruz had recently had “trouble with a girl,” suggesting that the attack could have been timed to coincide with Valentine’s Day.
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