White nationalist appears to disavow connection with shooter

Source: Associated Press

White nationalist appears to disavow connection with shooter

54 minutes ago

PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — A white nationalist appears to have lied to The Associated Press and other news organizations when he claimed that Florida school-shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz was a member of his obscure group. ... Law enforcement officials have said they didn't have any evidence to support the claim that Republic of Florida leader Jordan Jereb made in interviews with several news organizations.

Jereb told The Associated Press on Thursday that Cruz had participated in paramilitary drills in Tallahassee, where his group is based. Jereb said he didn't know Cruz personally and that "he acted on his own behalf of what he just did and he's solely responsible for what he just did."

Jereb told the Miami Herald that he knew "with certainty" that Cruz "had something to do with us." He told the Daily Beast that Cruz "wasn't particularly active" in his group but came to Tallahassee with a "secretive cell" from Clearwater, Florida. ABC News reported that three former schoolmates of Cruz said he was part of the Republic of Florida and was often seen with Jereb. ... Law enforcement officials said they hadn't confirmed any such ties.
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The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups, also said it hadn’t confirmed Jereb’s claims. ... “It may seem odd that Jereb would bring attention to his group by claiming a connection to Cruz, but Jereb has always been somewhat of a publicity seeker. In 2014, in fact, he wrote us to complain that we had not already listed (Republic of Florida) as a hate group,” Heidi Beirich, director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project, said in a statement Thursday.

Read more: https://apnews.com/8247010fc41141ce83a679182ab841ba

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White nationalist appears to have lied to the AP, other news outlets when he claimed that Florida school-shooting suspect was a member of his group.

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