(NewsNation) — The suspected gunman in Thursday’s shooting at Florida State University was removed from a political club at his former college due to white supremacist views, according to a student who said he knew him.
Reid Seybold, a senior at FSU, said the suspect, identified by authorities as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, was a member of a political group under Seybold’s leadership at Tallahassee State College. He said Ikner was known for “espousing white supremacist, alt-right rhetoric” to the extent that he was asked to leave.
“It’s my understanding that at some point, he was allowed back after I came to Florida State, where he continued to push white supremacist rhetoric. He’s known for doing this,” Seybold said. “This is nothing new. This isn’t anything that’s foreign to Phoenix.”
Seybold said he never thought Ikner would be violent.
“There wasn’t anything that would truly indicate that he would do something this heinous,” he said.
Before learning Ikner was the suspect, Sebyold said he sheltered in place with other students at FSU as word of the shooting spread across campus.
He said he texted loved ones while fearing for his life.
“I texted the extended family group chat first, and then immediately my boyfriend, because he was just off campus and he was freaking out, and I completely understand,” Seybold said.