Update FSU Shooter

[Kishkumen]

Phoenix Ikner, white male, 20 years old, political science major at FSU, killed two non-students, and injured 6 students. He was the son of a resource officer for the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, and he used his mother’s old service revolver in the shooting.

On the Living Tallahassee Facebook page there were erroneous claims that Phoenix is anti-Trump. Evidently the opposite is the case. Here is some of the evidence from a student colleague:

https://youtu.be/oTKaSBS4f5Y?si=gUedOINSMdN-QA3G

Phoenix was a transfer student from Tallahassee Community College, where he was disinvited from a political discussion club for espousing white supremacist views. He also was a member of Turning Point USA. Evidently his racism and Trumpism were very much at home in TPUSA:

From the group’s Wikipedia page:

In December 2017, The New Yorker published an article by Jane Mayer showcasing interviews with former minority members of TPUSA. Former staff members said they witnessed widespread discrimination against minorities in the group; "the organization was a difficult workplace and rife with tension, some of it racial," The New Yorker said.[13][127] One former employee, an African-American woman, said she was the only person of color working for the organization at the time she was hired in 2014; she then said that she was fired on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The article also said that Crystal Clanton, a leading figure in the organization who had served as the group's national field director for five years, and whom Kirk had praised in his book Time for a Turning Point as "the best hire we ever could have made", had texted to another Turning Point USA employee, "I hate black people. Like “F” them all ... I hate blacks. End of story." Kirk responded to the revelations by saying that "TPUSA assessed the situation and took decisive action within 72 hours of being made aware of the issue."[13] Justice Clarence Thomas, who hired Clanton after she left TPUSA, later commented on the incident regarding her text messages, stating, "I know Crystal Clanton and I know bigotry. Bigotry is antithetical to her nature and character."[128]
In the Hillsdale College Collegian, opinions editor Kaylee McGhee wrote an article that referred to TPUSA as a "reactionary cancer" rather than a group supporting real conservatism that is "supposed to preserve the timeless principles of liberty and equality for all".[129] In June 2018, conservative radio talk show host Joe Walsh resigned from the TPUSA board because Kirk was too closely tied to Donald Trump. Walsh said: "It's so important to not be beholden to politicians, but to be beholden to the issues ... When Charlie went to work for Trump, that crossed that line. You can't advance Trump and advance these issues."[130]
During October and November 2019, Kirk launched the Culture War college tour of speaking events with appearances from many conservatives such as Donald Trump Jr., Lara Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle. These events were frequently targeted by homophobic and antisemitic members of the alt-right and far-right who consider TPUSA to be too mainstream and not sufficiently conservative. Concerted efforts were made by this group to ask leading questions during the Q&A sections on controversial topics such as Israel and LGBTQ issues in order to challenge the extent of the speakers' views.[131]
In November 2019, the Dartmouth Review called TPUSA an organization that promoted Charlie Kirk and Donald Trump first, rather than conservative values. The article added "True conservatives must eventually outgrow TPUSA and devote their efforts elsewhere. We must challenge ourselves by pursuing an environment of rigorous inquiry, instead of being coddled by the intellectually devoid echo chamber of TPUSA, compromising our values for recognition."[132]
In July 2022, neo-Nazis appeared outside of TPUSA's Student Action Summit in Tampa; they were subsequently not let in.[133][134] Joy Behar of The View falsely stated that TPUSA invited and embraced neo-Nazi protesters and compared the summit to the Third Reich. The View later issued a retraction, clarifying that "Turning Point USA condemned the Neo-Nazi protesters who had 'nothing to do' with the organization." Host Whoopi Goldberg would later say, "But you let them in, and you knew what they were," and "My point was metaphorical." Following these comments, TPUSA issued a cease and desist request and a deadline of July 27, asking for The View to apologize. In a later episode meeting the deadline, members of The View fully retracted the statements and apologized for making the comparisons.[135][136]
Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center
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In 2019, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called TPUSA an alt-lite organization.[137] Both the ADL and the Southern Poverty Law Center have criticized TPUSA for affiliating with activists from the alt-right and the far-right.[138] The ADL has also reported that the group's leadership and activists "have made multiple racist or bigoted comments" and have links to extremism.[5]
In 2018, the Southern Poverty Law Center's Hatewatch documented TPUSA's links to white supremacists.[139][140]

[Kishkumen]

CNN article on Ikner:

On Instagram, an account with Ikner’s name and photo that was taken offline after he was publicly identified included a biblical quote on its profile: “You are my war club, my weapon for battle; with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms.”

Ikner is a registered Republican, according to Florida voter registration records. He was quoted in January in an FSU student newspaper article about anti-Trump protests in advance of the president’s inauguration.

“These people are usually pretty entertaining, usually not for good reasons,” Ikner, who was described as a political science major, was quoted as saying. “I think it’s a little too late, he’s [Trump] already going to be inaugurated on Jan. 20 and there’s not really much you can do unless you outright revolt, and I don’t think anyone wants that.”

Leon County court records show that Ikner’s biological mother was accused of taking him to Norway when he was 10 years old, in violation of a custody agreement. The court documents refer to the child as Christian Eriksen, and say that he and his biological mother are both dual US-Norwegian citizens.

The shooting suspect later changed his name from Christian Eriksen to Phoenix Ikner, a law enforcement source confirmed to CNN.

According to an affidavit from a sheriff’s detective, the child’s biological mother told his father that she would take him to South Florida for spring break in March 2015. Instead, she “fled the country with him in violation of their custody agreement,” taking him to Norway, the affidavit said.

The suspect’s biological mother pleaded no contest to removing a minor from the state against a court order. She was sentenced to 200 days in jail, 170 of which she had already served, followed by two years of “community control” and then two years of probation, according to court records. She was ordered to have no contact during her sentence with her son or any of his teachers, doctors or counselors, unless allowed by a court.

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/04/17/us/f ... ikner-invs

[canpakes]

.
He seems to have had what Hound would call an ‘enemies list’.

[Morley]

Thanks, Rev. Knowing someone from the area, I had concerns.

[Kishkumen]

Let’s see whether Trump ships him off to El Salvador or pardons him and gives him a job in his administration.

Could go either way with Trump.