The FBI led an avowed white supremacist away in handcuffs as agents searched his Florida home for evidence connecting him to misinformation he allegedly gave to authorities regarding the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in February.
The Tallahassee Democrat reports that FBI agents swarmed the Tallahassee, Fla., residence of 22-year-old Jordan Jereb, a self-confessed “right-wing extremist nut,” on Wednesday. Jereb was arrested for violating the terms of the probation he was serving after he pleaded no contest to threatening a high-ranking member of Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s staff in 2016.
When Nikolas Cruz killed 17 students at the high school last month, Jereb said that Cruz had done paramilitary training with the white supremacist militia that Jereb leads—the Republic of Florida. Shortly after Jereb made the claims, media outlets reported that Cruz had ties to hate groups, but authorities soon announced that they could find no such evidence.
As he was being led away, Jereb yelled to reporters: “I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m a good person!” He was then stuffed into a Tallahassee Police Department vehicle, from which he would be ushered into the VIP section of the holding cell reserved exclusively for people who haven’t done anything wrong. (In Florida, VIP stands for “vomit-inducing person.”)
Internet detectives have already uncovered video of Matthew Heimbach and David “Matt” Parrott of the Traditionalist Workers Party hate group, which recently disbanded following a trailer park brouhaha, allegedly visiting Jereb at his home.
Jereb has a history of arrests and involuntary commitments for mental health problems. He is known for riding his bike through neighborhoods wearing military gear, waving his Republic of Florida flag.