The suspect in the Florida State University shooting was forced to leave a campus political club after making "uncomfortable" comments that prompted some members to stop attending meetings.
Phoenix Ikner is the 20-year-old FSU student accused of gunning down two people and injuring five others in Thursday's mass shooting. He was studying political science, according to reporting by CNN, before the tragic incident.
One of Ikner's classmates, Reid Seybold, told CNN Thursday that he knew the alleged shooter after meeting him at an extracurricular political club. He revealed Ikner was asked to leave the group after making unsettling remarks while the group was discussing current events; comments Seybold said went "beyond conservatism."
"He had continually made enough people uncomfortable where certain people had stopped coming. That's kind of when we reached the breaking point with Phoenix, and we asked him to leave," the FSU student told CNN.
Seybold further revealed Ikner, who is a registered Republican, "talked about the ravages of multiculturalism and communism and how it's ruining America."
Ikner was shot by police and taken to a local hospital following Thursday's shooting.
© 2025 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
