An aide to a Florida state lawmaker has been fired after the aide suggested to a reporter that two students who have made TV appearances with media outlets after the deadly shooting last week at their high school are actors.

Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran, a Republican, said in a statement Tuesday evening that he was "shocked and angry" to learn that Benjamin Kelly, district secretary for state Rep. Shawn Harrison, also a Republican, made the accusation in an "appalling" email. After discussing the matter with Harrison, Corcoran said he "terminated" Kelly's employment. The speaker noted in a brief statement that since House employees serve "at the pleasure of the Speaker," it was up to him to fire Kelly.



Earlier, Harrison had said he put Kelly on leave after being made aware of Kelly's "insensitive and inappropriate allegation" and claimed he did not share Kelly's opinion.

I was just made aware that my aide made an insensitive and inappropriate allegation about Parkland students today. I have spoken to him and placed him on leave until we determine an appropriate course of action. I do not share his opinion and he did so without my knowledge. — Shawn Harrison (@Shawnfor63) February 20, 2018



Kelly told the Tampa Bay Times that Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg, students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., who appeared in a CNN interview, "are not students here but actors that travel to various crises when they happen."

Here's the email. I asked for more information to back up the claim and was sent another email that linked to a YouTube conspiracy video. pic.twitter.com/VRSVOcjj3E — Alex Leary (@learyreports) February 20, 2018



Gonzelez and Hogg have appeared in multiple interviews since the shooting last week took 17 lives and injured scores more at their high school. The pair have called for stricter gun control measures.

Recently Hogg responded to President Trump's tweets about the shooting, in which he blamed the FBI and Democrats for not doing enough to prevent the attack, including passing gun control legislation while they were the majority party in Congress. Hogg said Trump blaming the Democrats was " disgusting." Gonzalez delivered an impassioned speech over the weekend, calling out Trump, Republicans, and the NRA.

An aide to state Rep. Shawn Harrison, using state email, sent me this: "Both kids in the picture are not students here but actors that travel to various crisis when they happen." https://t.co/UFD1ZXGNjr — Alex Leary (@learyreports) February 20, 2018



The Times reporter with whom Kelly was corresponding, Alex Leary, asked for evidence to back up that claim. Kelly then sent a link to a Youtube video which discussed a conspiracy theory making the rounds through far-right circles about Hogg's ex-FBI father coaching him to make critical comments about Trump.

Liberal media watchdog group Media Matters said that the Hogg conspiracy theory has been spread by "pro-Trump media," including One America News Network, which received a boost from Donald Trump Jr., President Trump's eldest child, who has liked some of its posts.

The aide's comments have been subject to intense backlash, including from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

"Claiming some of the students on tv after #Parkland are actors is the work of a disgusting group of idiots with no sense of decency," Rubio said in a tweet Tuesday afternoon.