Editor’s Note: Recent reports suggest that Jordan Jereb’s claims were inaccurate, further demonstrating that there was no connection between Florida shooter Nikolas Cruz and any “right-wing militia. Regardless of this validity, we still believe that there was no evidence to use the label even if Jereb and Cruz had a relationship.

As media outlets are desperate for information regarding Nikolas Cruz and his motivations, they are quick to say that he is “right wing” and part of a militia. Neither are true.

The Associated Press has spread both claims based on the testimony of Jordan Jereb, who claims to have known Cruz. The group is called the “Republic of Florida,” and Jereb is its leader. It is not a militia. Instead, it is 4 men younger than 30 who have formed a reactionary group that is white nationalist but has no relationship to right wing social or economic philosophies.

A local news station investigated the Tallahassee group years ago, and the report can be seen here. (Update: the video profile was since taken down) This profile reveals that these are young men who have a lot of anger. They are desperate to fit in, and they react with what cannot even be described as “paramilitary” intent. They don a few camo outfits.

Their demands on their website can only be pitied. They are disturbed individuals who are wannabe anarchists solely for attention’s sake. Their run-ins with the law are due to some empty internet threats. Nothing on their website shows that they are aligned with conservativism or “right wing” politics, and nothing on their site shows that they are anything but a tiny group. To label them a militia is to ignore that this is just a few individuals with mental issues.

It is uncertain as to how much interaction Cruz had with the few members of the Republic of Florida, but it is clear that they were based on the opposite side of Florida. Perhaps he was drawn to like minded individuals who felt alienated, but he clearly acted in a way that the others seem incapable of acting. The leader of the group claims that he did not know Cruz, and this was likely the case. Their interactions were probably limited to the internet and one meeting that was acknowledged by Jereb.

Like the members of the Republic of Florida, Cruz was clearly disturbed, but his level of psychosis was of a violent nature and not the bluster that characterizes the others. He had no respect for human life, and the group, if he followed them, was only an excuse and not an outlet for rage or to enact fantasies. Labeling the group as a right-wing militia is an easy way for the media to provide a reason for an unreasonable act, but it is also a sloppy and misleading label that provides no benefit.