Yeah, the FSU Shooter Is Definitely a White Supremacist

As you can probably recall, on April 17, 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner opened fire near the student union at Florida State University, killing two men and injuring six others before being shot by police. Officers found a .45 caliber pistol and a shotgun at the scene. In the orange Hummer he drove to campus, they discovered something else, an AR-15.

The AR-15, of course, is the favorite weapon of American mass shooters. The gun of choice for killers trying to make a statement. The one that shows up again and again in nightmares from Parkland to Uvalde to Sandy Hook. That rifle didn’t get fired, but it was there. Which means this could’ve been even worse, but I digress.

Ikner’s victims, 45-year-old Tiru Chabba and 57-year-old Robert Morales, weren’t targeted for who they were. Authorities say he shot at random. Chabba was a married father of two and a regional vice president for Aramark. Morales was a beloved football coach and dining services coordinator at FSU. He had worked at the university for nearly a decade, and once studied criminology there himself. These men had nothing in common with Ikner, except being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

As previously mentioned, Ikner is the stepson of a Leon County sheriff’s deputy, Jessica Ikner. Investigators say the handgun he used in the shooting used to be her service weapon. He’d also practiced shooting with her at a range. She’s now on personal leave while the sheriff’s office investigates.

And complicity might not be a stretch. Ikner’s biological grandmother says he was raised in a home full of bigotry. She blames her daughter’s ex-husband and his new wife, Deputy Ikner, for molding him into the hateful person he became. That’s not just disturbing; it’s potentially disqualifying. If a cop’s stepson carries out a white supremacist attack using her gun, after years of radicalization under her roof, something went terribly wrong in that house. However, take that with a grain of salt, as that side of the family is a little suspect, but we’ll get to that in a bit.

The Anti-Defamation League combed through Ikner’s digital footprint and found a mess of Nazi imagery, usernames like “Schutzstaffel,” and livestream searches for “scientific racism” and “national confederate flag.” He idolized Hitler, used white supremacist symbols like the Patriot Front’s logo, and went by the online handle “Rebel.” That last part hits a little too close to “Reb,” the nickname used by Columbine shooter Eric Harris. Coincidence? Maybe. But when you combine that with everything else, his beliefs, his weapons, the shrine he seemed to build in his mind to violent ideologies, it’s hard to believe he wasn’t modeling himself after his idols.

Some people are pointing to his childhood as an explanation. He was taken out of the country by his biological mother in violation of a custody order. He had mental health problems, a rough upbringing, family court drama. Yet, plenty of people have hard lives. Plenty of kids go through trauma, live with dysfunction, get bounced between parents or prescribed medications. The difference is, they don’t respond by shooting up a college campus. There is no “tragic backstory” that justifies planning a massacre.

This wasn’t just a breakdown. This was a buildup. A years-long incubation of hate, access to weapons, and the belief that violence would finally make him visible. It ended with two people dead, six injured, and a campus grieving. And it all started in a household that was supposed to be protected by someone sworn to serve and protect.

Let’s not let that detail fade away. If Phoenix Ikner learned his hate from home, then law enforcement has to answer for more than just another unsecured gun. It has to answer for what kind of people it puts in charge of keeping the rest of us safe.

(Sources)

UPDATE 5/12/2025: Ikner has been released from the hospital and has been charged with murder.

UPDATE 5/15/2025: Ikner has also been ordered to be held without bond.

We also now have his mugshot…

The reason he looks like a Dick Tracy villain is because Ikner was shot in the jaw by police.

UPDATE II 5/15/2025: A Florida State Attorney has said he plans to seek the death penalty for Ikner.

As you may know, Florida has been especially supportive of the death penalty, having carried out 111 executions since it was reinstated in the United States in 1976. The most recent was Glen Edward Rogers, who was executed today for a series of murders committed during the 1990s.