Did FSU News report alleged Florida State University shooter Phoenix Ikner participated in an anti-Trump rally? No, that's not true: The now deleted section of the article that mentions and quotes Ikner is about "onlookers" who showed up at the protest. The article quotes him as saying "These people are usually pretty entertaining, usually not for good reasons" when talking about the protesters.
The claim Ikner participated appeared in a post on X (archived here) published on April 17, 2025. It read:
🚨Breaking News: The FSU Sh**ter Phoenix Ikner participated in an Anti-Trump rally on the FSU campus this year
"I think it's a little too late, Trump is already going to be inaugurated on Jan. 20 and there's not really much you can do unless you outright revolt."
Via: FSUNews
The post was accompanied by a screenshot taken from FSU News.com:
(Image source: downloaded from x.com)
The screenshot appears to come from this article (archived here) originally published on January 19, 2025 under the title: "Tallahassee SDS protests Trump's agenda and FSU policies in campus rally" which covered a small protest by a group named Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society:
Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) marched on Jan. 14 to oppose President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican Party's agenda. The protest occurred less than a week before Trump's inauguration.
Roughly 15 protestors started their rally around the Legacy Fountain in Landis Green. Here, they passed out flyers with written chants, held a Palestinian flag, and signs with phrases like "Abortion is Healthcare." The group began their march toward the Integration Statue shortly after 4 p.m., where they set up to make speeches.
The section mentioning and quoting Ikner was about "onlookers" who commented on the protest:
Once the protesters reached the Integration Statue, Florida State University Police Department (FSUPD) officers stood on guard and groups of onlookers began to form.
"These people are usually pretty entertaining, usually not for good reasons," Phoenix Ikner, a political science major, said. "I think it's a little too late, he's [Trump] already going to be inaugurated on Jan. 20 and there's not really much you can do unless you outright revolt, and I don't think anyone wants that."
That section was later removed from the version of the article currently online, which added following Editor's Note:
EDITORS NOTE: An earlier version of this article included a quote from the gunman in the April 17 shooting at FSU and was removed at the decision of our editors to maintain ethical journalistic standards and avoid amplifying the voice of an individual responsible for violence.
