'Kidnapping incident': Analyst highlights 'interesting history' of shooter tied to Trump
April 18, 2025
The suspected gunman in a deadly Florida State University mass shooting was kicked out of a political debate club for pushing white supremacist views.
Phoenix Ikner, 20, allegedly used one of his stepmother's guns to kill two people and wound five others in a shooting near the student union on campus in Tallahassee, and court records show he had a tumultuous childhood while a former classmate told NBC News that he expressed right-wing extremist views in a "political round table" club.
"He does have an interesting history," said CNN chief law enforcement analyst John Miller. "We know from court records that CNN unearthed yesterday that he was the subject of a domestic kidnaping incident when he was a child. His biological mother took him out of the country. There was a court fight to get custody back to him. He was brought back to the United States and his adoptive or stepmom, the deputy sheriff, has had him since, and as the sheriff pointed out, he's kind of been enveloped in the law enforcement, extended family."
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"We know he's a political science major," Miller added. "We know he was quoted in the student newspaper talking about a demonstration that the reporter was covering, where she just stopped him and said, what do you think of all this? It was an anti-Donald Trump demonstration. He said, you know, 'these people are a little late, the election happened already, he's being inaugurated on the 20th,' and interestingly, he said, you know, 'short of you know, revolution, we're not going to change that,' and he said, 'no one thinks that's a good idea,' so the statement doesn't really open a definitive door."
A former classmate at both Tallahassee State College and Florida State said Ikner was part of MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA chapter at the community college, while voter records show he is a registered Republican, and he described how Ikner's views got him kicked out of a club he led.
"Basically our only rule was no Nazis — colloquially speaking — and he espoused so much white supremacist rhetoric, and far-right rhetoric, as well, to the point where we had to exercise that rule," said Reid Seybold, who was president of that club at Tallahassee State College.
Ikner was also quoted in an FSU student newspaper article on protests against Donald Trump on campus.
“These people are usually pretty entertaining, usually not for good reasons,” said Ikner, who was identified as a political science major. “I think it’s a little too late, he’s 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.”
Ikner was carrying a handgun that had been the service weapon of Leon County sheriff's deputy Jessica Ikner, his stepmother, and he had previously been a member of the sheriff’s Youth Advisory Council, which is designed to “provide an open line of communication between the youth of Leon County and local law enforcement."
Court documents from 2015 show that Ikner was treated for multiple mental and physical health issues as a child and was the subject of a years-long custody battle.
His biological mother, identified as Anne-Mari Eriksen, a U.S.-Norwegian dual national, was charged with taking a minor from the state contrary to a court order after taking him at age 10 from Florida to Norway.
"Instead of staying in South Florida, the defendant allegedly fled the country with him in violation of their custody agreement," the court filing says.
An Instagram account believed to have belonged to Ikner displayed a Bible quote, "Jeremiah 51:20 -‘You are my war club, my weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I destroy kingdoms,'" that serves as the motto for the white nationalist group The Order.
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