The Republic of Florida group describes itself as a “white civil rights organization fighting for white identitarian politics, and the ultimate creation of a white ethnostate so we can be free from anti-white policies and have policies that reflect our values as white westerners.”
On Wednesday, a 19-year-old claimed by the group to be one of its members allegedly walked into a Florida high school armed with a semi-automatic rifle, and slaughtered 17 people.
Nikolas Cruz had participated in paramilitary drills with the Republic of Florida in Tallahassee, after carpooling up from south Florida with other militia members, the group’s leader Jordan Jereb told the Anti-Defamation League.
READ MORE: Accused Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz belonged to white nationalist group
Jereb insisted that Cruz acted on his own behalf, and is “solely responsible for what he just did,” the Associated Press reported.
According to the Republic of Florida website, the group’s ultimate goal is to create a white ethnostate. Its short-term goals include suppressing gun control laws, promoting social policies that benefit white people and propagating white culture.
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It also insists that its membership doesn’t consist of people on the fringes of mainstream society, but rather the contrary.
“We walk among you. We are in your colleges and universities, we are in your police departments, we have infiltrated the ranks of the United States Army, Marines, and even the coast guard,” the website claims.
The website lists 10 codes that all group members are expected to obey. They are:
- Allegiance to the Republic of Florida
- Allegiance to one’s European lineage — “There are those outside of the white race who we will inevitably consider allies, but we must not sexually mix with them or pretend that we have no differences”
- Willingness to wage battle, and stay in good physical shape
- Staying away from drugs
- Not having sexual relationships with non-white people, and not engaging in homosexuality, bestiality and pedophilia
- Knowledge of Republic of Florida doctrine
- Respecting the militia’s chain of command
- Honesty
- Moral righteousness
- Integrity and loyalty
The website also states that would-be members of the militia are expected to own the following items: a firearm with a holster, a personal first-aid kit, tactical clothing, a knife, a hatchet or machete, a sleeping bag, backpack, a week’s ration of non-perishable food, personal hygiene items, lighters, matches and waterproof containers.
“If you are a proud white heterosexual man, you should probably own these items anyway,” says the website. “We will look at you like you are crazy if you do not have at least 50% of these items. We are an organized militia, not a gang of kids.”
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The website also offers guides on a variety of topics, such as how to be an alpha male, how to defend yourself from anti-fascist assailants and how to use memes to counter liberal propaganda.
The group insists that all its activities are perfectly legal per Florida law.
While militia leader Jereb claimed that Cruz was affiliated with the group, this hasn’t been confirmed by law enforcement.
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Jereb is no stranger to law enforcement himself. In 2016, he was arrested on charges of threatening and trying to extort a senior staffer in Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s office, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.
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