The Republic of Florida Militia (ROF) is a white supremacist group based in Florida[1] that promotes white supremacist ideology; the group's goal is to form a white ethno-state[2] in Florida and it engages in paramilitary training to further this goal. ROF borrows paramilitary concepts from the militia movement and has a small following in the Tallahassee area, as well as a small presence in South Florida.[3][4][5]
| Republic of Florida Militia | |
|---|---|
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| Leader | Jordan Jereb |
| Country | United States |
| Motives | Creation of a White ethnostate |
| Headquarters | Tallahassee |
| Active regions | Florida |
| Ideology | Far-right accelerationism White separatism White nationalism antisemitism |
| Notable attacks | Parkland high school shooting (Claimed) |
ROF attends events organized by other white supremacist groups and spreads its ideology online. The group has developed relationships and associations with other organizations, including Vinlanders Social Club, League of the South, Atomwaffen, and the Traditionalist Worker Party.[6]
ROF's leader, Jordan Jereb, founded the group in 2014. Jereb and other members of the group have made violent threats in the past, and while the group does not have a significant history of violence, its use of violent language has raised concerns. Jereb was first arrested in 2016 for threatening a staffer in the office of Florida Governor Rick Scott.[7] In August 2017, he was arrested a second time and charged with trespassing after allegedly entering his old high school with another member of the group.[8]
In February 2018, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported that Jereb had claimed that suspected shooter Nikolas Cruz was affiliated with ROF. This claim was quickly picked up by other media outlets, causing known white supremacists like The Daily Stormer's Andrew Anglin and Traditionalist Worker Party's Matthew Parrott to distance themselves from ROF and the shooting.[9][10][11][12]
However, it was later reported that Jereb had recanted his claim of Cruz's involvement with ROF, stating that he had made the claim as a joke and had no real information about Cruz's alleged ties to the group. Despite this, the association between ROF and the school shooting brought additional attention and scrutiny to the group and its leadership.[13][14][15][16][17] In 2015, the Republic of Florida Militia (ROF) and the white supremacist group League of the South (LOS) organized a protest in Tallahassee, Florida against the Florida State University's Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) group, who had burned a Confederate flag to protest increased Ku Klux Klan (KKK) recruiting in the area.
References
- ^ "What to Know About Republic of Florida, a White Supremacist Group". Time. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ "Here's what we know about the white supremacist group allegedly linked to the Florida shooter". Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ "Republic of Florida (ROF)". www.adl.org. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ "Republic of Florida Militia (U.S.)". www.crwflags.com. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ "Historical Flags of Our Ancestors - Flags of Extremism - Part 3 (o-z)". www.loeser.us. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ Stall, Hampton (2018-02-16). "Secessionist Boot Camps, White Nationalist Ideology, and School Shooting: A review of the Republic…". MilitiaWatch. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ "Stars Behind Bars: League of the South Joins Republic of Florida Militia for FSU Protest". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ "Militiaman Down". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ "The 'Republic of Florida': What We Know About White Nationalist Group That Claims Florida Shooter Nikolas Cruz as a Member". Haaretz. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ Batchelor, Amanda (2018-02-15). "What is the Republic of Florida Militia?". WPLG. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ "florida-school-shooting-suspect/story". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2018-02-26. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ "Leader of white nationalist group says Florida shooting suspect was a member". PBS NewsHour. 2018-02-15. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ G, Cristina López. "Chronicle of a white supremacist PR crisis and the making of a hoax". Media Matters for America. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ "Lessons to be learned from the ROF Florida shooting hoax". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ "Joke's on Jordan Jereb: Republic of Florida leader charged with lying to police about Parkland shooter". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ Etters, Karl. "Local law enforcement: No ties between militia and Florida high school shooter". Tallahassee Democrat. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ "White nationalist leader Jordan Jereb charged with making false report". Tallahassee Democrat. Retrieved 2022-12-28.