Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting

Overview

The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting, sometimes referred to as the Parkland Shooting, was a mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida. A total of 17 people were killed and another 15 were wounded in the attack. The suspected gunman was identified as 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, who was apprehended and taken into custody following the shooting.

Background

At approximately 2:00 p.m. EST on February 14th, 2018, a gunman activated a fire alarm and opened fire using a .223 caliber AR-15 rifle at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. After initial fleeing the scene by blending in with escaping students, the suspect was subsequently apprehended by authorities in Coral Springs, Florida.

Developments

That day, Twitter user @TheCaptainAiden posted tweets from inside the school during the shooting, saying "My school is being shot up and I am locked inside. I'm fucking scared right now" (shown below).

The same day, Twitter user @jnarls^[5] posted a video from inside the school during the shooting, with gun shots heard firing in the audio.

Twitter user @FranklinWSVN tweeted a video of the suspect being apprehended by police in Coral Springs (shown below). Meanwhile, a post about the shooting reached the front page of the /r/news^[3] subreddit.

Suspect Identified

That day, the Miami Herald^[2] incorrectly identified the suspected shooter as 19-year-old former Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Nicolas de Jesus Cruz. Later reports confirmed the suspect's first name was Nikolas, who often went by Nick. That evening, Cruz' mugshot was uploaded to the database on Sheriff.org (shown below).

Meanwhile, the pop culture sites PopCulture.com^[1] and Heavy^[8] published articles containing screenshots from an Instagram^[4] feed purportedly belonging to the shooter (shown below).

That evening, YouTuber Ben Bennight uploaded a vlog revealing that the FBI had just visited his house based on a disturbing comment left by a user, which he had reported in September of 2017 (shown below).

The following day, BuzzFeed^[6] published an article about the YouTube comment, highlight's Bennight's screenshot of his email to the FBI about user "nikolas cruz," who left the comment "I'm going to be a professional school shooter" (shown below). According to BuzzFeed, the FBI would not confirm the account belonged to the suspect and that the FBI's public affairs office "did not respond to multiple calls or emails."

Donald Trump's Response

The morning of February 15th, Donald Trump posted a tweet responding to the incident, saying that "neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem" and that they "must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!" (shown below).^[7] In less than 24 hours, the tweet gained over 50,500 likes and 12,500 retweets.

Also on February 15th, Trump held a press conference to address the shooting (shown below).

Antifa Hoax

On February 14th, the @LagBeachAntifa7 Twitter feed posted a selfie photograph of a man wearing a shirt printed with various Communist figures, including Fidel Castro, Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx, Mao Zedong and Josef Stalin, which falsely identified the man as a Nicolas Cruz. The tweet and the account were subsequently suspended.

The following day, Snopes published an article about the hoax, noting that the man in the photo had previous been targeting by 4chan users in anti-Communist threads.

White Supremacist Group 4chan Hoax

On February 15th, the Anti-Defamation League published an article titled "Florida White Supremacist Group Admits Ties to Alleged Parkland School Shooter Nikolas Cruz,"^[9] which claimed that the organization had been contacted by a man named Jordan Jereb, a "spokesperson for the white supremacist group Republic of Florida (ROF)" who alleged that Cruz was associated with the group. That day, the article reached the front page of the /r/politics^[10] subreddit. Articles about the white supremacist group connection were subsequently published by several mainstream news outlets, including The New York Times,^[11] Time,^[12] The Independent^[13] and Think Progress.^[14]

On February 16th, the @newsroom^[8] Twitter feed posted a series of tweets about the news reports, proposing that the rumor was actually a hoax orchestrated by 4chan users. In the Twitter thread, several screenshots were included explaining the hoax, one of which claimed that the Jordan Jereb was a "meme" who was often the target of prank calls (shown below). According to the screenshots, the hoax was orchestrated in order to embarrass for the news publishers for failing to fact check.

David Hogg Conspiracy Theories

On February 19th, 2018, the Gateway Pundit YouTube channel uploaded footage of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student David Hogg stumbling over his words while being interviewed about the shooting, alleging that he couldn't "remember his lines" (shown below). Shortly after, the video reached the frontpage of the /r/The_Donald^[19] subreddit, where it gathered upwards of 5,900 points (84% upvoted) and 370 comments within 18 hours. Meanwhile, the alternative medicine and conspiracy theory site Natural News^[17] published an article titled "It's All Theater: Florida high school shooting survivor caught on video rehearsing scripted lines, coached by camera man."

On February 20th, The Disgruntled Millennial Facebook page posted an image featuring a screencapture of Hogg during an interview in California with CBS2 News in August 2017 above a screen-captured image of Hogg being interviewed by CNN in February 2018, with comments speculating that Hogg was a crisis actor. That day, Newsweek^[16] published an article about the conspiracy theories titled "Right-wing Conspiracy Theorists Blame Anti-gun Rallies and Teen Activism on George Soros." Also on February 20th, Donald Trump Jr. liked two conspiracy theory tweets about Hogg, which suggested he had been "coached" by his ex-FBI agent father. The tweets were subsequently removed from the site. That day, BuzzFeed^[18] published an article titled "Donald Trump Jr. Liked Tweets Promoting A Conspiracy Theory About A Florida Shooting Survivor."

Trending YouTube Video

On February 21st, 2018, the 2017 CBS2 News clip, in which Hogg is shown discussing a viral video showing an argument between a bodysurfer and a lifeguard, reached the #1 trending position on YouTube.

That day, the tech news site Motherboard^[20] published an article titled "The #1 Trending Video on YouTube Right Now Suggests That a Student From the Parkland Shooting Is a Crisis Actor."
Meanwhile, Casey Neistat tweeted a screenshot of the trending page to the @YouTube and @PhillyD Twitter feeds (shown below). That day, YouTube removed the video, leaving the notice "This video has been removed for violating YouTube's policy on harassment and bullying."

Alex Jones Challenges David Hogg to Debate

On February 21st, 2018, the Infowars YouTube channel had a video suggesting that David Hogg and other Parkland Shooting survivors were "crisis actors" removed from YouTube, constituting a strike against the InfoWars channel. YouTube's policy is that if an account has three strikes in three months, it is terminated.^[21] On February 27th, Hogg took to Twitter to attack Jones, calling him a "shit journalist" and brought up when Jones made similar "false-flag" claims about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting.

Hogg also implied Jones a "snake oil salesman" with a picture of Jones' before/after pics selling his enhancement supplements, "Super Male Vitality," saying it took 45 days to become Thicc (shown below).

In response, Jones invited Hogg to come on his show in a series of tweets to "clear things up" and "defend the first amendment," suggesting Hogg had CNN suspend the Infowars YouTube account in his name.^[22]

Jones also posted a video wherein he issued the challenge to Hogg (shown below).

In response, Hogg stated he would not speak to anyone who had disparaging remarks for victims of mass shootings.

YouTube Crackdown

In late February 2018, YouTube began removing videos from the site which promoted conspiracy theories that the Marjory Stoneman students were actors being fed talking points by gun control lobbyists. Additionally, several channels were banned from the site, including Charlton, Charles Walton, Defango, Dustin Nemos, David Seaman, Destroying The Illusion, Ron Johnson, Richie Allen and Titus Frost.^[23] On February 24th, the Military Arms Channel published a Facebook post announcing that the channel had been "temporarily disabled" after getting multiple account strikes.

On February 28th, 2018, the tech news site The Outline^[23] published an article titled "YouTube is taking down conspiracy theorist channels and popular gun videos," which noted that while many reported that YouTube "also began banning gun-related channel en masse," they were only able to confirm that "warnings and individual video takedowns" had been issued to the Military Arms Channel.

Jake Paul's PSA

On March 12th, 2018, Jake Paul uploaded a video titled "It's Time to End School Shootings" (shown below). Within 24 hours, the video accumulated upwards of 2.2 million views and 41,000 comments.

In the video, Paul interviews students who survived the shooting, local police officers, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and discusses ways to prevent school shootings in the future. Paul proses that installing doors with bulletproof windows, purchases bulletproof shields, hiring additional resources officers, placing more responsibility on social media companies for removing conteint and check points for school entrances. That evening, NY Mag^[24] published an article about the video titled "I Watched Jake Paul's 22-Minute Parkland YouTube Video So You Don't Have To," which criticized the video and urged readers to abstain from giving him "clicks" by watching the content. The following day, Twitter published a Moments^[25] page about the video. On the platform, some users mocked Paul's suggestions to prevent shootings (shown below, left). Others defending Paul, noting he donated $25,000 to charity (shown below, right).

Time Magazine Cover

On March 22nd, 2018, Time^[26] magazine released the cover for the magazine featuring several of the Marjory Stoneman shooting survivors and organizers for the March for Our Lives rally in March 2018. Students and activists Jaclyn Corin, Alex Wind, Emma Gonzalez, Cameron Kasky and David Hogg appeared on the cover with the word "Enough." overlaid on top of them. In a tweet^[27] that day, Time launched the article and cover with an animated cover (shown below) and the caption, "TIME's new cover: The school shooting generation has had enough." Within six hours, the post received more than 4,900 retweets and 11,000 likes.

Clear Backpacks

On March 21st, The New York Times^[28] reported that after the brother of the shooting suspect was arrested for trespassing on school grounds and two students were arrested for bringing knives to school, students of Marjory Stoneman would be required to use clear backpacks at school. Broward County Public Schools superintendent Robert W. Runcie announced that any student that did not have a translucent bags would be provided one free of charge.

Some people reacted negatively to the announcement and voiced their disapproval on Twitter. Marjory Stoneman student and shooting survivor Lauren Hogg tweeted,^[29] "Great. Because clear backpacks are gonna fix everything. I appreciate the attempt, but I’d rather have common since gun laws than a clear backpack. #NeverAgain #EnoughIsEnough." The tweet (shown below, left) received more than 1,200 retweets and 5,200 likes in 24 hours.

Fellow Marjory Stoneman student Carly Novell tweeted,^[30] "Clear backpacks don't do anything except make us look stupid. We want to be safe, not uncomfortable. The only thing that can really have an impact on our safety is gun control." Within 24 hours, the tweet (shown below, center) received more than 1,400 retweets and 7,600 likes.

Twitter^[31] user and activist @KenidraRWoods_ tweeted, "well we already have clear backpacks at our school – a boy still managed to bring a knife and bullets so yeah. If they want to commit a crime, THEY WILL FIND A WAY. This is not always effective just saying." The post (shown below, right) received more than 580 retweets and 2,400 likes in 24 hours.

National School Walkout

On February 16th, 2018, two days after the Marjory Stoneman shooting, the Twitter^[33] account @schoolwalkoutUS launched as did a website^[34] for resources and planning of the event. On the website, they stated their mission:

"National School Walkout is a movement powered and led by students across the country. We’re protesting congressional, state, and local failures to take action to prevent gun violence. America is the only country in the world where so many people are killed by guns, and yet our leaders do nothing about it. In many states it’s more difficult to register to vote than it is to buy a rifle. Apparently to some politicians, a vote is scarier than a gun.

We’re changing that.

On Friday, April 20th, students will walk out of their classrooms at 10 am. There are over 2600 walkouts planned, at least one in every state. We are walking out for those who lost their lives to gun violence, to talk about the real problems our country is facing, and to find solutions the problems that our leaders have failed to address.

On April 18th, David Hogg tweeted^[32] a video calling for a national school walkout for the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting, which took place on April 20th, 1999. He added the caption, "On 4/20 walkout at 9:50 @ 10:00 AM have a 1 min 13 sec moment of silence for those lost at Columbine #NationalWalkout #NationalSchoolWalkout." The post (shown below) received more than 5,200 retweets and 11,200 likes in 24 hours.

Before the students walked out on April 20th, teachers of Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school walked out of classrooms to protest gun violence in schools. That morning people, particularly students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas posted images of the walkout in solidarity. Student Alex Wind tweeted,^[35] "Our teachers deserve the same support the students are getting! #ArmedWithSupport #ArmWithMoney." The post (shown below, left) received more than 320 retweet and 1,800 likes in six hours.

Student Delaney Tarr tweeted,^[36] "THESE are the people who educated us. These are the people who inspire us. Our teachers are our heroes." The post (shown below, center) recieved more than 250 retweets and 1,300 likes in 24 hours.

Reporter Dianne Gallagher tweeted^[37] photographs of the walkout with the caption, "On this school walk out day, teachers at #StonemanDouglas are demonstrating before classes start this morning-- demanding an end to gun violence, chanting #NeverAgain & #EnoughIsEnough." The post (shown below, right) received more than 350 retweets and 1,100 likes in 24 hours.

That day, students around the United States walked out of their school in protest of gun violence (footage below).

Several media outlets covered the walkout, including The New York Times,^[38] CNN,^[39] Vox^[40] and more.

On April 20th, Twitter published several Moments pages about the walkout.^[41][42]

Kyle Kashuv's Harvard Controversy

On June 17th, 2019, Parkland student and activst Kyle Kashuv tweeted^[43] that his acceptence into Harvard College had been rescinded after a series of racist comments he had made in a private chat had resurfaced. He wrote, "Harvard rescinded my acceptance. Three months after being admitted to Harvard Class of 2023, Harvard has decided to rescind my admission over texts and comments made nearly two years ago, months prior to the shooting. I have some thoughts. Here’s what happened." The tweet received more than 8,300 likes, 3,000 retweets and 3,000 comments in 24 hours (shown below).

Throughout the theady, Kashuv details his experience with Harvard, both coming forward after the comments resurfaced and his exchanged with Harvard Dean of Admissions William R. Fitzsimmons (example below, left and center). Finally, he wrote, "Harvard deciding that someone can’t grow, especially after a life-altering event like the shooting, is deeply concerning. If any institution should understand growth, it’s Harvard, which is looked to as the pinnacle of higher education despite its checkered past[…]I believe that institutions and people can grow. I've said that repeatedly. In the end, this isn’t about me, it's about whether we live in a society in which forgiveness is possible or mistakes brand you as irredeemable, as Harvard has decided for me" (shown below, right).

That day, Twitter^[44] published a Moments page on the thread.

People reacted both positively and negatively to the thread. Twitter^[45] user @primalpoly tweeted, "Harvard is a private university; if it wants to admit only students who conform to certain political views, that's its prerogative. (Like private Bible colleges should be free to only admit Christians.) But it should have the integrity & honesty to say so up front. It didn't." The tweet received more than 800 likes and 100 retweets in 24 hours (shown below, left).

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro tweeted,^[46] "Regardless of what you think of @KyleKashuv -- and for the record, I think he, like many other Parkland survivors, has handled the public limelight with grace and strength -- Harvard's auto-da-fe sets up an insane, cruel standard no one can possibly meet." His tweet received more than 5,100 likes and 1,200 retweets in 24 hours (shown below, center).

Slate writer Aymann Ismail tweeted,^[47] "A lot of white people still don't get it. This isn't a gaff. You're not only embarrassing yourself. You don't owe me, harvard, or twitter an apology. You recorded yourself calling your classmates 'n--rjocks.' This isn't about PC. This is about abuse. Harvard is right to rescind." Ismail's tweet received more than 2,100 likes and 500 retweets in 24 hours (shown below, left).

This was not the first time Kashuv's acceptance was taken into consideration. In May 2019, conservative provocateur Laura Loomer attempted to have his aacceptance rescinded. On May 23rd, 2019, Twitter user @LevineJonathan tweeted, "Laura Loomer is attempting to pressure Harvard into revoking their acceptance of Kyle Kashuv over his recently unearthed remarks" (shown below).

Several media outlets reported on the controversy, including The Hill,^[48] The Daily Beast,^[49] USA Today,^[50] Fox News^[51] and more.

Search Interest

External References