Jordan Jereb: Republic of Florida, Parkland Hoax, and Charges

Jordan Jereb is the founder and leader of the Republic of Florida, a small white supremacist militia based in Tallahassee. He became nationally known in February 2018 after falsely telling reporters and investigators that the Parkland school shooter had trained with his group. The claim was picked up by major news organizations before law enforcement debunked it, and Jereb was later charged with making a false report to police and arrested for violating probation on an earlier felony.

The Parkland Hoax

On February 14, 2018, a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Within hours, a coordinated disinformation campaign began on a Discord server popular with neo-Nazis and spread to 4chan, where anonymous users posted fabricated claims and photos suggesting the shooter, Nikolas Cruz, was a “revolutionary member” of the Republic of Florida.¹

Jereb amplified the story. After the Anti-Defamation League contacted him based on the 4chan thread, he confirmed the association to the ADL, the Associated Press, and the Daily Beast, saying Cruz had trained with his group and participated in paramilitary drills in Tallahassee. The AP’s reporting spread across the country. ABC News published a story quoting purported former schoolmates who claimed Cruz had marched with the group; those sources were later identified as the same online trolls who originated the hoax, and ABC removed the story from its website.²

The claims collapsed quickly. By the evening of February 15, Leon County Sheriff’s Lt. Grady Jordan said there were “no known ties between the ROF, Jordan Jereb or the Broward shooter.”³⁴⁵

Jereb’s explanations shifted. On Gab he called it a “legit misunderstanding,” blaming confusion over “multiple people named Nicholas in ROF.”⁶ He also cited “lack of sleep and confusion over names.”⁷ To the New Yorker he was more candid, acknowledging he had been “tricked” initially but then “just played along” once he saw the ADL amplifying the story. He wrote in an email that the media attention was attracting “new potential recruits.”²

The Republic of Florida

Jereb founded the Republic of Florida in 2014. The ADL has classified it as an alt-right-styled white supremacist group that advocates “white identitarian politics” and the creation of a white ethnostate in Florida.⁸ Members adopt paramilitary trappings, including rank structures, uniforms, and organized training exercises.

The group has always been small. Multiple reports describe a membership of roughly a dozen people, based mainly in Tallahassee with a minor presence in South Florida.⁹ Members have appeared at demonstrations alongside the League of the South, and the group has maintained relationships with the Atomwaffen Division, the Traditionalist Worker Party, and the Vinlanders Social Club.⁸ The Southern Poverty Law Center described the ROF as a group of “misfits and ex-cons” and noted that even within far-right circles Jereb was widely mocked as a “LARPer,” someone playing at extremism rather than posing a serious threat.¹⁰

Earlier Arrests and Extremist Activity

Before drawing national attention, Jereb had accumulated a record of arrests and provocative behavior in Tallahassee. In 2014, he and his second-in-command were arrested for trespassing at their former high school after law enforcement grew concerned about what the SPLC described as “threatening rhetoric” from the group.¹¹ He faced outstanding burglary charges at the time. He produced videos on paramilitary tactics and survivalism, sometimes performing Nazi salutes on camera, and authored a manual called Jackass Warfare: How punk kids could destroy an oppressive government, which the SPLC said was “filled with ways to blow things up.”

Jereb publicly praised Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik, calling him a “hero,” and in 2014 wrote online that “the traitors of my country (Florida) will be hung in our courts.”⁸ He also shared videos about shooting police officers and voiced support for the use of Molotov cocktails, according to the SPLC.¹²

In 2016, Jereb was arrested for extortion by threats after threatening a high-ranking member of then-Governor Rick Scott’s staff. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to one year in prison and four years of probation.¹³ As a convicted felon, he was barred from possessing weapons, firearms, or ammunition.

Charges and Legal Consequences After the Hoax

The false Cruz claims triggered a chain of legal consequences. On February 15, 2018, the day after the shooting, Jereb gave an interview to law enforcement in which he repeated his claims. Those statements became the basis for a charge of knowingly making a false report to law enforcement, filed by State Attorney’s Office investigator Jason Newlin.⁷

Before that charge was formally filed, the FBI used Jereb’s remarks to secure a search warrant. On March 21, 2018, federal, state, and local officers raided the Tallahassee home of Jereb’s mother in the Piney Z Plantation neighborhood, where he lived.⁹ Officers seized computers, documents, cellphones, and two KA-6 tactical knives.⁴ Because the knives violated the weapons prohibition attached to his 2016 extortion probation, he was immediately arrested for violation of probation.¹⁴

Jereb remained in the Leon County Jail for several months. In April 2018, he pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor false report charge.¹³ In July 2018, his attorney and the state reached an agreement in which Jereb admitted to the probation violation and was released under strict conditions: a GPS monitor, a requirement to stay at least 500 feet from all schools, a curfew, and a ban on using social media or the Republic of Florida website.¹⁵

In November 2020, the First District Court of Appeal of Florida denied Jereb’s petition for a belated appeal in the case styled Jordan Jereb v. State of Florida, Case No. 1D20-1330.¹⁶

1
Politico. Florida Shooting White Nationalists
2
The New Yorker. The Racists Trying to Exploit the Parkland Shooting
3
Snopes. Nikolas Cruz White Supremacist Group
4
Southern Poverty Law Center. Republic of Florida Leader Charged With Lying to Police About Parkland Shooter
5
NBC News. Florida Shooting Aftermath: How Media Errors Can Make Mass Shootings Worse
6
Time. Republic of Florida, Nikolas Cruz, and White Supremacist Militia
7
Tallahassee Democrat. White Nationalist Leader Jereb Charged With Making False Report
8
Anti-Defamation League. Republic of Florida
9
Tallahassee Democrat. FBI Searching Home of Tallahassee White Supremacist
10
Southern Poverty Law Center. Lessons to Be Learned From the ROF Florida Shooting Hoax
11
Southern Poverty Law Center. Militiaman Down
12
Southern Poverty Law Center. Stars Behind Bars: League of the South Joins Republic of Florida Militia at FSU Protest
13
WCTV. Self-Proclaimed Extremist Leader Facing New Charge
14
Tallahassee Democrat. Judge: Jereb Had Tactical Knives, Violating Probation
15
WTXL. Leader of Tallahassee Hate Group Released From Jail
16
FindLaw. Jordan Jereb v. State of Florida, 1D20-1330