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The mayor of Fort Lauderdale, Florida has been asked to apologize after claiming the driver of the truck that hit a crowd at the Stonewall Pride Parade in Wilton Manors on Saturday was a terrorist.
Mayor Dean Trantalis saw the van enter spectators during the parade. He described the events of the crash to a WPLG reporter at the scene and said he believed the driver was targeting Florida MP Debbie Wasserman Shultz, who was nearby when the incident occurred.
“It was a terrorist attack on the LGBT community; that’s exactly what it is,” he said.
The reporter then asked Trantalis if he believed the crash was an accident.
“It’s hardly an accident. It was deliberate, it was premeditated, and it was targeted at a specific person. Luckily they missed that person, but unfortunately they hit two other people.”
Trantalis echoed his statement after learning that one of those struck had died.
“What we saw was a terrorist attack on the LGBT community,” Trantilis said. “It’s disgusting; we won’t stand it. It won’t happen in my city or any city.”
Following the accident, Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus President Justin Knight identified the conductor as a member of the choir.
“To my knowledge, this was not an attack on the LGBTQ community,” Knight said in a statement to NBC.
Police are investigating the scene where a pickup truck crashed into a crowd during a pride parade on June 19, 2021 in Wilton Manors, Fla. One person died and another was injured in the incident which is still under investigation. Jason Koerner / Getty Images
Wilton Manors City commissioner Chris Caputo tweeted shortly after the crash that killed one person, saying he was “filled with sadness” but “it seems more and more likely that he is act of an accident ”.
Social media criticism targeting Trantalis began after a video of him calling the event a terrorist attack was posted on Twitter.
“If the mayor had waited for even 15 minutes, he could have made a reasoned statement. Video of the arrest showed the driver wearing a gay men’s t-shirt, which was more than enough to cast doubt on reasonable on the pilot’s intention, ”author and radio host Grant Stern said in a tweet.
“It would have been nice if the mayor had waited for the facts,” journalist Carmine Sabia said.
“I hope @DeanTrantalis is sued, then removed or defeated. Government officials should not be able to [to] accuse someone of * terrorism * so casually without facts, ”tweeted David Reaboi, senior researcher at the Claremont Institute.
Other criticisms echoed on Twitter, asking the mayor to withdraw his premature statement and to apologize for calling the incident a terrorist attack. Trantlis has yet to comment on the situation.
Newsweek has contacted Trantalis, but has not had a response at the time of publication.
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