On Saturday, there was national outrage over a white truck that drove into a crowd at the Wilton Manors Stonewall Parade and Festival in Florida, tragically killing one person and injuring another. The Fort Lauderdale mayor called it a “terrorist attack” and the FBI assisted in the investigation of the alleged “hate crime.”
The South Florida Sentinel quoted the Fort Lauderdale mayor’s reaction to the deadly incident:
Mayor of Fort Lauderdale, where truck ran into crowd at Pride parade: “This was a terrorist attack against the LGBTQ community. He came here to destroy people. This was clearly no accident.” https://t.co/95mxmE8Siy
— South Florida Sun Sentinel (@SunSentinel) June 20, 2021
“This was a terrorist attack against the LGBTQ community,” Dean Trantalis. “He came here to destroy people. This was clearly no accident.”
The driver jumped out of the truck after the crash and “the police grabbed him,” Trantalis added. “He was screaming vulgarities.”
As the Sun Sentinel noted, other people who did not know the driver agreed that it appeared to be intentional.
“We were at the start of the parade, right in front of Fort Lauderdale High School,” said spectator Christina Currie. “All of a sudden there was a loud revving of a truck and a crash through a fence. It was definitely an intentional act right across the lanes of traffic.”
As a narrator might say, “It appears to be an accident.”
A reporter at WPLG Local 10 was able to piece together several pieces of information that paint the picture that the suspect is unlikely to have been a ‘terrorist’ and the incident indeed was accidental.
Here’s our first look at the truck in that hit at least 2 people at the #Pride parade in @WiltonManorsCty. I’ve covered up the license plate in case this was a horrible accident. @WPLGLocal10 Per @jojoWPLG pic.twitter.com/uj4aBq0Hws
— Ian Margol (@IanMargolWPLG) June 20, 2021
“Here’s our first look at the truck in that hit at least 2 people at the parade in @WiltonManorsCty,” Ian Margol reported. “I’ve covered up the license plate in case this was a horrible accident.”
The reporter was also able to obtain footage of the suspect being led away by police.
This is believed to be the driver of the truck, he is in custody.
🎥- @delarosaWPLG #Pride2021 @WiltonManorsCty https://t.co/Uq6sUjHNuM pic.twitter.com/VIC4yGSvZ8— Ian Margol (@IanMargolWPLG) June 19, 2021
“Video posted to Twitter by a WPLG-Ch. 10 reporter appeared to show the driver being taken into custody wearing a T-shirt bearing the logo of the chorus on the back,” the Sun Sentinel noted about the footage.
In addition, although the chorus’s president Justin Knight declined to reveal the driver’s identity, he stated definitely, “This was not an attack on the LGBTQ community.”
UPDATE: President of the Ft Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus says they believe this was a tragic accident and confirm the driver was a member of their group. @WPLGLocal10 pic.twitter.com/RjvcCTE6cl
— Ian Margol (@IanMargolWPLG) June 20, 2021
“Our thoughts and prayers are with those who are affected,” said Knight, who was not at the scene, the Sentinel noted, but recognized the driver from video. “Our fellow chorus members were those injured, and the driver was a part of the chorus family … To my knowledge it was an accident. This was not an attack on the LGBTQ community.”
Although one was killed in the incident, in an update on the accident, another person is expected to survive. The accident victims’ names were not yet released to the public.
Finally, a bit of good news from the #Pride parade in @WiltonManorsCty and FTL. @ftlauderdalepd says the 2nd victim is expected to survive. FBI now helping with the investigation. They say it’s still too soon to determine intent or accidental. @WPLGLocal10https://t.co/RPxm5HMcum
— Ian Margol (@IanMargolWPLG) June 20, 2021
More on this story can be gotten from CBS Miami below.
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