Florida Congress Aide Terminated After Suggesting Shooting Survivors Are 'Actors'

Rep. Shawn Harrison (Image Credit: SaintPetersBlog)

Earlier today, Alex Leary, the Washington Bureau Chief of the Tampa Bay Times, sent out a tweet which said the following:

An aide to state Rep. Shawn Harrison, using state email, sent me this: "Both kids in the picture are not students here but actors that travel to various crisis when they happen."

Next, he posted the email he received from Harrison's aide:

Rep. Shawn Harrison responded shortly after with the following statement:

I was just made aware that my aide made an insensitive and inappropriate allegation about Parkland students today. I have spoken to him and placed him on leave until we determine an appropriate course of action. I do not share his opinion and he did so without my knowledge.

According to Fox News:

Following Harrison’s post, Kelly wrote that he’s been "terminated from the State House" because he "tried to inform a reporter of information relating to his story regarding a school shooting. This was not my responsibility. I meant no disrespect to the students or parents of Parkland."

Kelly said, verbatim:

I’ve been terminated from the State House. I made a mistake whereas I tried to inform a reporter of information relating to his story regarding a school shooting. This was not my responsibility. I meant no disrespect to the students or parents of Parkland.

His Twitter account has since been deleted, but we were able to take a screenshot from a Bing search: