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Florida lawmaker’s aide fired after claiming shooting survivors were actors

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida state representative has apparently fired an aide who emailed a reporter a claim that two survivors of a South Florida school shooting were actors.

Republican Rep. Shawn Harrison tweeted a comment that he didn’t agree with the “insensitive and inappropriate comments” made by aide Benjamin Kelly. Kelly later tweeted that he’d been terminated and said it was a mistake to make the claim in an email to Tampa Bay Times reporter Alex Leary.

Leary tweeted about the email he received from Kelly. It had a screenshot of two Marjory Stoneman Douglas students being interviewed on television and said the students were actors.

Harrison said in his tweet that Kelly acted without his knowledge.

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