Accused Parkland Gunman Receiving Love Letters, Fan Mail

The Broward County jail is receiving love letters and fan mail addressed to Nikolas Cruz, the accused gunman in the deadly Parkland school shooting, according to the public defender’s office.The South Florida Sun Sentinel obtained copies of some of the correspondence, including greeting cards, letters and photographs, that’s been sent to Cruz. Parkland Alumni, Survivors Advocate for Safer Gun Laws Cruz’s commissary account has also received hundreds of dollars in contributions, which can be used by inmates to buy food, drinks, hygiene products and other items, according to the report.  Teenage girls, women and older men are sending Cruz correspondence. Broward County public defender Howard Finkelstein confirmed to NBC6 that Cruz has received the letters. Officials Recommended Committing Fla. Shooting Suspect in 2016 “I reserve the right to care about you, Nikolas!” a woman from Texas wrote in a greeting card six days after the shooting. The card has an illustration of a rabbit holding binoculars as it looks out to the ocean with the caption; “Out of sight, but never out of mind.”In another letter, overcome with hearts and happy faces drawn by hand, a Texas teenager told Cruz that when she saw his face on television, “something attracted me to you.” Survivors of School Shooting Take Gun Control Message Abroad “Your eyes are beautiful and the freckles on your face make you so handsome,” the letter reads, with the writer describing herself as a skinny, busty, white high school senior. A Chicago woman also sent Cruz nine suggestive photos.A man from New York sent Cruz a card with a cat in the front that included photos of himself behind the wheel of his 1992 Nissan convertible, while an 18-year-old also from New York told Cruz to “hang in there and keep your head up.”“No one else is dealing w/your demons, meaning maybe defeating them could be the beginning of your meaning, friend. I know you could use a good friend right now,” reads the letter, which features hearts colored in pink ink.People are also joining Facebook and other online communities to discuss how to help the accused gunman. Hashtags are being spread by sympathizers showing support for Cruz.Finkelstein’s office is representing Cruz. Finkelstein told NBC6 he has never seen a defendant receive so many letters in his 40 years as a public defender.Cruz has not yet seen the correspondence because he is on suicide watch, Finkelstein told the Sun Sentinel. Other than legal mail, Broward County jail workers open inmates’ mail, per Broward County Sheriff’s Office procedure.“We read a few religious ones to him that extended wishes for his soul and to come to God,” Finkelstein told the newspaper, “but we have not and will not read him the fan letters or share the photos of scantily-clad teenage girls.”Finkelstein said he worries that boys and girls across the country are idolizing Cruz and “looking up to his fame and notoriety.””The letters shake me up because they are written by regular, everyday teenage girls from across the nation,” Finkelstein said. “That scares me. It’s perverted.”Photo Credit: Broward Sheriff’s Office This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.
Source: NBC San Diego