Florida official who made tasteless, anti-LGBTQ+ post about Pulse shooting reinstated by judge

A judge has reinstated a Florida elected official suspended for mocking victims of the Pulse shooting.

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Attorney Anthony Sabatini posted on social media that Groveland City Councilwoman Judith Fike had been reinstated after peers suspended her over old social media posts. The case is not completely settled, but Fike will continue to sit on the City Council while she runs for reelection.

“My client Groveland City Councilmember Judy Fike has been REINSTATED to the Groveland City Council, effective immediately — after a preliminary hearing today at the Lake County Courthouse — HUGE WIN,” Sabatini posted. “The case will continue, but the major form of relief has been granted.”

Florida Circuit Judge Dan Morley in a court order wrote Fike would likely be politically damaged by being suspended from her duties.

“There is a likelihood of irreparable harm in that Petitioner is prohibited from voting at council meetings while suspended,” he wrote. “As previously stated, the suspension is not set fourth [sic] in the City Charter of Ethics Policy therefore there is a substantial likelihood of success on the merits.”

He also wrote that allowing Fike to vote on city issues did not present a disservice to the public.

Groveland City Council members suspended Fike this month because of resurfaced social media posts from before she was appointed to her position. Those included one many read as a mockery of the 2016 Pulse shooting that left 49 dead in a gay club in Orlando. Groveland is located about 30 miles from the club.

The offending post read, “‘Duh….why would the shooter target a gay club? My answer…Easier than marching them up steps to push off the roof..some sarcasm, some truth,” according to the Orlando Sentinel.

At the meeting where she was suspended, Fike said the post was misconstrued. “It was meant as a support of the community,” she said, as reported by Central Florida Public Media.

Fike claimed to be alluding to killings happening in the Middle East at the time, where ISIS leaders reportedly executed queer people in Syria by throwing them from rooftops. Pulse shooter Omar Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIS during a standoff with law enforcement where he was ultimately killed.