Dean Trantalis Fails to Apologize for Making False 'Terror Attack' Allegation

It took a full day for Openly-gay Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis to attempt to walk back the unbelievably irresponsible and false statements he made about this past weekend's tragic car accident at the Stonewall Gay Pride parade in Wilton Manors that resulted in the death of one person and left two others injured.

Trantalis put out a half-baked explanation, and instead of taking the opportunity to take back the egregiously false assertions he made, Trantalis could not bring himself to do the right thing and apologize.

Moments after a man driving a white truck narrowly missed hitting the parade car that Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was riding in and hit the two pedestrians, Mayor Trantalis called the act “a terrorist attack against the LBGTQ community” that also targeted Rep. Wasserman Schultz.

"This is a terrorist attack against the LGBT community," Trantalis told Local 10 News . "This is exactly what it is. Hardly an accident. It was deliberate, it was premeditated, and it was targeted against a specific person (Wasserman Schultz). Luckily they missed that person, but unfortunately, they hit two other people."

Trantalis was wrong and caught in a big lie. The incident wasn’t “premeditated” and it wasn’t an attack against the gay community.

Minutes after the video was released showing the alleged driver being taken into police custody, we noticed that he was wearing a pride-colored Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Choir t-shirt, prompting us to question if he was not part of the parade itself.

We were right.

According to WPLG 10, in a statement, the president of the men’s choir confirmed that the driver and individuals hit were part of the community and the incident “was not an attack on the LGBTQ community.”

“Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the tragic accident that occurred when the Stonewall Pride Parade was just getting started,” Knight said in a statement to WPLG.

“Our fellow Chorus members were those injured and the driver was also a part of the Chorus family. To my knowledge, this was not an attack on the LGBTQ community. We anticipate more details to follow and ask for the community’s love and support,” Knight said

Here is Trantalis’ statement:

Last evening, at the start of what was to be a celebration of pride for the LGBT community and commemoration of our hard-won victories for equality, our community faced the worst of tragedies. The grief of our LGBT community — and greater Fort Lauderdale as a whole — is palpable.

I was an eyewitness to the horrifying events. It terrorized me and all around me. I reported what I saw to law enforcement and had strong concerns about what transpired — concerns for the safety of my community. I feared it could be intentional based on what I saw from mere feet away.

Law enforcement took what appeared obvious to me and others nearby and investigated further — as is their job. As the facts continue to be pieced together, a picture is emerging of an accident in which a truck careened out of control. As a result, one man died, two others were injured and the lives of two members of Congress were at risk. My heart breaks for all impacted by this tragedy.-Mayor Dean Trantalis