One of the victims of the 2018 Parkland, Florida, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting got revenge on the school shooter this week in an unorthodox fashion.
The infamous shooting, perpetrated by Nickolas Cruz — who is currently serving 34 consecutive life sentences — claimed the lives of 17 people and resulted in the injuries of an additional 17. One of those injured, 21-year-old Anthony Borges, suffered several gunshot wounds during the attack.
Now, according to a report from local Florida outlet the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Borges recently settled a civil suit with Cruz.
Thanks to that settlement, Borges now owns Cruz’s name.
Due to the settlement, Cruz cannot enter into any financial deals involving his story — including docu-series, films, books, exposés or any other related media — without the authorization of Borges.
“The idea is to keep him from being able to inflict further torture on his victims from jail,” he said.
“[No] interviews at all unless Borges says it’s OK,” the Sentinel reported.
“And Borges won’t say it’s OK. Not for a long time, at least.”
According to Borges’s lawyer, the reasoning behind the move was to take away Cruz’s ability to further “torture” his victims by only telling his side of the story.
Should Cruz have received the death penalty instead of 34 consecutive life sentences?
Borges has stood alone legally since the Parkland incident.
Though many of the other Parkland shooting victims’ families settled a collective suit with the school district in 2021, Borges chose to separate himself, according to the Sentinel.
As a result, Borges’s attorney claims he netted a far bigger settlement.
Borges’s legal aggressiveness has irked some in the Parkland community.
As reported by the Sentinel, some believe that most of the recompense taken via suits should be set aside for the families of victims who died.
Such sentiments may not take into account the extent to which Borges’s injuries are affecting him both daily and long-term.
The Sentinel reported that Borges will be forced to pay for treatment for his injuries — caused by shots to the lungs, abdomen and legs — for the rest of his life.
Despite these costs, Borges told the Sentinel that he would not use his newfound rights to Cruz’s name for financial benefit.
