Florida State football fan Kade McLendon is accused of sending a series of abusive and racist Instagram messages to Miami Hurricanes star Damon Wilson II following a Seminoles loss last weekend.
The Florida Bar, where McLendon works as a computer technician employee, announced initial steps to investigate the matter on Monday before releasing an update on the situation Tuesday afternoon.
“The Florida Bar has put employee Kade McLendon on administrative leave while the investigation is ongoing,” the organization said in a statement. “The messages in question are not only ethically and morally reprehensible but also violate our internal social media policy for employees.”
“As the internal investigation continues, we are committed to enforcing our policies and procedures while making sure that any due process rights are protected,” the Florida Bar statement concluded.
While an ultimate conclusion to the matter is still pending, the follow-up statement drew backlash from fans online, many of whom were calling for McLendon to be immediately fired.
“You saw the ignorant racially charged DMs that he sent,” X user @afrodeegee wrote about The Florida Bar statement. “There’s nothing to investigate. You either stand with racists or you don’t. Why is he, a racist, being handled with white gloves???”
“You should terminate him just for being so stupid,” X user @madbad added. “Put aside the vile things he said, you can’t have any employee with such poor judgement.”
“So he’s still getting paid?” X user @DrDopeCope chimed in. “Y’all can’t read in Florida?”
While it is unclear if McLendon’s administrative leave is paid or unpaid, the Florida Bar may be bound to follow strict procedural guidelines if it does indeed decide to fire McLendon. That potential fact is unlikely to quiet angry social media users, though, after they read the reprehensible messages the former Florida State student allegedly sent to Wilson.
While many of the messages Wilson received in a screenshot he shared are too explicit and insensitive to republish, McLendon used multiple racist and homophobic slurs, threatened physical and sexual abuse, and made multiple references to slavery and the history of segregation in the United States.
“You’re the type of people that should be forced to the back of the bus,” McLendon wrote in one of the messages sent to Wilson.
Social media users initially reposted Wilson’s screenshot online and matched the full name used on McLendon’s Instagram account to a LinkedIn profile that also appears to belong to McLendon.
While that LinkedIn account has now been deleted, it showed that McLendon identified himself as a Florida State student from January 2022-December 2023. It also listed his current job title as “Computer Technician” for the Florida Bar, which is a “statewide professional organization of lawyers that serves as an advocate & intermediary for attorneys, the court & the public,” according to a social media account belonging to the organization.
While the senior Wilson did not record any official statistics in Miami’s 43-35 win over Florida State on Saturday, he was directly involved in one of the final two controversial plays to end the game in the second overtime.
Florida State offensive lineman Xavier Chaplin was flagged for a questionable holding penalty after he knocked Wilson to the ground during an apparent fourth-and-21 touchdown pass from Seminoles quarterback Ashton Daniels to wide receiver Micahi Danzy.
After the holding penalty wiped out that touchdown and put the Seminoles in a do-or-die, fourth-and-31 situation, Daniels heaved a second hail mary attempt to the end zone. The ball initially appeared to be simultaneously caught in the end zone by Florida State wide receiver Duce Robinson and Miami safety Bryce Fitzgerald.
Officials ruled the play an interception by Fitzgerald on the field, and it was upheld after video review to give Miami the eight-point victory; the now-No. 1 Hurricanes avoided a major upset after they were favored by over three touchdowns entering the game inside their home stadium.
Florida State fell to 3-4 with the loss, while the win helped Miami (6-0) rise from No. 3 to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 Poll. Across the sport, it was a volatile weekend that featured five of the top seven teams all losing for the first time in the poll’s history, which dates back to 1936.
The Hurricanes and Wilson are set to host unranked Pittsburgh (5-2) on Saturday, while the Seminoles have a bye week before facing Clemson in Tallahassee, Florida, on Halloween.
