Simmering anger bubbled to the surface during the first session of the Tuesday afternoon jury selection in the sentencing trial of mass murderer Nikolas Cruz.
The entire pool of 70 prospective jurors was dismissed after one man among them got upset.
He was identified as juror 19.
As deputies escorted him out of the courtroom, he was overheard saying "that's horrible."
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Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer held a sidebar discussion with all the attorneys and then dismissed the jury pool. A few were heard clapping.
The man was separated from the other jurors in the corridor outside the courtroom.
He told a deputy, "You traumatized us all," as jurors gathered by the elevators.
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Juror 19 was separated farther away from the group and was heard saying, "I want to break down. I want to cry. I want to curse that POS off. I wasn't trying to cause any problems. He's just a piece of (expletive)."
Back in the courtroom, the judge explained that juror 19 was cursing under his breath which upset juror nine, then juror 25 got riled up.
It started to spread among other jurors and there was a concern juror 19 would come back and perhaps lunge at Cruz, Scherer said.
Deputies saw what was happening and stepped in to remove him.
"This group was belligerent," said Scherer. "The whole group started to get mouthy."
Juror 19 was allowed to leave after the other jurors had already left the 17th floor of the Broward County courthouse.
Click here for complete coverage of the Parkland school shooting jury selection
