It Begins: Florida Lawmaker Calls on Governor to Remove Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel from Office

Jim Hoft by Jim Hoft February 25, 2018

17 children and adults were slaughtered in a mass shooting by Nikolas Cruz in a February 14th attack in Highland, Florida.

Three Broward County Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene but were standing outside the school.

On Friday CNN reported that three Broward County Sheriff’s Deputies waited outside the school during the shooting.

How is it that the neighboring police department officers were the first ones to enter the building?

On Saturday Florida Republican lawmaker Bill Hager called on Governor Rick Scott to fire Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel.

CBS 12 reported:

Rep. Bill Hager (Boca Raton), the chairman of the Florida House of Justice Appropriations, has called on Gov. Rick Scott to remove Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel – a power the governor has under Florida law – from his post for neglect of duty and incompetence in regards to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

In his letter to the governor on Saturday, Hager said that various media outlets reported that the School Resource Officer, Scot Peterson, and three deputies under Sheriff Israel’s command “were on campus at the time of the attack and chose to take cover themselves rather than stepping up to protect our students.”

Rep. Hager also mentioned the number of times police were called to Nikolas Cruz’s home.

“The Sheriff was fully aware of the threat this individual presented to the community and chose to ignore it,” Rep. Hager said.

He continued to remind the governor that this wasn’t the first time a review of the Broward Sheriff’s Office has been conducted. He said that, according to reporting conducted by a local journalist, a report after the Fort Lauderdale Airport shooting in 2017 found that the sheriff’s office failed to set up a unified command structure, among other faults during the emergency.

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