I Hate to Play Monday Morning Quarterback, But...
Sheriff Scott Israel got sacked hard by NRA representative Dana Loesch after his plea for more of the very thing his office failed to do, apply the Baker Act on this shooter. The evidence is overwhelming and yet it is here we witness how biased people are in evaluating facts.
It is stunning how biased papers like the NY Daily News is and many others with this story. Many misrepresent the very facts right before us. If reporting is done so poorly when we can actually watch the very event being reported, then who ever reports on an event accurately? This is an issue of integrity!
I have read over 100 hundred comments over several news articles on this topic, and most of them are negative towards Ms. Loesch. What happened before our eyes does not matter. This is the issue at hand! Despite overwhelming evidence, it doesn't matter what was said or is true. This is America's disease, far worse than guns, it is an inability to think honestly!
I respect Sheriff Israel's career choice. He protects people's lives and it is an extremely difficult career. But he has been in front of the cameras from the inception of this shooting, and I fear, it has become a source of empowerment for him. Lacking humility, he stuck his foot in his mouth, thinking he was preaching to the choir (and he was before Ms Loesch brought him back to center).
In the context of this video a grieving mother, the mother who has been on the news yelling at President Trump read a lengthy statement with many good questions (over 20) when called to ask a question. This was a grieving mother so she was given time to read her statement which had over 20 questions no guest on stage could ever answer.
Jake Tapper then moved the conversation by saying the NRA moved in 2013 there was a State Shield Taskforce Major Recommendations, asking Ms. Loesch what did happen with these. Dana Loesch answered this question with details summarizing that in the end, it is up to the individual schools and parents to apply these suggestions. Then she highlighted how the NRA has partnered with thousands of law enforcement agencies in training. Lastly, she moved to the issue which would put her and Sheriff Israel in hot debate.
Schools and parents are to determine what they want to do in their schools. The NRA does not make that decision, be it armed guards or retired military on a school campus or have teachers volunteer to be armed. She then went on to give alternative solutions requiring no firearms, those in checkpoints or reinforcing doors. Again she stated the NRA gives these resources for parents and schools to use at will, they are not going to implement these guidelines, it is not their call and they have no power to do so!
(1:27:46).
Sheriff Israel now spoke He started by saying he agreed with what Dana said, paused, then continued by stating that too many people want to do the same ol' same ol', that doing the same thing over and over is the definition of insanity. "We need to do something different," was his plea, giving a football analogy of covering a wide receiver and if he is covered, make a change. His solution was less guns on our streets, not more guns, which drew a loud applause.
(1:28:34)
Tapper gave Dana Loesch a chance to rebutt and she made a two point comment;
1. She said there were three lawmakers on the stage (Senators Marco Rubio (R), Bll Nelson(D), and Congressman Ted Deutch) and only one hinted at reinforcing the background check system making the point that the background check system is only as good as the records submitted to it (audience grew restless) while she said we have to have more than 38 states submit records.
(audience become more restless)
2. Her next point was to develop better protocol and follow up on red flags for individuals. She states a few of the shooters criminal activities (calling him a monster, bringing knives to school, assaulting students and his parents). She emphasized the police were involved with him after 39 visits over the past year, stating things should never have been able to get this far with him!
She correctly states that as a representative with the NRA, they cannot follow up on these red flags, this is what law enforcement is to do, not the NRA. She calls out CNN to put these headlines in the media--that of law enforcement not acting on the red flags for individuals--and to report on them not complying with the given protocol and why individual states are not complying with this law.
[Loesch is building her case that it is law enforcement that must uphold the already stated laws and policies like the Baker Act! If they do not do their job, don't blame the NRA!]
Tapper then takes a question from a math teacher at the high school asking about red flags to Sheriff Israel (1:29:37).
Jim Gard reads his question,
"Sheriff Israel, as far as I know the FBI would be the expert organization and have the experience and know how to take tips, conduct an investigation, and to conclude to act or not act on such tips. It seems the FBI had enough cause to investigate prior to the 17 murders, its fair to say that people are disgusted with the inaction of this organization. Why were these tips not important enough to take further action, who would make this decision, as the FBI apologized for their failure to act upon these tips, who ultimately would be the person who decided that this very relevant case was irrelevant?"
(1:30:35)
Tapper immediately says that this is a question for the FBI, that they were invited to attend and they declined. Then he asks Sheriff Israel "Can you address not just the tips called into the FBI, but also the visits by the police to the shooters house." He then says that Dana is speaking of getting those reported red flags into some kind of system to prevent that person from buying a firearm asking, "How would that work because it obviously didn't in this case, how should it work?"
Sheriff Israel states,
"If we had this conversation 2-3 years ago the people to talk to who protect our children would have been law enforcement, but now I believe it is the law makers, things have to change in Washington."
"Broward country received tips about the shooter, saying the command staffer needs to make sure we did everything right, act accordingly and deal with it...the person responsible is the agent or the detective or person who received the tip and did not exercise their due diligence and took it where they needed to be...all that being said."
He then asked the lawmakers to give more power, in Florida, "We call it a Baker Act which allows us to take an individual against their will to go to a mental health facility and be treated. What I'm saying that a police offer which we pay a good salary to keep us safe feels the totality of the circumstances (lists off some of those) rises to the level where we are concerned that this person is mentally ill, we need the power to take every firearm away and bring them to a mental health facility."
(audience applauds)
Next comes the most pivotal part of this evening! It is here Ms. Loesch knew the data of this shooter, his extensive record with law enforcement, something Sheriff Israel should have been intimately aware of, especially before going on national TV. He did not seem like he knew what she was talking about.
Then, Dana Loesch asks; (1:32:54)
"Thirty-nine visits, assaulting students and parents, taking knives to school...did that not meet that standard?"
Dana Loesch was being kind! She could have assaulted him with the evidence I am certain she possessed and Sheriff Israel had to know about the shooter (see below). If she did, he would have wanted to crawl under a rock. Yet despite this, people cannot see how law enforcement failed miserably here! Sheriff Israel said himself that if his department did not do their "due diligence", that he as Sheriff needs to look into this. I would say they failed, absolutely failed to not enforce the Baker Act on this individual.
HOW is Dana Loesch the bad guy here?
She is not. She exposed Sheriff Israel's department!
Watch it for yourself! Then read this extensive criminal report on the shooter below! @(1:32:54)
"We will handle it accordingly!"--Sheriff Israel
The evidence against the shooter reported February 16th, 2018, five days before this event took place!
Keep in mind here, Sheriff Israel should have known who this shooter was. The audience did not know this (they could have if they read this article). He had the data and background on this individual or at least should have been brought up to speed before going on National TV, representing his county.
The data will become overwhelming to one fact. In Florida there is something called the Baker Act and Sheriff Israel directly commented on this and Dana Loesche asked, "Thirty-nine visits, assaulting students and parents, taking knives to school...did that not meet that standard?" I am sure she was well aware of this report!
It says the following;
The Baker Act allows for involuntary examination (what some call emergency or involuntary commitment). It can be initiated by judges, law enforcement officials, physicians, or mental health professionals. There must be evidence that the person: possibly has a mental illness.
As you read the following, ask one question, “If this shooter did not fit the profile of The Baker Act, then who does?” If the Baker Act was upheld, the outcome might have been radically different!
Prior to this event, the President tweeted "So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior,” the president tweeted. “Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!"
Of course, those who have baggage toward the President already have an emotional reaction to this response, and he did get a lot of flack over it.
According to CNN (CNN hosted this event with Jake Tapper), which obtained documentation, police responded 39 times to emergency calls at Cruz’s home over a seven-year period. The codes included “mentally ill person,” “child/elderly abuse,” “domestic disturbance,” “missing person,” among others, CNN reports.
According to the New York Times, Cruz’s adoptive mother, Lynda Cruz, had a hard time dealing with his behavior and would sometimes call police to her home in an effort to get him under control before her death last year. But not all of the calls were placed by Cruz’s mother.
One neighbor, Rhonda Roxburgh, told the Washington Post she called the cops on Cruz after he attacked her car about four years ago, slamming his backpack into it for no apparent reason. In response, the cops stationed an officer at the intersection for “several days” to ensure he didn’t “attack or throw rocks at cars,” the paper reports.
Neighbors interviewed by multiple outlets remember him as a menace to the neighborhood, telling reporters that Cruz had been caught shooting at a neighbor’s chickens, siccing his dogs on a neighbor’s pigs, stealing mail, vandalizing property, peeking in a neighbor’s windows, and trying to steal a neighbor’s bike.
There is a seven year history of criminal activity by the shooter ranging from 2010-2017
FEBRUARY 2016
CBS reported, citing an anonymous law enforcement source, that in February 2016 the Broward County Sheriff's Office was notified that Cruz had posted a picture of himself holding guns on Instagram with a caption indicating that he was going to shoot his school.
FALL 2016
During the fall semester, the school found bullets in Cruz’s backpack after a fight and alerted teachers that Cruz was no longer allowed to carry a backpack to school as a safety precaution, Jim Gard, a math teacher at the school who has Cruz in his class, told reporters.
“We were told last year that he wasn’t allowed on campus with a backpack on him,” Gard said. “There were problems with him last year threatening students, and I guess he was asked to leave campus.”
Read more: How Florida students change the way we experience mass shootings
Cruz was also suspended for the infraction, a 16-year-old student who knew Cruz told the Miami Herald. One student told the AP the fight was with his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend, and that he had been abusive to her in their relationship.
JANUARY 19, 2017
Cruz was involved in an assault at school and was suspended for one day, according to ABC, which obtained documentation. The incident also reportedly prompted the school to order a threat assessment for him. It's not clear if such an assessment was conducted.
FEBRUARY 8, 2017
The school finally expelled Cruz for “disciplinary reasons.” His last day was Feb. 8, 2017, according to documents obtained by ABC. He bought the AR-15 used in the attack three days later.
The school has not commented further on what prompted his expulsion. One student told the New York Times it was for bringing knives to school. “Her friends have said he was known to always be mentally ill and would kill animals,” the student’s mother, Amanda Samaroo, told the Times.
Read more: The FBI knew Nikolas Cruz wanted to be a school shooter since a 2017 comment on a YouTube video was flagged
Others said the final straw was fighting and emotional outbursts in class.
Broward County Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie said Wednesday afternoon that the school did not have any explicit advance notice Cruz was a threat.
“We received no warnings,” Runcie said. “Potentially there could have been signs out there. But we didn’t have any warning or phone calls or threats that were made.”
SEPT. 24, 2017
A YouTube user named Ben Bennight sent a tip to the FBI reporting that another user named “Nikolas Cruz” had commented on one of his posts, saying, "I'm going to be a professional school shooter." He told BuzzFeed News the FBI came to his office to interview him the next day but that he did not hear from them again until a few hours after the shooting, when they called back asking for more information. Both times agents wanted to know if he knew anything about Cruz, which he says he did not.
Read more: “I don’t want your condolences”: Stoneman Douglas students demand action from Trump and Congress
The FBI has confirmed it received the tip but says it was unable to follow up at the time, because "no other information was included in the comment that would indicate a time, location, or true identity of the person who made the comment," special agent Robert Lasky said, despite the fact that the username contained Cruz’s real first and last name. Lasky added, "The FBI conducted database reviews, checks, but was unable to further identify the person who made the comment."
JANUARY 5, 2018
The FBI receives a tip providing "information about Cruz’s gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting," but does not investigate it.
Read more: FBI admits it didn’t follow protocol after receiving tip about Parkland shooter’s “desire to kill”
“Under established protocols, the information provided by the caller should have been assessed as a potential threat to life,” the FBI admitted in a statement. “We have determined that these protocols were not followed. The information was not provided to the Miami Field Office, and no further investigation was conducted at that time.”
FEBRUARY 14, 2018
A school staffer saw Cruz “walking purposefully on campus,” and, knowing him to be a threat, radioed the threat, the Washington Post reports. Despite having two on-campus safety officers assigned to the school, no one was able to respond in time.
Keep in mind here, Sheriff Israel should have known who this shooter was. The audience did not know this (they could have if they read this article). He had the data and background on this individual or at least should have been brought up to speed before going on National TV, representing his county.
The data will become overwhelming to one fact. In Florida there is something called the Baker Act and Sheriff Israel directly commented on this and Dana Loesche asked, "Thirty-nine visits, assaulting students and parents, taking knives to school...did that not meet that standard?" I am sure she was well aware of this report!
It says the following;
The Baker Act allows for involuntary examination (what some call emergency or involuntary commitment). It can be initiated by judges, law enforcement officials, physicians, or mental health professionals. There must be evidence that the person: possibly has a mental illness.
As you read the following, ask one question, “If this shooter did not fit the profile of The Baker Act, then who does?” If the Baker Act was upheld, the outcome might have been radically different!
Prior to this event, the President tweeted "So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior,” the president tweeted. “Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!"
Of course, those who have baggage toward the President already have an emotional reaction to this response, and he did get a lot of flack over it.
According to CNN (CNN hosted this event with Jake Tapper), which obtained documentation, police responded 39 times to emergency calls at Cruz’s home over a seven-year period. The codes included “mentally ill person,” “child/elderly abuse,” “domestic disturbance,” “missing person,” among others, CNN reports.
According to the New York Times, Cruz’s adoptive mother, Lynda Cruz, had a hard time dealing with his behavior and would sometimes call police to her home in an effort to get him under control before her death last year. But not all of the calls were placed by Cruz’s mother.
One neighbor, Rhonda Roxburgh, told the Washington Post she called the cops on Cruz after he attacked her car about four years ago, slamming his backpack into it for no apparent reason. In response, the cops stationed an officer at the intersection for “several days” to ensure he didn’t “attack or throw rocks at cars,” the paper reports.
Neighbors interviewed by multiple outlets remember him as a menace to the neighborhood, telling reporters that Cruz had been caught shooting at a neighbor’s chickens, siccing his dogs on a neighbor’s pigs, stealing mail, vandalizing property, peeking in a neighbor’s windows, and trying to steal a neighbor’s bike.
There is a seven year history of criminal activity by the shooter ranging from 2010-2017
FEBRUARY 2016
CBS reported, citing an anonymous law enforcement source, that in February 2016 the Broward County Sheriff's Office was notified that Cruz had posted a picture of himself holding guns on Instagram with a caption indicating that he was going to shoot his school.
FALL 2016
During the fall semester, the school found bullets in Cruz’s backpack after a fight and alerted teachers that Cruz was no longer allowed to carry a backpack to school as a safety precaution, Jim Gard, a math teacher at the school who has Cruz in his class, told reporters.
“We were told last year that he wasn’t allowed on campus with a backpack on him,” Gard said. “There were problems with him last year threatening students, and I guess he was asked to leave campus.”
Read more: How Florida students change the way we experience mass shootings
Cruz was also suspended for the infraction, a 16-year-old student who knew Cruz told the Miami Herald. One student told the AP the fight was with his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend, and that he had been abusive to her in their relationship.
JANUARY 19, 2017
Cruz was involved in an assault at school and was suspended for one day, according to ABC, which obtained documentation. The incident also reportedly prompted the school to order a threat assessment for him. It's not clear if such an assessment was conducted.
FEBRUARY 8, 2017
The school finally expelled Cruz for “disciplinary reasons.” His last day was Feb. 8, 2017, according to documents obtained by ABC. He bought the AR-15 used in the attack three days later.
The school has not commented further on what prompted his expulsion. One student told the New York Times it was for bringing knives to school. “Her friends have said he was known to always be mentally ill and would kill animals,” the student’s mother, Amanda Samaroo, told the Times.
Read more: The FBI knew Nikolas Cruz wanted to be a school shooter since a 2017 comment on a YouTube video was flagged
Others said the final straw was fighting and emotional outbursts in class.
Broward County Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie said Wednesday afternoon that the school did not have any explicit advance notice Cruz was a threat.
“We received no warnings,” Runcie said. “Potentially there could have been signs out there. But we didn’t have any warning or phone calls or threats that were made.”
SEPT. 24, 2017
A YouTube user named Ben Bennight sent a tip to the FBI reporting that another user named “Nikolas Cruz” had commented on one of his posts, saying, "I'm going to be a professional school shooter." He told BuzzFeed News the FBI came to his office to interview him the next day but that he did not hear from them again until a few hours after the shooting, when they called back asking for more information. Both times agents wanted to know if he knew anything about Cruz, which he says he did not.
Read more: “I don’t want your condolences”: Stoneman Douglas students demand action from Trump and Congress
The FBI has confirmed it received the tip but says it was unable to follow up at the time, because "no other information was included in the comment that would indicate a time, location, or true identity of the person who made the comment," special agent Robert Lasky said, despite the fact that the username contained Cruz’s real first and last name. Lasky added, "The FBI conducted database reviews, checks, but was unable to further identify the person who made the comment."
JANUARY 5, 2018
The FBI receives a tip providing "information about Cruz’s gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting," but does not investigate it.
Read more: FBI admits it didn’t follow protocol after receiving tip about Parkland shooter’s “desire to kill”
“Under established protocols, the information provided by the caller should have been assessed as a potential threat to life,” the FBI admitted in a statement. “We have determined that these protocols were not followed. The information was not provided to the Miami Field Office, and no further investigation was conducted at that time.”
FEBRUARY 14, 2018
A school staffer saw Cruz “walking purposefully on campus,” and, knowing him to be a threat, radioed the threat, the Washington Post reports. Despite having two on-campus safety officers assigned to the school, no one was able to respond in time.
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