Not long after Jake Tapper’s confrontational interview with Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel aired on Sunday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to “immediately investigate the law enforcement response” Israel’s office’s response to the devastating Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. In response, Israel said he and his office “will fully cooperate… as we believe in full transparency and accountability.”
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office is facing intense scrutiny from the press and Florida politicians alike. On Sunday, Florida Speaker of the House Richard Corcoran and 73 state representatives published a letter calling upon Gov. Scott to suspend the sheriff for “incompetence and neglect of duty”:
They said that he and his deputies failed to “intervene regarding Nikolas Jacob Cruz in the years, months, and days leading up to that shooting,” which Corcoran described as “unacceptable and unforgivable.”
“Sheriff Israel failed to maintain a culture of alertness, vigilance, and thoroughness amongst his deputies. … As a result of Sheriff Israel’s failures. students and teachers died.” the letter said.
During his interview with Tapper, Israel insisted that he would not step down of his own volition. He also defended his “amazing leadership” throughout the ordeal, but has faced criticism from Tapper’s CNN and other news outlets after one of four deputies who did not enter the school to confront the shooter had resigned.
(Via CNN)