OPINION:
A policeman’s lot is not a happy one, and these are miserable days for the FBI, stung by accusations that it bungled high-profile political investigations, and just when the legacy media was ready for an all-out assault on Donald Trump and guns for conducting the massacre of children in Florida the FBI is revealed to have ignored a tip that would likely have prevented unspeakable tragedy.
The FBI was told in early January that Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old man charged with killing 17 persons, nearly all students, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., had collected an arsenal of guns, and he had expressed a desire to kill people, behaved erratically and had posted disturbing social-media messages. The tipster was concerned that Cruz would attack a school.
The FBI concedes that it bungled again. The agency said it failed to pass the tip on to its Miami field office, even though its own protocols say Nikolas Cruz “should have been assessed as a potential threat to life.”
Gov. Rick Scott of Florida has been scathing in his denunciation of FBI incompetence. “The FBI’s failure to take action against this killer is unacceptable,” he said. “Seventeen people are dead and acknowledging a mistake isn’t going to cut it. An apology will never bring these 17 Floridians back or comfort the families who are in pain. The families will spend a lifetime wondering how this could happen.” The governor demanded the resignation of Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI.
“We constantly promote ’see something, say something,’ and a courageous person did just that to the FBI, and the FBI failed to act. ’See something, say something’ is an incredibly important tool, and people must have confidence in the follow-through from law enforcement. The FBI director needs to resign.”
The FBI has been collecting accolades from the left for its performance in several political investigations, particularly pertaining to Hillary Clinton, and the leadership at the top of the agency have obviously been spending too much time reading the favorable reviews.
Mr. Wray promises to get to the bottom of what’s wrong, and that must be his first priority. If he finds himself at that bottom, then he, too, must go.
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