It gets worse.
Most of us were introduced to Sheriff Israel when he blamed NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch for the deaths of 17 high school children at CNN’s grief-exploitation spectacle. Since then, we’ve learned that his office received over sixty calls (Buzzfeed found evidence of 22 more calls) to his office about the killer before the killing.
The day after he passed the buck at the CNN ratings grab, we find out that his officer on duty at the school was too cowardly to go into the building. Watch this interview. It’s sickening:
shooting survivor who rushed into the building to save his girlfriend: I saw @ScottJIsrael’s officer hiding, he had a gun, a bulletproof vest, but did nothing, while unarmed school staff rushed into the building to save children.
His message to the officer: “You’re despicable.” pic.twitter.com/IyZtwDLQbC
— The Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) February 25, 2018
The day after that, we find out that there wasn’t just one Broward County officer who refused to respond, but four of them. They sat there for four minutes.
None of this is Sheriff Israel’s fault, apparently. This is the statement today:
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel refusing to resign telling @nbc6: “I gave him a gun. I gave him a badge. I gave him the training. If he didn’t have the heart to go in, that’s not my responsibility.” Clip from our one-on-one interview below. #DouglasHighSchool pic.twitter.com/FV5Gn0ZEBY
— Erika Glover (@ErikaGloverNBC6) February 25, 2018
What are Sheriff Israel’s priorities if protecting children isn’t one of them? Showboating in taxpayer funded cars seems to be important:
I’m beginning to think the @browardsheriff department doesn’t have its priorities in order. pic.twitter.com/EjfCh425Xn
— EducatédHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) February 25, 2018
And he has defenders like this twerp who is taking his moment of tragedy-fueled media glory:
Parkland student @davidhogg111 on whether the Broward County Sheriff’s office faltered: “Were there mistakes made? Absolutely. Is anything going to change? I certainly hope so, but this is something we can’t go back and change now. We just have to look to the future and fix it.” pic.twitter.com/yMEOr7ofJJ
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) February 25, 2018
This guy needs to resign. What a terrible excuse for leadership.