Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel is coming under increased scrutiny and criticism after reporting shows severe and devastating errors by his department in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
When asked about the failure of at least one deputy to get inside and engage the threat, in addition to his own handling of the situation, Israel lost it and became defensive. Additional reports show three additional deputies waited outside while students were slaughtered.
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
It was revealed during an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday that Israel knew ahead of a town hall on the issue the deputy failed to act, but didn't disclose the information until the next day. Instead, he blamed the NRA for the body count.
Sheriff Israel ADMITS knowing his deputy failed to engage shooter PRIOR to CNN town hall, and yet he shamelessly blamed the NRA and @DLoesch to a roaring crowd’s applause
— Chet Cannon (@Chet_Cannon) February 25, 2018
Sheriff Israel deflected. He fed the crowd lines. He is a coward!#ResignSheriffIsrael pic.twitter.com/EsIQ2YJQ4l
Members of the Stoneman Douglas High School community have called for Israel to resign, which he says isn't an option. Instead, he believes he has done an "amazing" job both prior to the shooting -- when the department visited the home of the assailant 45 times -- and in its aftermath.
TAPPER: Are you really not taking any responsibility for the multiple red flags that were brought to the attention of the Broward Sheriff's Office about this shooter before the incident, whether it was people near him, close to him calling the police...
(CROSSTALK)
ISRAEL: Jake, I can only -- Jake, I can only take responsibility for what I knew about. I exercised my due diligence.
I have given amazing leadership to this agency.
TAPPER: Amazing leadership?
ISRAEL: I have worked -- yes, Jake.
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