FBI Ignored Specific Warning That Parkland Killer Could Attack School

 

The FBI admitted today that it didn’t investigate a specific tip that Nikolas Cruz might conduct a school shooting.

On January 5, a person close to the 19-year-old shooter provided 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.” The FBI ignored the warning.

Their official statement follows:

The FBI knew about Omar Mateen, who later killed 49 people at the Orlando Pulse nightclub. The FBI knew about Syed Farook, who later killed 14 people at a San Bernardino Christmas party. The FBI knew about Nikolas Cruz, who ended up killing 17 people at a Parkland high school.

Scores of Americans are dead, and the only apology we get is “protocols were not followed.”

Utterly appalling.

Published in Law, Policing
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  1. Duane Oyen Member
    Duane Oyen
    @DuaneOyen

    Priorities, you know.  Christopher Steele was helping them oppose the real threat.

    • #1
  2. milkchaser Member
    milkchaser
    @milkchaser

    Good thing the followed up on the Carter Page threat, though.

    • #2
  3. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    Let the lawsuits begin.

    That this happened so soon after the Orlando shooting where the FBI was given a warning call by Disney is unforgivable.

    I am more upset with the school’s negligence than the FBI’s though.

    • #3
  4. Richard Easton Coolidge
    Richard Easton
    @RichardEaston

    They’re too busy plotting against Trump.

    • #4
  5. Son of Barsham Member
    Son of Barsham
    @LesserSonofBarsham

    Well it’s obvious we need common sense FBI control.

    • #5
  6. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    Local police departments need to step up their game now because they cannot trust the FBI to act. They need to copy documents to the FBI on dangerous situations, but from this point forward, local police departments should not be deferring protective and proactive action to the feds.

    • #6
  7. Kaladin Inactive
    Kaladin
    @Kaladin

    Richard Easton (View Comment):
    They’re too busy plotting against Trump.

    Thankfully no stone has gone unturned ferreting out Russian internet trolls.

    • #7
  8. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    The passive voice is loved.

    • #8
  9. Hypatia Member
    Hypatia
    @

    Okay, and this is in addition to  the complaint they received about the Youtube posting by Nikolas Cruz last Septrmber, correct? So, um, the second time they heard of this guy.

    Okay .  I think Christopher Wray should take a little mandatory trip down to Florida, and attend each and every memorial, vigil, funeral for Cruz’ victims.  I think the mourners might have a few questions for him.  Like:

    WTF have you been doing?

    Where were you?

    What, if anything, is the FBI good for?

    • #9
  10. Ekosj Member
    Ekosj
    @Ekosj

    Yep.   Oh but they got indictments against Barbarella Barishnikova et al for opening fake Twitter accounts.

    But they couldn’t find a guy who used his own name on the web to say he wanted to be a school shorter?!?!?

    He bought the rifle.   He filed the background check.    Did the Feds even query the background check database to see if anybody with that name had filed a background check in the past year?

    • #10
  11. WillowSpring Member
    WillowSpring
    @WillowSpring

    Dont forget they knew about the Boston Bombers, also

    • #11
  12. Hypatia Member
    Hypatia
    @

    Ekosj (View Comment):
    Yep. Oh but they got indictments against Barbarella Barishnikova et al for opening fake Twitter accounts.

    But they couldn’t find a guy who used his own name on the web to say he wanted to be a school shorter?!?!?

    He bought the rifle. He filed the background check. Did the Feds even query the background check database to see if anybody with that name had filed a background check in the past year?

    You are so right.

    What if there had been some threat against Buraq Hussein  or his family?  You don’t think this guy woulda been in handcuffs after the first complaint?

    Oh, and hey, FBI!  how’s it going finding out  who sent the death threat to Don Jr ?

    • #12
  13. DrewInWisconsin Member
    DrewInWisconsin
    @DrewInWisconsin

    WillowSpring (View Comment):
    Dont forget they knew about the Boston Bombers, also

    Exactly what I was going to drop in to say.

    Is anyone keeping a list of the FBI’s failures here?

    • #13
  14. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    WillowSpring (View Comment):
    Don’t forget they knew about the Boston Bombers also.

    Wow. I did forget about that.

    If I were Trump, I’d fire the entire FBI in Washington and across the country.

    Let’s start all over again.

    • #14
  15. Ekosj Member
    Ekosj
    @Ekosj

    It’s level of ineptitude is staggering.     Staggering.    If memory serves didn’t that Dylan Roof kid get his guns because the FBI didn’t process his backgrounder?     And some other guy recently with a dishonorable discharge and domestic abuse history never got entered into the FBI background check system?   This isn’t rocket science.   It’s simple clerk skills.   If you can reliably run the checkout at the ShopRite you can get these things done.    What kind of dummies work for us?!?!?

    • #15
  16. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    But doing something about those killers might have dragged a couple of agents away from the “TrumpRussiaCollusion” army of investigators. Can’t have that.

    • #16
  17. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    Ekosj (View Comment):
    What kind of dummies work for us?!?!?

    Very Special Agents….

    • #17
  18. DrewInWisconsin Member
    DrewInWisconsin
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Ekosj (View Comment):
    It’s level of ineptitude is staggering. Staggering. If memory serves didn’t that Dylan Roof kid get his guns because the FBI didn’t process his backgrounder? And some other guy recently with a dishonorable discharge and domestic abuse history never got entered into the FBI background check system? This isn’t rocket science. It’s simple clerk skills. If you can reliably run the checkout at the ShopRite you can get these things done. What kind of dummies work for us?!?!?

    All kinds. All kinds of dummies.

    • #18
  19. Kevin Creighton Contributor
    Kevin Creighton
    @KevinCreighton

    See something, say something implies that somebody will also DO something.

    It’s times like these, when the .gov says “You’re on your own, mate,”  that are one of the reasons why I own guns.

    • #19
  20. Ekosj Member
    Ekosj
    @Ekosj

    And they had the audacity to do the Friday afternoon announcement?    Buried under the Mueller horse-hockey internet troll indictments.   They are still playing politics and CYA PR games.    They are really despicable.

    • #20
  21. Jim Beck Inactive
    Jim Beck
    @JimBeck

    Recall that Catherine Engelbrecht of the King Street Patriots who was stiffed by the IRS, was contacted by the FBI 6 times with two personal visits.  We also know that the FBI did this not to ascertain whether Catherine was a criminal but to intimidate her and her political actions.

    So we have been told by everyone that the rank and file of the FBI are good, well does that mean that considering that they are govt employees, they are good compared to the usual govt bureaucracy.  It seems that they are as good as the VA, which means there is no accountability for poor performances and the bad actors corrupt much of the rest.

    The FBI used the Porter abuse scandal to put themselves in a good light and the White House in a bad, the Cruz failure will completely displace any Porter timeline story.  It will be interesting to see how the credibility of the FBI will be handled by the media and the dems.  The more tattered the FBI’s reputation becomes the less credible the charges against the Trump admin become, the media and the dems will work to bury the FBI’s Cruz failure, it will be difficult.

    • #21
  22. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    Ekosj (View Comment):
    And they had the audacity to do the Friday afternoon announcement? Buried under the Mueller horse-hockey internet troll indictments. They are still playing politics and CYA PR games. They are really despicable.

    The FBI is in full CYA mode, they must be in a panic.

    • #22
  23. Valiuth Member
    Valiuth
    @Valiuth

    Well, the answer to this is for us to have a centralized agency that cross references all tips and accusations, keeping detailed files on all citizens constantly combing the internet and public documents for proof of antisocial behavior to prevent future crime.

     

    • #23
  24. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    Well, the answer to this is for us to have a centralized agency that cross references all tips and accusations, keeping detailed files on all citizens constantly combing the internet and public documents for proof of antisocial behavior to prevent future crime.

    Dang! I thought that’s what we had. Can I get a refund?

    • #24
  25. Ekosj Member
    Ekosj
    @Ekosj

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    Well, the answer to this is for us to have a centralized agency that cross references all tips and accusations, keeping detailed files on all citizens constantly combing the internet and public documents for proof of antisocial behavior to prevent future crime.

    No it’s not!     Quips like that let the negligent off the hook.    It’s the moral equivalent of throwing up your hands and saying there’s nothing we can do.   We can do plenty!

    The answer is for people to do their jobs.    And to get fired if they won’t or can’t.      They don’t need to collect more stuff.   They don’t need any new laws.   They need to efficiently use the what they already have.   Twice they should have had this guy.    And twice they whiffed.

    • #25
  26. Metalheaddoc Member
    Metalheaddoc
    @Metalheaddoc

    Trump needs to fire Wray immediately. No resignation…straight up firing. If this isn’t a firing offense for the Director of the FBI, then nothing is (except sexual harassment, of course).

     

     

     

    • #26
  27. Ray Gunner Coolidge
    Ray Gunner
    @RayGunner

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: Scores of Americans are dead, and the only apology we get is “protocols were not followed.”

    That’s just it.  When Comey and Lynch gave their testimony to Congress following the Pulse shooting, they insisted everyone HAD followed all of the protocols, and we got the same result.

    If we are looking at law enforcement to preemptively cure this cultural pathology of alienated young men gunning down their peers, we are looking in the wrong place. Our civilian law enforcement (FBI, sheriffs, city cops) does not have “Minority Report” powers to detain and confiscate before a crime takes place.  And acting weird is not probable cause.

    The cops can’t help us with this one.  They can react, but they cannot prevent.

    • #27
  28. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    Ray Gunner (View Comment):

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: Scores of Americans are dead, and the only apology we get is “protocols were not followed.”

    That’s just it. When Comey and Lynch gave their testimony to Congress following the Pulse shooting, they insisted everyone HAD followed all of the protocols, and we got the same result.

    If we are looking at law enforcement to preemptively cure this cultural pathology of alienated young men gunning down their peers, we are looking in the wrong place. Our civilian law enforcement (FBI, sheriffs, city cops) does not have “Minority Report” powers to detain and confiscate before a crime takes place. And acting weird is not probable cause.

    The cops can’t help us with this one. They can react, but they cannot prevent.

    Then why “If you see something, say something”?

    • #28
  29. Derek Simmons Member
    Derek Simmons
    @

    DrewInWisconsin (View Comment):

    WillowSpring (View Comment):
    Dont forget they knew about the Boston Bombers, also

    Exactly what I was going to drop in to say.

    Is anyone keeping a list of the FBI’s failures here?

    One of my all-time favs:

     

    http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/18/us/traces-of-terrorism-the-warnings-fbi-knew-for-years-about-terror-pilot-training.html

    • #29
  30. Dorrk Inactive
    Dorrk
    @Dorrk

    Basil Fawlty (View Comment):

    Ray Gunner (View Comment):

     

    The cops can’t help us with this one. They can react, but they cannot prevent.

    Then why “If you see something, say something”?

    To make people feel more empowered than they actually are.

    • #30
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