Amidst the continuing narrative of Russia’s tampering with the 2016 Presidential election, President Donald Trump blasted the FBI over reports that they had failed to follow up on a tip from somebody close to Nikolas Cruz, the Parkland shooter who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school on Wednesday. This comes at a time when the current political atmosphere is flooded with arguments calling for tougher gun laws. However, people still maintain that tougher laws would only affect law abiding citizens because criminals do not follow the law no matter how many restrictions you place on them.
Very sad that the FBI missed all of the many signals sent out by the Florida school shooter. This is not acceptable. They are spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign – there is no collusion. Get back to the basics and make us all proud!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2018
In the tweet, the President points out that the FBI has devoted unnecessary time on the Russian collusion story when they could’ve helped prevent the shooting by following up on the tip provided. In a statement, the FBI addressed their mishandling by confirming that “the information was not provided to the Miami Field Office, and no further investigation was conducted at the time.” They commented that the tip should’ve been taken as a “potential threat to life,” considering that the tip informed them of “Cruz’s gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conduction a school shooting.”
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In response, Florida Governor Rick Scott called for Christopher Wray, the Director of the FBI, to quit.
Wray, after news of the FBI’s mishandling broke, commented that the FBI had spoken to those affected and that they “deeply regret the addition pain this causes all those affected by this horrific tragedy.”
Rick Scott shot down the apology in a statement, explaining that “seventeen people are dead and acknowledging a mistake isn’t going to cut it” because “an apology will never bring these 17 Floridians back to life or comfort the families who are in pain.”