Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel was a hero at the CNN town hall last Wednesday night when he demagogued the Parkland, Florida, shooting and shamed local politicians, Dana Loesch and the NRA in front of an approving liberal, anti-gun mob. Since then, however, it’s been all downhill for “Sheriff Do-nothing.”
Outside of that left-wing bubble, the disgraced sheriff has been battling increased calls to resign from politicians, activists, conservative media, and others due to his department’s woeful incompetence and dereliction of duty before, during, and after the Valentine’s Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that claimed 17 lives.
State Rep. Bill Hager first called for Israel to step down because his department didn’t act on the dozens of police visits to the shooter’s home and because of reports that several of his officers stood down while students were being shot inside the school.
On CNN Sunday, Israel responded to Hager by saying it was a “shameful, politically motivated letter that had no facts.”
But according to records obtained by BuzzFeed News, Broward County police responded to at least 45 calls involving suspected Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz or his family since 2008.
Conservative journalist Michelle Malkin has looked through the logs of the calls to police, including times when he “held a gun up to his mom’s head,” imbibed gasoline, cut himself, and rubbed “his hands in glee thinking of the inheritance that he was going to get as a result of his adopted father dying.” Malkin said the “feckless sheriff” should “absolutely” resign, noting that he has taken no responsibility for failures of his department.
Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran also called for Scott’s ouster in a letter on Saturday signed by 73 Republican colleagues, which read: “years leading up to this unspeakable tragedy, Sheriff Israel, his deputies, and staff ignored repeated warning signs about the violent, erratic, threatening and antisocial behavior of Nikolas Jacob Cruz.”
A Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student and school shooting survivor also called for the “virtue-signaling” sheriff to resign in an interview with Fox News on Sunday.
“It absolutely outrages me that on the CNN town hall we had the sheriff who was virtue-signaling against the NRA and against guns when he didn’t even act properly,” said Kyle Kashuv. “The armed officer at our school waited outside and then the sheriff and his men for four minutes let my classmates die while he sat outside and waited. He didn’t even do his job properly and then he comes around and turns around saying guns are the issue when he failed to act properly.”
Asked if Sheriff Israel should resign, Kashuv didn’t mince words. “He absolutely needs to resign after what happened here,” he answered. “He failed to act on so many different levels and him himself, he is responsible for this massive failure. This could have been easily stopped, both by the FBI and the Sheriff’s Department had they acted.”
The editorial board of National Review called on Israel to resign Sunday in a post titled “Broward’s Cowards.”
“It is impossible to imagine circumstances under which Broward County sheriff Scott Israel could attempt to perform his duties with the confidence of the public,” the editors wrote. “He should resign immediately, and if, as he promises, he refuses to go quietly, then he should be shown the door by the people he professes to serve.”
The Federalist also called on Israel to step down:
This guy needs to go. https://t.co/jjzKlyfdst
— The Federalist (@FDRLST) February 26, 2018
Fox New’s Judge Jeanine Pirro was even more blunt:
'Get The Hell Out': Pirro Calls for FL Sheriff Israel to Resign or Be Recalled https://t.co/IYSgsFrgaH
— D. Fucile (@d_fucile) February 26, 2018
Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino said on Fox and Friends this morning, “The sheriff has to go. He has to resign. I don’t see any way he can credibly function in that role anymore.”
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel will not resign following #Parkland shooting. @dbongino reacts on @foxandfriends: “The sheriff has to go. He has to resign. I don’t see any way he can credibly function in that role anymore." pic.twitter.com/bqdiwTDyPw
— Brian Kilmeade (@kilmeade) February 26, 2018
And a small group of protesters in Broward County on Saturday called for Sheriff Israel to resign.
https://twitter.com/CRinQC/status/967945612409782272
More than a dozen protesters are now calling for Israel’s resignation. Their signs and messages come with new questions as to how Broward Sheriff’s deputies responded to the attack at Stoneman Douglas High.
“He’s the boss. He’s where the buck stops. He has to take responsibility,” said Bob Maier, a protester.
Israel has thus far refused to accept any blame for his department’s multiple failures and actually said during a contentious interview with Jake Tapper on CNN Sunday that he has offered “amazing leadership to this agency.”
Asked if the shooting might have been prevented if his department had acted differently, he replied bizarrely: “Listen, if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, O.J. Simpson would still be in the record books.”
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has not yet called for Israel’s resignation, but on Sunday, a few hours after the embattled sheriff’s appearance on CNN, he called for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the response to the Parkland school shooting.
“There must be an independent investigation and that is why I asked the FDLE Commissioner to immediately start this process,” the governor said in a written statement. “I have spoken to the Speaker regularly since the shooting, and like me, he wants the families to have answers and for there to be full accountability. That’s what the victims and their families deserve.”
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