Nobody is explaining why or how the Miami FBI was never forwarded a second tip about threats posed by Nikolas Cruz in January. Amazingly enough (especially in this administration), an official statement issued Friday morning owns up to what ended up being a fatal error on the Bureau’s part.
On January 5, 2018, a person close to Nikolas Cruz contacted the FBI’s Public Access Line (PAL) tipline to report concerns about him. The caller 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.
Under established protocols, the information provided by the caller should have been assessed as a potential threat to life. The information then should have been forwarded to the FBI Miami Field Office, where appropriate investigative steps would have been taken.
We have determined that these protocols were not followed for the information received by the PAL on January 5. The information was not provided to the Miami Field Office, and no further investigation was conducted at that time.
As the funerals for those lost in the Parkland massacre began today, emotions are already high; to learn that this specific tragedy might have possibly been thwarted just makes things worse.
Trump was quick to blame the people in Cruz’s orbit for not speaking up about their suspicions of the shooter. (The contrast to his defense of Rob Porter, and lives being shattered by “mere allegations,” is extra ironic today.)
Great advice, Prez, but people slip through the cracks constantly; we all know law enforcement doesn’t always get it right, whether it’s ignoring warning signs or going after the wrong people.
And in this case, we have proof now, straight from the FBI, that citizens are sometimes ignored when they report dangerous people. So truly, what recourse do people have left these days?
For all of the messaging about “If you see something, say something,” the FBI just proved that saying something won’t necessarily mean the people charged with investigating those somethings will actually follow through. The woulda coulda shoulda is strong here already, and we don’t yet know all the facts. But hey! The FBI Director wants you to know he’s sorry. The official FBI statement concludes with his words.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said:
“We are still investigating the facts. I am committed to getting to the bottom of what happened in this particular matter, as well as reviewing our processes for responding to information that we receive from the public. It’s up to all Americans to be vigilant, and when members of the public contact us with concerns, we must act properly and quickly.
“We have spoken with victims and families, and deeply regret the additional pain this causes all those affected by this horrific tragedy. All of the men and women of the FBI are dedicated to keeping the American people safe, and are relentlessly committed to improving all that we do and how we do it.”
So far, among all his empty words and blaming of the poor people of Parkland, Trump refuses to say the word “gun,” or acknowledge that the shooter apparently loved his little red MAGA hat. As the Daily Beast points out, the hypocrisy is strong with this one.
Donald Trump demanded countless times that we all scream the words “radical Islamic terrorism” in order to counter that threat. As Trump repeatedly stated, “To solve a problem, you have to be able to state what the problem is, or at least say the name.”
That makes it even more hypocritical that Trump refuses to utter words “access to guns” or even “guns” when he addresses mass shootings. And in case of the horrific shooting that left 17 dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Wednesday, there’s another set of words Trump should be saying but he won’t: white supremacist violence.
The President’s continued focus on mental illness rather than, well, literally any other factor in this particular shooting, is also telling. It’s nearly impossible to talk about a large scale effort to extinguish human life without mentioning the weapon used, but Trump and his writers keep finding ways.
Meanwhile, after just 13 months in power, this administration has also been responsible for slowing down and stalling nearly every facet, department, and organization of the US government that it could.
As law enforcement continues to reveal what they know about Cruz, including his “very disturbing” social media footprint that paints a picture of a baby racist coming into his own–possibly with the help of a small local white supremacist organization–it’s worth noting that this administration decided early on that threats like the ones the Parkland shooter posed weren’t valid. Trump rolled back Obama-era rules about gun ownership for the mentally ill during his first month in office, though he still won’t share the commemorative pics from that special day.
The Trump Administration first announced plans to alter the focus of the Countering Violent Extremism program to focus on Muslims, rather than extremists from all backgrounds, within just weeks of Trump’s inauguration. Then, in June, they revoked a $400,000 grant from the Obama administration to the lone CVE-funded group investigating white extremism. Weeks later, the Charlottesville tragedy happened–a tragedy with “very fine people on both sides,” as Trump said at the time.
In August, an FBI report announced that the administration was embracing old-timey mentalities about black people, and focusing on “BIEs,” their catchy acronym for a new, made-up term. The report was leaked in October, and met widespread scrutiny and criticism, including a House Judiciary oversight hearing in November.
The use of terms like “black identity extremists” is part of a long-standing FBI attempt to define a movement where none exists. “Basically, it’s black people who scare them,” Michael German, a former FBI agent, said.
Even former officials who view the government’s concerns about black separatists as legitimate balked at the term “black identity extremist,” and point out that the threat from individuals or groups who want to establish their own homeland is much less than from the far right.
Just last week, AG Jeff Sessions, who couldn’t explain last fall why the FBI wasn’t concerned by WIEs (White Identity Extremists), sparked controversy when he went off book and raved about the “Anglo-American” traditions of law enforcement.
In short, this administration has made it clear, again and again, that they refuse to accept that one of their own can be a bad guy, too–even when they are vocally and vividly showing their dangerously racist asses.