Donald Trump: FBI 'Too Busy Hunting Russians' To Prevent Florida School Shooting
President says massacre could have been prevented
© press
US President Trump has slammed the FBI for focusing their time on "hunting Russians" instead of preventing the recent Florida shooting were 17 people died at the hands of gunman Nikolas Cruz.
Donald Trump Tweeted that is was “very sad” the FBI had failed to act on the red flags the Florida shooter exhibited months before the tragedy.
The President's concerns were solidified after Ben Bennight, a Mississippi bail bondsman, said he noticed Cruz commenting on videos he had posted back in September, one of them said: "I'm going to be a professional school shooter" - Bennight immediately contacted authorities.
More concerns
Witness Alexa Miednik told reporters that she spoke to gunman Nikolas Cruz in the hallway right before he carried out shooting, she then stated that she "knew" there was definitely another shooter.
RT reports: On Wednesday, a teenager armed with an AR-15 arrived at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and proceeded to kill 17 people and injure over a dozen more. Nikolas Cruz, 19, who was apprehended shortly after the shooting, has confessed to the killings.
It now appears Cruz was never really secretive about his plans. From comments on YouTube about wanting to become a “professional school shooter,” to Snapchat posts about buying a gun, images of self-harm and racial and religious slurs, the tell-tale signs were there. His purported Instagram accounts featured guns, knives, and animal cruelty.
After the shooting, his former classmates and teachers told local media outlets they were not surprised, having seen him threaten people on campus. “I can’t say I was shocked. From past experiences, he seemed like the kind of kid who would do something like this,” one student told the Miami Herald.
It seems that those who could have prevented the massacre never saw it coming. Even after being tipped off about Cruz’s disturbing online posts, the FBI failed to act. In a statement, the Bureau admitted that the “established protocols,” by which the clues “should have been assessed as a potential threat to life,” were not followed.
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
Even before that, in 2016, Cruz exhibited disturbing signs, the local Sun Sentinel reports. “Mr. Cruz has fresh cuts on both his arms. Mr. Cruz stated he plans to go out and buy a gun. It is unknown what he is buying the gun for,” a Department of Children & Family Services report, obtained by the paper, reads. Still, the risk was assessed as “low,” because Cruz lived with his mother, went to school, and had counseling. The following year, his mother died and he was expelled from school. He also bought his AR-15.
The school massacre has sparked a massive wave of protests against current US gun laws, the Republicans that support them, and Trump in particular. These protests have perhaps drowned out the voices calling out the FBI for their failure to prevent the mass shooting.
Florida’s Republican Governor Rick Scott called on FBI Director Christopher Wray to resign. Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik accused the FBI of “wasting resources” instead of acting on information about crimes in the making. Now the president is accusing the Bureau of chasing after the wrong targets.
Still, as Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel put it: “Make no mistake, America: The only one to blame for this incident is the killer himself.”
