Bloomberg
President Donald Trump has criticized the FBI after the agency disclosed that it failed to follow up on a detailed warning about the 19-year-old gunman who is charged with killing 17 people and wounding a dozen others at a Florida high school on Wednesday.
“Very sad that the FBI missed all of the many signals sent out by the Florida school shooter. This is not acceptable,†Trump tweeted on Saturday night.
A “person close to Nikolas Cruz†contacted the FBI’s public access tipline on Jan. 5 to “report concerns about him,†the FBI said in a statement Friday. 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,†the statement said. Florida Governor Rick Scott said the FBI’s failure was “unacceptable†and called for the resignation of FBI Director Christopher Wray.
“Seventeen innocent people are dead and acknowledging a mistake isn’t going to cut it,†Scott said in a statement. “The FBI director needs to resign.â€
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he’s initiated a Justice Department review of how the FBI acted. “It is now clear that the warning signs were there and tips to the FBI were missed. We see the tragic consequences of those failures,†he said in a statement.
FBI Criticism
The revelation comes as Trump and congressional Republicans have criticized the FBI for its conduct of investigations into his campaign and into Hillary Clinton’s use of private email while she was secretary of state. The FBI is “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!†Trump tweeted.
Trump earlier also suggested on Twitter that the Parkland, Florida, community should have reported suspicions about Cruz to authorities. “So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!†he said.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said at a Friday news conference that his office had received more than 20 calls about Cruz in the past few years, according to the Associated Press.