Lily Dane
The Daily Sheeple
February 16, 2018
Today, the FBI released a statement in which the agency admitted it received a tip about Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz, but did nothing with the information.
From the shockingly honest (if you believe the official narrative) statement:
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.
A law enforcement official told the Los Angeles Times that calls to the tip line are handled at the FBI’s call center in West Virginia. Approximately 2,100 calls a day go to the center.
The official provided more disturbing details to the Times:
The caller indicated that Cruz had recently purchased firearms and had threatened a family member, the official said, adding that the caller knew Cruz’s address and said he had been posting disturbing messages on social media accounts and that he had a desire to kill.
“Clearly the person was afraid [he] was going to harm somebody,” said the official, who requested anonymity to speak freely about the investigation.
There was a back-and-forth conversation between the tipster and the FBI employee who took the call, the official said, noting that there were enough specifics provided that the call center employee should have written a report and sent it to the Miami field office for investigation. That didn’t happen.
It was the second time the FBI apparently failed to follow up on Cruz.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said in the statement:
“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.”
Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Friday called for Wray to resign, reports NBC:
“We constantly promote ‘see something, say something,’ and a courageous person did just that to the FBI. And the FBI failed to act,” Scott said. “‘See something, say something’ is an incredibly important tool and people must have confidence in the follow through from law enforcement.”
Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered an “immediate review” of the mistake and of the protocols for responding to tips. “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,” Sessions said.
This isn’t the first time the FBI has ignored warnings about mass shooters. Others have been on the FBI’s radar – or should have been – before they carried out their lethal attacks.
Hopefully Sessions actually will take the time away from his relentless war on cannabis to seriously address this issue, before a tragedy like this happens again.
Lily Dane is a staff writer for The Daily Sheeple, where this article first appeared. Used with permission.
