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F.B.I. Was Warned of Florida Gunman’s Desire to Kill but Did Not Act F.B.I. Was Warned of Florida Suspect’s Desire to Kill but Did Not Act
(about 3 hours later)
The F.B.I. failed to act on a tip in January from a person close to Nikolas Cruz warning that he owned a gun and might conduct a school shooting, the bureau acknowledged on Friday, an admission that prompted Gov. Rick Scott of Florida to call for the bureau’s director to resign. The F.B.I. received a tip in January from someone close to Nikolas Cruz that he owned a gun and had talked of committing a school shooting, the bureau revealed Friday, but it acknowledged that it had failed to investigate.
The bureau, which was already under considerable political pressure because of its investigation into President Trump, faced calls for even more scrutiny following the massacre at a high school in Parkland, Fla. The tipster, who called an F.B.I. hotline, told the bureau that Mr. Cruz had a “desire to kill people, erratic behavior and disturbing social media posts,” the F.B.I. said, but it failed to share the warning with its Miami field office. The tip about Mr. Cruz appeared to be the second in four months, after another person told the bureau about online comments from Mr. Cruz that he wanted to become “a professional school shooter.”
Mr. Scott said that Christopher A. Wray, the director of the F.B.I., should step down and that the bureau’s failure to act on the tip about Mr. Cruz was “unacceptable.” “Seventeen innocent people are dead and acknowledging a mistake isn’t going to cut it,” Mr. Scott said in a statement. “The F.B.I. Director needs to resign.” The news comes as the F.B.I. is under considerable pressure over its investigation into President Trump, with frequent attacks focused on the work of Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel’s office overseeing the inquiry into Russian election interference.
The criticism of the F.B.I. increased after Mr. Mueller began to ensnare associates of Mr. Trump, including Paul Manafort, his former campaign manager, and Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser.
In an unusually sharp public rebuke of his own agents, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Friday that the missed warnings had “tragic consequences” and that “the F.B.I. in conjunction with our state and local partners must act flawlessly to prevent all attacks. This is imperative, and we must do better.”In an unusually sharp public rebuke of his own agents, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Friday that the missed warnings had “tragic consequences” and that “the F.B.I. in conjunction with our state and local partners must act flawlessly to prevent all attacks. This is imperative, and we must do better.”
Florida Congressman Ted Deutch said that he will be in “close communication with the FBI” and said the F.B.I. and Congress needed to conduct a full oversight investigation of the FBI’s processes and procedures. Gov. Rick Scott of Florida said the bureau’s failure to act on the tip was “unacceptable” and called for the bureau’s director, Christopher A. Wray, to resign. “Seventeen innocent people are dead and acknowledging a mistake isn’t going to cut it,” Mr. Scott said in a statement. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida also asked for Congress to investigate.
Senator Marco Rubio also asked for Congress to investigate how the F.B.I. mishandled this tip. Mr. Wray said in a statement that he was “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.”
The revelation comes at a particularly difficult time for the bureau, which for the past several months has faced relentless criticism for political bias in its handling of investigations of both President Trump and Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton. The F.B.I.’s admission opened up a new avenue of attack by conservatives who have questioned the impartiality of the bureau in its investigation into Russian intervention in the 2016 election.
The F.B.I.’s admission that it did not act on a tip that Mr. Cruz had a “desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts,” could open up a new avenue of attack for political opponents seeking to discredit the bureau’s work. “Last September, FBI was sent a screenshot of a comment by nikolas cruz,” Ann Coulter, the conservative commentator, said in a post on Twitter. “Unfortunately, the FBI was busy running down Clinton campaign leads about a nonexistent Russian conspiracy with Trump.”
The work of Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel’s office overseeing the investigation into Russian election interference, has been the focus of much of the attacks on the bureau. After the shooting, conservative news media said that the F.B.I. could have prevented the attack if it had not been spending so much time looking into Russian election interference. It is not the first time that the F.B.I. has come under fire for being aware of a threat and failing to stop an attack.
Mr. Mueller released another indictment Friday alleging Russian nationals and companies committed federal crimes while seeking to interfere in the United States political system. Congress criticized the bureau for not preventing the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood in Texas, in which the gunman was known to the F.B.I. The bureau also knew of one of the two brothers who carried out the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. And Omar Mateen, who killed 49 people in an Orlando nightclub in 2016, had been investigated by the F.B.I. for months before the attack. That case was closed before the shooting occurred.
On January 5, a tipster reached out to the F.B.I. regarding Mr. Cruz and advised of “the potential of him conducting a school shooting,” the agency said in a statement. After those incidents, F.B.I. investigators compared themselves to hockey goalies, fielding a relentless barrage of pucks. Sometimes, they said, they could not keep things from making the net.
The information should have been assessed and forwarded to the Miami F.B.I. field office, the agency said. But those protocols were not followed, the Miami field office did not get the information, and no further investigation was conducted, according to the F.B.I.
“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,” said Mr. Wray, the director of the F.B.I., in a statement. “We have spoken with victims and families, and deeply regret the additional pain this causes all those affected by this horrific tragedy.”
This is not the first time that the F.B.I. has come under fire for being aware of a threat and failing to stop an attack. Congress criticized the bureau for failing to stop the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood in Texas, where the shooter was known to the F.B.I. The F.B.I. also knew of one of the brothers who carried out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, but did not stop that attack.
After those fumbles, F.B.I. investigators compared themselves to hockey goalies, who are fielding a relentless barrage of pucks. Sometimes, they said, they cannot keep things from making the net.
“The public expects the F.B.I. to keep them safe and in the overwhelming majority of the instances, the F.B.I. does just that,” said Lauren C. Anderson, a former top F.B.I. official in New York.“The public expects the F.B.I. to keep them safe and in the overwhelming majority of the instances, the F.B.I. does just that,” said Lauren C. Anderson, a former top F.B.I. official in New York.
The tip appears to have been the second time the F.B.I. was alerted about Mr. Cruz. A bail bondsman in Mississippi told the agency last September about a worrying comment left on his YouTube channel from a “nikolas cruz” saying “Im going to be a professional school shooter.” The F.B.I. was not the only law enforcement agency to be warned about Mr. Cruz. Sheriff Scott Israel of Broward County said Friday that his office had received about 20 calls regarding the school gunman over the past few years.
While Ms. Anderson described the scenario as a “tragic failure,” she also said that the past 18 months have been extremely difficult for the F.B.I. and that people should still have confidence in the bureau. Sheriff Israel said on Friday that his office was still reviewing what it knew about Mr. Cruz before the shooting.
Agents from the F.B.I. Jackson, Miss., field office looked into the comment but could not identify who had posted it from database and open-source searches, the F.B.I. said. The F.B.I. was also reviewing what happened after the agents received the information. On Jan. 5, a tipster reached out to the F.B.I. regarding Mr. Cruz and advised of “the potential of him conducting a school shooting,” the agency said in a statement.
The information should have been assessed and forwarded to the Miami F.B.I. field office, the bureau said. But those protocols were not followed, the Miami field office did not get the information, and no further investigation was conducted, according to the F.B.I.
The tip appears to have been the second time the F.B.I. was alerted about Mr. Cruz. A bail bondsman in Mississippi told the bureau last September about a worrying comment left on his YouTube channel from a “nikolas cruz” saying “Im going to be a professional school shooter.”
Agents from the F.B.I. Jackson, Miss., field office looked into the comment but could not identify who had posted it from database and open-source searches, the F.B.I. said. The bureau was also reviewing what happened after the agents received the information.
Law enforcement agencies have long asked people to call in, making the slogan “if you see something, say something” part of the public consciousness.
Several politicians echoed those words again on Friday, noting that failures to act on tips about Mr. Cruz undermined years of effort to make the public part of the crime-fighting process.
“We constantly promote ‘see something, say something,’” Mr. Scott said in a statement. “A courageous person did just that to the F.B.I. And the F.B.I. failed to act.”
The president and congressional leaders have accused the bureau of political bias in its handling of investigations of both Mr. Trump and Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate.
In December, Mr. Trump said the F.B.I.’s reputation was “in tatters” and the “worst in history.” This month, Mr. Trump said the F.B.I. and the Justice Department had been “a disgrace” and “should be ashamed” of their behavior. The deputy F.B.I. director, Andrew G. McCabe, was pushed out under pressure from the White House and Mr. Sessions. Some inside the building have feared that Mr. Wray would quit.
Mr. Mueller released another indictment Friday accusing Russian nationals and companies of committing federal crimes while seeking to interfere in the United States political system.
While Ms. Anderson, the former F.B.I. official, described the response to the tip on Mr. Cruz as a “tragic failure,” she also said that the past 18 months had been extremely difficult for the F.B.I.
“At the end of day,” Sheriff Israel said, “make no mistake about it, America, the only one to blame for this killing is the killer himself.”