Senator Marco Rubio is calling for congressional investigations into the FBI’s failure to act on a detailed January tip that Parkland, Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz was a credible threat.
.@marcorubio calls for congressional investigations into the FBI failing to act on tip about Parkland shooter pic.twitter.com/CAgQL4BeLl
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) February 16, 2018
Rubio’s call follows a Friday admission from the FBI that “on January 5, 2018, a person close to Nikolas Cruz contacted the FBI’s Public Access Line (PAL) tipline to report concerns about him,” adding “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.”
“It is inexcusable that the FBI failed to follow protocols and inform the Miami field office” of the tipster’s information, the Florida senator declared. “Lawmakers and law enforcement personnel constantly remind the public that ‘if you see something, say something,” he added, declaring “our system utterly failed the families of seventeen innocent souls.”
Cruz killed 17 students and teachers during a shooting rampage at a Parkland, Florida high school Wednesday. His social media activity before the shooting indicated he was considering targeting a school along with a fetishization of weapons and violence.
Cruz also had a troubled history with local law enforcement. Local police were called to his residence 39 times since 2010 and his associates paint a picture of a deeply troubled youth, expelled from high school before the shooting.
Attorney General echoed Rubio’s sentiments and ordered Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein to conduct an “immediate review” of the FBI’s tip-handling “process.” (RELATED: Sessions Turns His Sights On FBI, DOJ — ‘IMMEDIATE REVIEW’)