I live nine miles from Parkland, Florida. Weeks after Nikolas Cruz murdered 14 students and three staffers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, I argued that Cruz was the byproduct of “it takes a village” guaranteed-to-fail Democrat outcomes.
One year later, few have been held accountable, but the Democrat anti-gun cult has strengthened.
Most of the same dysfunctional officials in charge at the time of the shooting are still running the dystopian show in Broward County, which is Florida’s version of New York City and San Francisco. There is one positive exception: Broward Sheriff Scott Israel was removed last month from his post by newly-Gov. Ron DeSantis; Israel, whose monthly salary was $16,000.00, will appeal his exile.
Parkland was a perfect storm of collective failure: the FBI failed to follow-up on Cruz several times; Obama educational standards, enacted without Congress’s approval and designed to reduce minorities’ encounters with law enforcement, peddled lax disciplinary standards for troubled students; the Broward County Public Schools were aware, for over a year, of Cruz’s school-shooting obsession; and Israel’s deputies not only failed to act on several tips about Cruz’s alleged violent tendencies, they also failed to act the day of the massacre.
Local law enforcement was somewhat limited in its ability to stop Cruz due to state laws that make it difficult for police to take preemptive action. (Legislation has been proposed that would broaden law enforcement’s preemptive powers).
However, Broward’s schools, Superintendent Robert Runcie and Sheriff Israel did attempt to obfuscate their egregious incompetence by exploiting the tragedy and advocating for further infringements upon our constitutionally guaranteed Second Amendment rights. Runcie claimed he was unaware of Cruz’s threats to shoot up the school. It was an astounding admission given Broward schools have the highest rate of students who brandish weapons on school grounds amongst all South Florida school districts.
Some Parkland parents thrust their traumatized kids into activist roles and force fed them the usual anti-gun lies from the Democrat-Media Industrial Complex.
Cruz should have never been able to make his way onto the school grounds, because he didn’t attend the school.
In my conversations with Parkland parents, I asked if they would have supported moderate security at all entry and egress points on the Stoneman campus prior to the shooting. They answered “no,” and said such security is found only in schools in the ghetto. Parkland — with a household median annual income of $131,340.00 — ain’t the ghetto.
Those same parents have also told me that complete strangers still have unhindered access to school grounds most of the day. What about armed teachers, one of the recommendations made in the Parkland commission report? Why do the Obamas and Bloombergs of America — who adamantly oppose armed teachers and/or access to firearms for school personnel — insist on having armed bodyguards accompany them whenever they visit a school campus?
The Parkland shooting became red meat for Democrats because it occurred in a place where it shouldn’t have: a whine, tiny, “progressive” Democratic locale. Shootings are “supposed” to take place in urban areas controlled by a super-majority of Democrats.
When threats of school shootings are made, especially by those with a troubled history, should they be monitored by law enforcement, with evidence-based warrants? Had all agencies paid more attention to Cruz, they may have prevented the horror of Feb. 14, 2018, without violating his constitutional rights.
Broward’s village idiots haven’t done much over the years to protect innocent kids from the problem children. Let’s hope and pray Broward residents figure this out quickly, before more innocent children die. We can only wonder how many Nikolas Cruzes there are amongst our loved ones.
Rich Logis (@RichLogis) is host of “The Rich Logis Show” and author of the upcoming book “10 Warning Signs Your Child Is Becoming a Democrat.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.
