A bombshell report from the Sun Sentinel released last week shed stunning new light on the blatant failures by the Broward County school district that preceded to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting on Valentine’s Day.
According to the Sentinel, the district led a prolonged effort to “hide, deny, and mask” multiple failures to deflect blame from public officials.
“Immediately after 17 people were murdered inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the school district launched a persistent effort to keep people from finding out what went wrong,” writes the Sun.
“For months, Broward schools delayed or withheld records, refused to publicly assess the role of employees, spread misinformation and even sought to jail reporters who published the truth,” adds the author.
The report also finds the district spent at least $200,000 on public relations consultants in an effort to mislead the public over what they knew, and when they knew it.
Read the full report here.
FLORIDA FALLOUT: Marjory Stoneman to Require CLEAR BACKPACKS After Shooting
The Broward County high school where 19-year old gunman Nikolas Cruz murdered seventeen people is instituting new security policies within the next two weeks; requiring all students to carry “clear backpacks” provided by the school at no charge.
The new guidelines were issued after Zachary Cruz -the suspects brother- illegally entered the school to visit the site of his sibling’s slaughter; subsequently being arrested and held on $500,000 bail.
The Broward County School Superintendent issued a letter to parents of students attending the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida this week, detailing the school’s updated security protocol.
According to the New York Times, other procedures include new ID badges to be worn at all times and new metal-detecting equipment at the school’s entrances and exits.
“Someone is not going to go through a metal detector with an AR-15,” said the superintendent.
The revised guidelines come after three Stoneman Douglas students were arrested earlier this week, allegedly making threats on social media platforms and bringing knives onto the campus.
BROWARD BACKLASH: Florida Sheriff Faces ‘NO CONFIDENCE’ Vote from His Own Deputies
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel found himself in hot-water Friday, facing a “no confidence” vote from his own department after multiple “failures” have “crushed moral” throughout the agency.
According to NBC Miami, Sheriff Scott Israel will face the up-or-down vote from his own deputies following his handling and response to the deadly shooting that stunned South Florida earlier this year.
“The move comes as Israel and his agency have been heavily criticized for their response during and after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in which 17 people, mostly teenage students, were shot dead,” writes NBC.
In a written statement, the official association of deputies said the vote was necessary following “many instances of suspected malfeasance, misfeasance, failure to maintain fiduciary responsibility by the Sheriff, failure to properly investigate possible criminal conduct by members of his senior command staff and the lack of leadership that has crushed morale through the agency.”