Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel has become the target of much outrage over the last two days after it was revealed his agency seriously dropped the ball in responding to and helping prevent the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school on Feb. 14.
What did his agency fail to do?
First, it was reported this week that the school resource officer at MSD — who was a Broward County sheriff's deputy — failed to act when shots rang out at the school last week. Instead, he pulled his service weapon and took cover outside.
That deputy has since resigned and is being investigated.
Then, it was reported that it wasn't just the school resource officer who failed to act while students were being murdered at the school. Three other Broward County sheriff's deputies responded to the school and were seen outside with their weapons drawn behind cover. They did not enter the school to return fire or provide aid to victims in the initial moments of the tragedy.
Instead, it was officers with the Coral Springs police department who were the first to enter the school and adequately respond to the shooting.
Unfortunately, the blunders don't end there. In addition, the sheriff's department had countless interactions with the shooter and numerous warnings about his behavior and the potential that he might act on numerous threats to kill people or shoot up his high school.
Meanwhile, Israel had the gall to lecture National Rifle Association spokeswoman Dana Loesch on Wednesday during a CNN town hall for alleged lax gun laws, which he blamed for the shooting. The sheriff also accused the NRA of not "standing up" for students nationwide.
But the tides quickly turned on Thursday, and by Friday, thousands of people nationwide were calling for Israel's resignation with the hashtag #ResignSheriffIsrael on social media.
What people saying?
Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro:
Scott Israel lied to an entire national audience by suggesting his department had done everything to protect the ki… https://t.co/wNB6LMK6St— Ben Shapiro (@Ben Shapiro)1519432229.0
Warning after warning after warning after warning after warning after warning after warning after warning after war… https://t.co/w95JZr7zYh— Ben Shapiro (@Ben Shapiro)1519432404.0
The NRA:
.@DLoesch holds @browardsheriff Scott Israel accountable: “This is the 8th tragedy where we have seen numerous tips… https://t.co/qaV8LCcPl4— NRATV (@NRATV)1519435222.0
Michelle Malkin:
Cover your sorry ass. #ResignSheriffIsrael https://t.co/iJBY6oFNJy— Michelle Malkin (@Michelle Malkin)1519444792.0
Political commentator Wayne Dupree:
#SheriffIsrael has been yelling down the @NRA but now we hear his deputies didn't go in to save those children. Tha… https://t.co/qQIURxePoG— ✠Wayne Dupree ✠(@✠Wayne Dupree âœ)1519438643.0
Conservative Alana Mastrangelo:
Sheriff's deputies were called to Cruz's home 39 times. Countless warning signs ignored. FOUR of his deputies hid… https://t.co/pHiDbk1UmR— Alana Mastrangelo (@Alana Mastrangelo)1519440491.0
Commentator Carmine Sabia:
You blamed @DLoesch. You blamed President @RealDonaldTrump. You blamed an inanimate object. But it was the Russia o… https://t.co/VHJ4GYbe7a— Carmine Sabia (@Carmine Sabia)1519435418.0
Jeff of DecisionDeskHQ:
Well finally there's an activist hashtag on Twitter worth propagating: #ResignSheriffIsrael. Step down, you have fa… https://t.co/GHv6Aw0HLE— Jeff B, fightin' the COVID one bootleg at a time (@Jeff B, fightin' the COVID one bootleg at a time)1519445661.0
Read thousands of other tweets calling for Israel's resignation here.