FBI Director Faces Calls to Resign Over School Shooting

Florida Gov. Rick Scott says 'unacceptable' FBI ignored warning about shooting suspect
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 16, 2018 5:58 PM CST
Florida Gov: FBI Director Should Resign Over School Shooting
Florida Gov. Rick Scott speaks during a news conference near Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where a former student is suspected of killing at least 17 people Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018.   (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

The Republican governor of Florida is calling for the resignation of FBI Director Christopher Wray in the wake of the FBI's admission it ignored a warning about the man suspected of killing 17 people in Wednesdays' school shooting in Parkland, CBS News reports. "Seventeen innocent people are dead and acknowledging a mistake isn't going to cut it," Gov. Rick Scott says in a statement. "An apology will never bring these 17 Floridians back to life or comfort the families who are in pain." Earlier Friday the FBI admitted "protocols were not followed" after a tip was called in to the FBI's public access line last month but not passed along to the Miami field office. Scott says that's "unacceptable" and the FBI has damaged the public's belief in the effectiveness of "see something, say something."

Scott isn't the only one with harsh words for Wray. “The FBI apologized? Tell that to families,” a family friend of one of the victims tells Reuters. "People were seeing something and saying something and it still happened.” Meanwhile Republican Sen. Marco Rubio called for a congressional investigation into the FBI's lack of action, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to "conduct an immediate review" of how the FBI and Justice Department handle violent threats. But Eric Levitz at New York states Wray isn't the one to blame, as he doesn't manage the FBI tip line or Miami field office. He says Scott is trying "to deflect attention away from the governor’s A+ NRA rating, or to abet the president’s efforts to 'purge' the FBI of 'disloyal' elements." (More Parkland school shooting stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X