This Wasn’t The First Time The FBI Failed To Act On A Flurry Of Red Flags

I know it seems like everyone is blasting the FBI these days, and that’s not to say that there aren’t amazing people who do a great job within the agency, but the facts cannot be ignored.

Someone warned the FBI about Nikolas Cruz last month– and that doesn’t even include all the other various red flags that were ignored by local agencies– and nothing happened.

In case you missed the FBI’s statement on the matter:

On January 5, 2018, a person close to Nikolas Cruz contacted the FBI’s Public Access Line (PAL) tipline to report concerns about him. The caller provided information about Cruz’s gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting.

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.

We have determined that these protocols were not followed for the information received by the PAL on January 5. The information was not provided to the Miami Field Office, and no further investigation was conducted at that time.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said:

“We are still investigating the facts. I am committed to getting to the bottom of what happened in this particular matter, as well as reviewing our processes for responding to information that we receive from the public. It’s up to all Americans to be vigilant, and when members of the public contact us with concerns, we must act properly and quickly.

“We have spoken with victims and families, and deeply regret the additional pain this causes all those affected by this horrific tragedy. All of the men and women of the FBI are dedicated to keeping the American people safe, and are relentlessly committed to improving all that we do and how we do it.”

I can’t– for the life of me– figure out why the left won’t talk about this more. Stop talking about the inanimate object the killer used to inflict carnage. Stop yelling about laws. No gun law would’ve prevented this. The FBI, however, could have. Why won’t they focus on that?

Because it’s not politically expedient. That’s why.

Here’s the thing. This isn’t the first time the FBI has missed blatant red flags.

Attacks where the FBI was informed of significant warning signs beforehand:

Parkland
Charleston
Pulse Nightclub
Fort Hood

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) February 16, 2018

The FBI should have known to block the sale of guns to the Sutherland Springs shooter as well but was left in the dark about his criminal history by the Air Force.

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) February 16, 2018

Russia also warned the FBI about one of the Boston bombers. https://t.co/zXLQBXZt2a

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) February 16, 2018

The FBI, of course, has a long history of stopping crimes as well. They are clearly not perfect or beyond critique, though.

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) February 16, 2018

Exactly. We don’t hear about the crimes they stop, because, well, they stopped them. But they need to be held to the highest standard. Lives are on the line. This could’ve prevented, and it wasn’t.

Instead of screeching about guns, liberals should look at this pattern. Why are these red flags slipping under the radar? What good is it to see something and say something if the warnings are ignored? Let’s have THAT conversation. It’s much more constructive than calling the NRA a terrorist organization.

h/t Twitchy