Marco Rubio slams FBI for 'inexcusable' failure to investigate Nikolas Cruz
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The FBI's failure to stop a mass shooting in Florida on Wednesday demands a congressional investigation, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Friday. In a statement, the Florida Republican called it "inexcusable" that the FBI did not act after being told in January that Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old who admitted to killing 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida, had demonstrated "a desire to kill" and "erratic behavior."
Earlier on Friday, FBI Director Christopher Wray admitted that the FBI had been warned about Cruz by "a person close to" him, and pledged that the FBI would "[review] our processes for responding to information that we receive from the public."
But an internal review will not suffice, Rubio said: "[The] House and the Senate need to immediately initiate their own investigations into the FBI's protocols for ensuring tips from the public about potential killers are followed through." Read Rubio's statement below. Kelly O'Meara Morales
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Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.
