Florida governor calls for FBI director's resignation after revelations about bureau's failure to follow tip about high school shooter


Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) called for the resignation of FBI Director Christopher Wray on Friday, following the bureau's earlier admission that it failed to act on a tip about confessed high school shooter Nikolas Cruz.
Cruz confessed to carrying out a mass shooting Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17. Earlier Friday, the FBI released a statement saying that a person "close to" Cruz had called its public tip line on Jan. 5, but that a breach of protocol occurred and the agency failed to follow up on the information. Scott said the FBI's failure to investigate was "unacceptable," especially given that the tip specifically mentioned Cruz's "potential of ... conducting a school shooting."
People are encouraged to warn authorities about potential threats, Scott said, and the FBI's failure to act could shake the public's confidence "in the follow through from law enforcement." "An apology will never bring these 17 Floridians back to life," Scott wrote. "The FBI director needs to resign." Read his full statement below. Kelly O'Meara Morales
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.
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