One would think that everyone who lost a child or loved on in the horrific Parkland shooting spree should be able to view the video and be privy to every detail of the tragedy

Sheriff Israel’s 'Duty-Ducking Deputies' His Scapegoats?

By Judi McLeod —— Bio and Archives February 23, 2018

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Sheriff Israel’s Duty-Ducking Deputies His Scapegoats?

Like a Laurence Olivier of the CNN ‘Townhall’ acting world, Sheriff Scott Israel was accorded standing ovations when he took NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch to task under the curiously benevolent directorship of Jake Tapper, on Wednesday night. Never once did the Olivier of CNN’s “townhall” ever mention that he happened to be in possession of a video showing that armed and uniformed School Resource Deputy Scot Peterson had hovered safely outside the school building when Nikolas Cruz was inside killing students and teachers.

Sheriff Israel And Dana Loesch

Sheriff Israel threw doubt on Loesch’s assertion that police had visited the house where Cruz lived some 39 times without ever charging him or taking him into custody, asking her from which media she had taken that information. Had Loesch identified CNN as one of the main media sources of the 39 police visits, you can bet the farm the network would have bleeped it out. “The NRA spokeswoman was also responding to a tweet sent out by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, which quoted Israel saying Loesch was not “standing up” for the students. (Daily Caller, Feb. 23, 2018) “Standing up for the students” takes far more than acting a role in a CNN ‘Townhall’, Mr. Sheriff.

Additionally, @browardsheriff sat on that stage with me last night fully aware that his deputy had been outside and armed while this madman had four minutes to massacre — and said NOTHING.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) February 23, 2018

Loesch, who was heckled, booed and jeered at the CNN “townhall”, and who was later the subject of people shouting “Burn Her!” was right on bullseye. On the morning after, Sheriff Israel says watching the video of his deputy hiding outside rather than going into the school “made me sick to my stomach” and told CNN two other deputies had been put on restrictive assignment because they “didn’t do enough”, should be asked outright: “WHO HIRED THEM?” “WHO PROMOTED PETERSON?” “Peterson, who attended Florida International University, was largely lauded for his performance on the job , including garnering two deputy of the year nominations in recent years, the personnel records show.” (CNN, Feb. 23, 2018) There would have likely been no standing ovations for Sheriff Israel had the students participating in CNN’s televised ‘Townhall’ known about that. Nor was the deputy who remained outside the school while the deadly shooting was taking place “fired”, as some newspaper headlines claimed. Truth is that knowing he was about to be suspended pending investigation, Peterson got ahead of the curve by resigning. “Israel said he suspended School Resource Deputy Scot Peterson on Thursday after seeing a video from the Parkland, Florida, school that showed Peterson outside the school building where the shooter was inside and attacking. (Time, Feb. 22, 2018)

"What I saw was a deputy arrive at the west side of Building 12, take up a position, and never went in," Israel said. “He said Peterson was armed, and was in uniform, and should have gone into the building during the 6-minute event, which left 17 people, most of them teenagers, dead. When asked what the deputy should have done, Israel said: "Went in and addressed the killer. Killed the killer.” “Peterson, 54, a resource officer at the school since 2009, resigned after Israel suspended him. Israel said two other officers have been placed on a restricted assignment pending an internal investigation relating to the school shooting. "They could have done more, they should have done more," Israel said. "It's a fluid investigation. They are on restrictive duty.” “Attempts to reach Peterson on Thursday were unsuccessful. Paperwork released by the sheriff's office showed that Peterson, hired in July 1985, signed his retirement paperwork on Thursday afternoon. “Israel said that Peterson was in an office dealing with a school-related issue when the first shots were fired on Feb. 14 and that he got on his radio and then moved toward the outside of the building where the shooting was taking place. When asked what he is seen doing on the video, Israel replied: “Nothing." "I think he took up a position where it looked like he could see the western-most entry into the building and stayed where he was," Israel said. "Never went in.”

“Israel said he "clearly" knew there was a shooter inside, something that made him "sick to my stomach.” "There are no words," Israel said. "These families lost their children. We lost coaches. “I've been to the funerals. I've been to the homes where they're sitting shiva. I've been to the vigils. It's just, there are no words.” “The revelation about the deputy comes as law enforcement officials and authorities have faced intense criticism for whether they missed previous chances to prevent the massacre. The FBI was warned last month about the alleged shooter's potential for violence at a school, but failed to investigate that tip, while school officials, social services investigators and the sheriff's office had multiple encounters or troubling warnings about him over the years.”

And the video that made Sheriff Israel “sick to my stomach” will likely never be released for public viewing.

“Sheriff Israel said he would not be releasing the video showing Mr Peterson and might never do so, "depending on the prosecution and criminal case" against the 19-year-old suspect accused of carrying out the shooting, former student Nikolas Cruz.” (Time)

One would think that everyone who lost a child or loved on in the horrific Parkland shooting spree should be able to view the video and be privy to every detail of the tragedy. Otherwise there’s room for thinking that the three alleged 'duty-ducking deputies' may have ended up as Sheriff Israel’s scapegoats.

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Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience in the print media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared on Rush Limbaugh, Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com.

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