Scott Israel told the Florida Senate on Friday that the reasons Gov. Ron DeSantis gave for suspending him as Broward sheriff are “patently false, grossly inflammatory, politically charged” and don’t establish grounds for removing him from office.
In a filing with the Senate, Israel’s attorneys said the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre on Feb. 14, 2018 was “indeed a tragedy. But it was not a preventable tragedy given the intention of a mass murderer to commit acts of terrorism on the suburban high school campus.”
Israel’s arguments are contained in a response filed Friday with the Senate to the governor’s “Bill of Particulars” spelling out the reasons for the suspension. The language used by Israel’s attorneys was often strong, and it was often harshly critical of DeSantis.
DeSantis suspended Israel in January, three days after becoming governor. He cited “neglect of duty” and “incompetence” related to the Jan. 6, 2017, shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in which five people were killed, and the Parkland school massacre, in which 17 people were killed.
Under the Florida Constitution, the Senate will decide whether to uphold DeSantis’ suspension of Israel or return him to office. Dudley Goodlette, a former state representative, is serving as a special master, who will consider arguments in the case and report to the Senate. The response Israel filed Friday will be considered by Goodlette, and ultimately the full Senate.
A final hearing on Israel’s suspension is set to start on June 18.
Israel’s attorneys made many of the arguments they’ve made before, including that the “suspension was a mere political ruse designed to satisfy partisan political promises made during the governor’s election campaign.” Israel’s lawyers, Benedict Kuehne and Stuart Kaplan, wrote that DeSantis decided as a candidate to go after Israel even before he “had any factual inkling of what had happened at the MSD shooting.”
DeSantis acted, Israel’s attorneys wrote, “solely to secure votes.”
And they pointed out that Gov. Rick Scott, who was the state’s chief executive at the time of the airport shooting and the Parkland massacre, didn’t move to suspend Israel.
“Neither Sheriff Israel nor the BSO were responsible for the mass shooting, nor was Sheriff Israel guilty of neglect of duty and incompetence in connection with that tragedy,” Kuehne and Kaplan wrote.
Among the arguments and denials in Israel’s filing:
— Active shooter training was provided to deputies.
It isn’t Israel’s fault that Deputy Scot Peterson, the school resource officer on duty at Stoneman Douglas on the day of the shooting, didn’t enter the building to stop the shooter.
The widely criticized sheriff’s office policy stating that a deputy or deputies “may” enter the area during an active shooting — rather than an order that they shall do so — was consistent with other police agencies. The use of “may,” providing an option, has been widely criticized after the shooting.
Before he was suspended, Israel ordered a change to “shall” instead of “may.”
Swift action by a deputy at the airport resulted in the shooter being quickly taken into custody, “preventing further tragedy.”