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State Sen. Perry Thurston is pushing back hard against the father of a student killed in the Parkland school massacre after the father accused him of lying during a Senate debate. Thurston, a Broward Democrat, slammed what he characterized as an “unmitigated attack by the strident voices on the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission.” Thurston was referring to comments made by Max Schachter, whose 14-year-old son Alex was killed in the school shooting, and is a member of the school safety commission. Schachter said Saturday he wasn’t attacking Thurston. He said he was trying to set the record straight and...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Senate will uphold the suspension of former Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, despite the recommendation by the chamber's own special master that Israel be reinstated. The Senate voted 25-15 Wednesday to uphold the suspension by Gov. DeSantis, who accused Israel of negligence in the agency's handling of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The Senate appointed a special master to investigate the suspension.  This is a developing story. Check back for the latest from Tallahassee reporter Troy Kinsey. . Why was the committee tasked with making the recommendation? Israel was removed from office...

In a precursor to next week’s special Senate session to decide if Scott Israel should get his job back as Broward County sheriff, parents of the students murdered in the Parkland school shooting on Monday urged and warned state senators not to do it. “His lack of leadership and poor training of his rank and file played a role in the death of Nick and the injury of my other son,” Mitch Dworet said in front of an assembly of news cameras at the Parkland substation of the Broward Sheriff’s Office. “I say to any politician, 'Look to your conscience...

After the deadly Feb. 14, 2018, mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., national media focused largely on a handful of student activists, leaving it to victims’ parents to unravel why the slaughter happened. Andrew Pollack, whose daughter, Meadow, was one of the 17 killed, conducted his own investigation to uncover the roots of what he calls the most avoidable mass murder in American history. He and Max Eden are co-authors of “Why Meadow Died: The People and Policies that Created the Parkland Shooter and Endanger America’s Students.” This adapted excerpt, based on never-before-released educational records...

<p>FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A judge will not prevent the father of one of 17 people killed last year at a Florida high school from attending the deposition of a former school security monitor who claims the father is harassing him.</p>

Flanked by members of a local African-American faith community, a defiant Scott Israel defended himself against allegations of incompetence on Friday and made clear he would fight his suspension on any front necessary — whether before the Florida Senate or in state or federal court. Israel, 62, a two-term Democratic sheriff of Broward County, was suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis three days after the new Republican governor was sworn into office. DeSantis cited a list of failures enumerated by a state panel that investigated BSO’s response to the Feb. 14, 2018, shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

Florida Governor Desantis suspends Broward Sheriff Israel.

Two South Florida McDonald's customers think the fast-food giant is being awfully cheesy with how it charges customers for a signature item that has been on its menu since 1975. According to a class-action lawsuit filed in Fort Lauderdale federal court on May 8, Cynthia Kissner, of Broward County, and Leonard Werner, of Miami-Dade, say they have had to pay for cheese they don't want on their Quarter Pounder sandwiches. The suit asks for at least $5 million. It comes down to this: On the menu, a hamburger at Micky D's is cheaper than a cheeseburger. According to the lawsuit,...

The Broward County Sheriff’s Office has seen better days. After the horrific Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida last February, the law enforcement department has been under siege. First, there’s former Officer Scot Peterson, who was assigned to the school. He was the school resource officer, but never went into the building to confront shooter Nikolas Cruz, who was gunning down faculty and students. Video footage confirmed Peterson never went in, prompting outrage. He resigned after he was placed on unpaid leave. Then, after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman, another sheriff’s deputy is suspended for falling asleep...

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, who touted his own “amazing leadership” after the Parkland school shooting, is facing a no-confidence vote from the union representing his deputies. Jeff Bell, the president of the Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputies Association, told CNN on Friday that union members had decided to move forward with the vote, which will begin electronically tonight and will close on April 26. “There is a complete failure at the sheriff’s office and he doesn’t recognize it,” Bell said. Calling the vote a “ploy,” Israel said the union “is trying to use the Parkland tragedy as a bargaining tactic...

Deputies are investigating after a woman intentionally crashed her car into a Broward Sheriff’s Office station in Pembroke Park. Deputies said the woman deliberately drove into the Pembroke Park/West Park Broward Sheriff’s Office, located at 3201 W Hallandale Beach Blvd. just after 11:30 a.m. Monday. However, officials said, her motive remains unknown. Mendez, who was working inside the station said the woman was engulfed in flames inside the vehicle. “I have grandchildren, so when I see people in need, I try to help,” Mendez said. “She was on fire. It kind of traumatized me.” He was painting the interior of...

During an appearance on Fox News, the father of one of the victims at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida said that he hasn’t watched the newly released video of school resource officer Scot Peterson standing outside and refusing to enter the school during the Feb. 14. attack. According to The U.K. Independent, the clip shows Peterson, a Broward County deputy, traveling toward the building in a golf cart after being informed the shooting started. Later, he can be seen standing outside the school as students filed by. Andrew Pollack, the father of one of the students killed...

Broward Deputy Scot Peterson stands safely behind a concrete wall taking no action as high school students lay dead and wounded just feet away, newly released video of the Florida school shooting shows. The Broward Sheriff’s Office released the 27-minute video Thursday of the former longtime resource officer responding to initial reports of a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14. Peterson, who was assigned to the school and on site when the shooting began, is seen with a civilian security monitor at the start of the video, but spends most of the video standing outside the...

The public must be allowed to see the security video from outside last month’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a judge ruled Monday. The South Florida Sun Sentinel, along with other media organizations, sued the Broward Sheriff’s Office last month for access to the video, arguing that it is critical for the public to analyze law enforcement’s response to the shooting.

A video has surfaced of Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel attending a meeting of Muslims, where both Israel and one of his deputies spoke in Arabic. The deputy said that Israel pledged to keep young people out of jail and to put “God first, your family second and the community third.” Israel credits his deputy Nezar Hamze as a likeminded individual who is on the same mission as Israel. Israel compares himself and Hamze to lions on a mission. Both Israel and Namze boast that they keep young people out of jail, rather than put them in. “I want you...

A Broward County sheriff's spokeswoman confirmed vehicle wraps featuring a large image of Sheriff Scott Israel, which cost taxpayers $12,500 in total to cover five Ford Focus vehicles, have been removed. The move came days after a Local 10 News report on the cars in which one of Israel's opponents, retired Broward Sheriff's Office Sgt. Willie Jones, condemned them as a campaign ploy financed by the public. The wrap was removed because of design and workmanship issues, according to spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright. The sheriff refused a request for comment. *********** Broward Collision was paid $2,500 per car for wrapping the...

According to the first responder, everything about the response was completely botched. “Everything I was trained on mass casualty events says they did the wrong thing,” he explained. “You don’t wait for the scene to be cleared. You go in immediately armed. Retrieve the victims. You can’t leave the victims laying there.” The EMS worker believes that if he and other medical responders were allowed to enter the building as soon as they arrived, they could have saved more lives. He explained he was willing to risk his life to save the lives of others and was very frustrated over...

He's not going back to school. There aren’t enough grief counselors, well wishers or positive prayers to make Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg return to the school where his classmates were massacred unless Florida lawmakers pass gun control legislation. “I’m not going back to school on Wednesday until one bill is passed,” Hogg said at gun control rally Sunday in New Jersey.

The Florida sheriff’s deputy who did nothing as a killer stalked the halls of Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS spoke out for the first time Monday, saying he’s not a coward, according to a report. Deputy Scot Peterson — who resigned in disgrace from his position as a school resource officer last week — said through a lawyer that he believed the shooter was outside the high school and that protocol demanded he “seek cover,” according to the Miami Herald. “[He] heard gunshots but believed those gunshots were originating from outside of the buildings on the school campus,” his Fort Lauderdale-based...

Embattled Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told a local NBC station on Sunday that the failure of his resource officer, who was armed and on site during the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, is "not my responsibility." [Snip] "Leaders are responsible for the agency, but leaders are not responsible for a person," Israel told the station. "I gave him a gun. I gave him a badge. I gave him the training. If he didn’t have the heart to go in, that’s not my responsibility."