Republicans Oust Broward County Sheriff

Via American Action News:

The Republican-controlled Florida State Senate voted yesterday to oust suspended Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel permanently.

The vote came in response to Israel and his deputies handling of a mass shooting last year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. 

Per Fox News:

“I hope the outcome provides some measure of relief to the Parkland families that have been doggedly pursuing accountability,” Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said in a statement after the vote.

All five state senators representing Broward County voted for Israel to remain in office, which parents of victims said they viewed as an act of betrayal.

“That was very difficult to watch. They cried with us. They might even have seen my child dead, and so it was very difficult, and I know the Broward County voters are watching,” Lori Alhadeff, whose daughter Alyssa was killed at the school and has since been elected to the Broward School Board, told the Sun Sentinel.

The chamberwide vote Wednesday confirmed an initial decision made by the state Senate Rules Committee Monday. The four Broward County senators on that committee voted to reinstate the sheriff, prompting the families of many Parkland victims to crowd the offices of state senators pleading for them to permanently oust the sheriff when the vote came to the floor.

.⁦⁦⁦@SenatorThurston⁩, who supports reinstating Scott Israel as Broward sheriff, tells ⁦⁦@FLSenateDems⁩ that he understands feelings of #Parkland families who want Israel permanently removed. “If I was a parent I would want vengeance too.” pic.twitter.com/SNuNrnEVQX

— Anthony Man (@browardpolitics) October 23, 2019