Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is demanding that the FBI and Google provide answers concerning warnings about confessed Florida high school shooter Nikolas Cruz, after the agency admitted it received a tip about Cruz last month but failed to follow protocol.
“See something, say something. That’s what the government asks of its citizens,” Grassley said in a statement Friday. “But the government must also follow through when vigilant Americans speak up, and the government is responsible for following the law and regulations on the books designed to prevent tragedies like the one in Parkland.”
The FBI conceded Friday that it received a tip just last month from someone close to Cruz, warning about some of his recent behavior.
“The caller provided information about Cruz’s gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting,” the FBI said. But the agency said that “protocols were not followed for the information received” and that the info should have been “assessed as a potential threat to life.”
The FBI is “still investigating the facts,” according to FBI Director Chris Wray.
The tip last month wasn’t the first tip the FBI received about Cruz. In September, the agency said it received a tip concerning a YouTube comment allegedly made by Cruz about becoming a “professional school shooter.”
Although the commentator had the same name as Cruz, the FBI claims they were unable to track down the actual person behind the comment.
Grassley submitted letters Friday to both the FBI and Google, which owns YouTube, to provide details about what was done to investigate the tips and what information had become available.
“We are witnessing what happens when federal agencies fail to follow multiple tips about a clearly disturbed and dangerous individual,” Grassley said in a statement. “The government must do better to follow these existing processes to prevent future tragedies. I hope that Director Wray will work quickly to address the breakdowns at the FBI and to cooperate fully with the Judiciary Committee’s oversight efforts. The public deserves answers and accountability so these mistakes are not repeated.”
Grassley’s letter to the FBI requests the agency to explain what what done to identify the YouTube user, all interactions between the FBI and local and state officials concerning Cruz, and what actions the FBI has taken to ensure tips are correctly provided to the appropriate field office.
The letter to Google requests information about whether law enforcement asked for details concerning the YouTube comment and if Google had information that would have helped identify the user.
The letters request a response from the FBI by Feb. 23, and a response from Google by March 16.
Top Republicans in the House are also asking for committee briefings from the FBI about its response to tips about Cruz. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., sent a letter to Wray on Friday asking for details on “the tip, protocols, and FBI’s actions before and after the incident” by March 2.
Cruz, 19, had been previously expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where he carried out the attack on Wednesday. He was apprehended by authorities and has confessed to the shooting, in which he used a semi-automatic AR-15-style rifle.
The shooting took the lives of 17 individuals and injured dozens more.