Sheriff Scott Israel at center of controversy
For the first week after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre, Broward Sheriff Scott Israel was the commanding image and voice of authority, detailing the tragedy and grieving with the community.
For the past five days, much has changed, with a growing chorus of critics depicting Israel as an incompetent leader who should be removed from office by the governor or resign in shame.
It’s far too early to predict the denouement of Israel’s decades in law enforcement and two terms as sheriff.
But scrutiny and political controversy is guaranteed to swirl around him for months, and years, to come.
“One of the dangers is when people bring you up as a hero, people are going to want to bring you down. That’s politics,” said Charles Zelden, a professor of history and legal studies who specializes in politics and voting at Nova Southeastern University.
“What’s inevitable is looking for scapegoats,” Zelden said. “He’s in a very vulnerable position. Because ultimately this was on his watch in his county.”
Cynthia Busch, chairwoman of the Broward Democratic Party, said the whiplash-fast turnaround in the way some are talking about Israel, an elected Democrat, reflects the “hyper media” world, often exaggerated and intensified by people pushing hidden agendas on social media. In recent days: Social media pilloried Israel for an unusual answer he gave Sunday morning when CNN’s Jake Tapper wondered if the Sheriff ’s Office “had done things differently, this shooting might not have happened?”
Israel’s response: “Listen, ifs and buts and candy and nuts, O.J. Simpson would still be in the record books.” It echoed the line “If ifs and buts were candies and nuts we'd all have a merry Christmas,” sometimes paraphrased by former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner and used on TV years ago by “Monday Night Football” announcer Don Meredith.
Tapper told Israel, “I don’t know what that means. There's 17 dead people, and there's a whole long list of things your department could done differently.”
Others questioned Israel’s assertion in the Tapper interview that “I have given amazing leadership to this agency.”
National commentators and media outlets have gone from hanging on Israel’s every word to assailing him.
State Rep. Bill Hager, R-Delray Beach, called on Saturday for Gov. Rick Scott — who early in the aftermath of the massacre have been stood beside Israel before television cameras — to remove the sheriff from office.
On Sunday, a majority of the Republicans in the Florida Legislature followed up with their own call for Israel’s suspension.
State Sen. Gary Farmer, a Broward Democrat, got 10 of the 17 state legislators who represent large parts of the county to issue their own response faulting the Republicans’ rush to judgment in pushing for Israel’s ouster.