Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Families and public deserve to see FBI Pulse report
After Sept. 11, 2001, it took about 34 months to establish an investigative commission and publicly release a final report on the worst terrorist attacks in American history.
The Pulse nightclub in Orlando was attacked by a single gunman 32 months ago, and the public still hasn’t seen the FBI’s final report.
Instead, it’s been a drip, drip, drip of vaguely worded statements by other agencies, the latest coming last week from the office of Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala.
The highlight was a conclusion that none of the 49 victims had been shot by police. The basis for that conclusion included a Florida Department of Law Enforcement use-of-force investigation, which reviewed video and audio evidence, along with police and witness statements.
What’s still missing, however, is the FBI’s full report on the massacre, including detailed ballistics findings important in determining who shot whom. This delay despite the passage of time, despite the death of the gunman, and despite the acquittal of the gunman’s wife on a charge of assisting her husband.
So why the secrecy? Why — more than 2½ years after the massacre of club-goers — can’t the public see what the FBI has found? A spokesperson for the agency said the case hasn’t been formally closed, citing “administrative items that need to be finalized.” Oh.
Other investigations haven’t proceeded so slowly.
As the Sentinel reported last week, an FBI investigation into the motives behind a mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert was released in January, 16 months after the killings.
Canned statements from the region’s representatives in Washington don’t give us much confidence they’re holding the agency’s feet to the fire.
“I am in the process of receiving full briefings by the FBI and FDLE,” wrote U.S. Rep. Val Demings, whose district includes the Pulse nightclub. “The public deserves to know as much as the law allows. Through full transparency we become better and safer.”
“I am satisfied with their investigation but believe it’s time for them to release the forensics report,” Rep. Darren Soto said in written answers to the Sentinel’s questions. “It appears their investigation has concluded and this report is critical for public policy analysis.”
U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy’s treacly response gave us even less hope that she’s fighting for the release of the FBI’s findings.
The FBI’s slow walk is emblematic of the vague and dissatisfying outcomes following the Pulse massacre.
Speaking of policy changes at the Orlando Police Department following the shootings, former Orlando Police Chief John Mina — now the Orange County sheriff — hazily answered, “We’re always adjusting training based on incidents that happen and best practices that are done around the country.”
Not very reassuring, considering the absence of details about what the department has learned or what it could do better in the future.
The city’s new chief, Orlando Rolon, said through a spokesperson that the department will embark on an internal affairs investigation now that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has issued its report.
But he’s not saying what ground it’ll cover, such as whether the Orlando detective hired to guard the club that night was right to stay outside after the massacre began. It’s an important question, especially considering the blowback after a Broward County deputy made a similar decision to remain outside after a gunman began shooting inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland last year.
After that shooting, the FBI took nine months to run down what went wrong with a public tip line that was alerted about the Parkland gunman ahead of those killings.
This editorial board cannot pretend to understand the profound sense of grief and loss that loved ones of the Pulse victims still feel. But in the past it’s been evident that quick, thorough and decisive investigations sometimes help the grieving to get on with their lives.
No one likes loose ends, least of all when they prevent someone from understanding what happened to a loved one. Some comfort might also be found in knowing that lessons learned by authorities will make the public safer.
Law enforcement agencies have a duty to untangle what happened inside the Pulse nightclub that terrible night in 2016.
They also have a duty to get the job done in a timely way for the sake of those who endure the aftermath.