The Florida Senate on Wednesday voted to permanently oust suspended Broward Sheriff Scott Israel over his officers’ response to the mass shooting that killed 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.
The GOP-controlled state Senate voted 25-15 in favor of Israel’s permanent removal.
“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. – READ MORE