Prosecutors in Florida will seek the death penalty against the killer in the Parkland Florida shooting. It remains to be seen whether a conviction can be reached in a society and legal system that prefers to convict on emotion rather than fact and evidence. That the killer in Florida is worthy of death is without question, but what of those who are culpable in the crime and, if history serves, will escape unscathed and ignored for their dereliction which aided and abetted this horror.

Justice must be served. Much of the anarchy we see in our society has been exacerbated by the Lady Justice’s new modern look, sans blindfold, and her new found eyesight finds her constantly redrawing the lines and administering new guidelines to whom, what , when, and to what severity punitive redress should meted out. Still, as the cold law of a civil society demands this sickness be purged from our land, the warm heart of it’s people grieve that a young boy, so troubled, would have never had the opportunity to take so many young innocent lives had the adults in positions of responsibility, in direct contact with this boy, done their job, their due diligence, and how that this boy alone will face the justice he deserves, while those who are culpable in his infamy will walk this land alive with no check to their destructive behavior.

The Parkland shooting will go down as the most preventable mass shooting in history. Layers upon layers of our criminal justice system failed to do their job even when the boy contacted them directly to essentially say, “I’ve got a problem. I want to kill people.” From the FBI right down to the deputy on duty at the school campus, no one did their job.

Those who celebrate the demise of this great Republic and the encroachment on Natural Born Liberties have engaged in the age old tradition of inflaming angry mobs against the innocent to keep the glaring light of public scrutiny off those political leaders who are guilty. Politicians whose insidious agenda waits for these moments have pounced quickly to capitalize and others who are cowards have hurriedly moved forward with short-sighted, foolish, and reactionary legislation. The media orchestrates the children, marionette game pieces in a lurid, shameless game.

Illinois, in an effort to keep 18 to 21 year olds from becoming criminals, has passed a law making any 18 to 21 year old who owns an AR rifle a criminal, and then authorizing the government to engage in the criminal activity of gun confiscation. Florida, in an effort to show the Nation what true clumsy cowardice looks like, has banned 18 to 21 year olds from purchasing guns, ignoring the fact the a large number in that age bracket who purchase guns for personal protection are young females. With all the forethought, perception and intellectual dexterity of a bad remake of the Keystone Kops, Florida has just stripped the young ladies of their state from purchasing the protection of the great equalizer in the gender divide, a gun.

But in the midst of this haze and stupor of manipulation and hysteria, no one is looking at the true culprits, the law enforcement agencies who had direct access to the killer and neglected to do their job. The FBI was contacted by family, warning them of his threats to kill people. Perhaps the most culpable, the Broward County Sheriff, was contacted nearly thirty times about his behavior and knew of his posts on social media threatening to kill his fellow students while brandishing weapons.

One arrest for those posts with a weapon would have resulted in a felony and prevented the boy from purchasing a weapon. Why no arrest? The school district, in conjunction with the Sheriff’s Dept., had implemented a new system, borrowed from the State of Illinois, (Yes, the state that just made young adults criminals to keep them from being criminals.) to lower the high crime in juveniles by…not…arresting…them.

The boy had been suspended six times from Parkland School then reintegrated. This is failure of school leadership. Then finally the deputy who was on duty recognized the boy when he exited the Uber vehicle, knew he was under suspension and barred from the campus, and never executed his duty to engage the boy and ask, “Why are you here and what are you carrying?” Later that deputy is seen on security cams cowering outside while children inside were being slaughtered.

If the killer is convicted and receives the just penalty of death for his crime, there stands a whole line of accomplices in his shadow of horror. Adults who lacked the courage and integrity to act like adults and stand in the way to block his path toward destruction. Parkland would not have happened if those who swore an oath to protect and to serve had not been derelict in their duty to do both.

Written by Andy Torbett