Thread: Nikolas Cruz 'school shooter' comment reported to FBI months ago, vlogger says

Nikolas Cruz 'school shooter' comment reported to FBI months ago, vlogger says

By Katherine Lam | Fox News
1 hour ago

An FBI official acknowledged on Thursday the bureau received a tip months before the Florida high school massacre about a social media comment by a Nikolas Cruz, who aspired to be “a professional school shooter."

Special Agent Rob Lasky, in charge of the FBI’s Miami division, confirmed during a Thursday morning news conference the agency investigated a comment made on a YouTube video in September that matched the remark reported by vlogger Ben Bennight. After conducting database reviews, however, the FBI said it could not identify the user who made the comment.

"No other information was included in the comment which would indicate a particular time, location or the true identity of the person who posted the comment," the FBI said in a subsequent statement.

The comment, made by user Nikolas Cruz, stated: “I’m going to be a professional school shooter.”

Nikolas Cruz, a 19-year-old former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, is accused of a bloody rampage that killed 17 people at the school.

Bennight, a Mississippi bail bondsman who goes by the name “Ben The Bondsman” on YouTube and social media, said in a new video posted Wednesday he immediately reported the threatening comment to YouTube and contacted the FBI. Bennight also included a screenshot of the comment.

“Well, the next day I had two FBI agents standing in my office, taking down the information, taking copies of the screenshots and asking me questions that, of course, I couldn’t answer. All it was on my channel was a comment,” Bennight said.

Bennight said he reported the disturbing comment because he “just couldn’t ignore” it.

Bennight said Wednesday he was again contacted by FBI agents from the Mississippi and Miami field offices — after alleged gunman Cruz shot and killed at least 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

“I would like to think that they were already investigating this guy and they had him on the top of their radar and that’s how they ended up contacting me so quickly,” the vlogger said. “I wish I could have given them more information.”

Bennight told BuzzFeed News that Special Agent Ryan Furr from the FBI’s Miami field office contacted him and left a voicemail.

"I think we spoke with you in the past about a complaint that you made about someone making a comment on your YouTube channel," Furr said in the message that was detailed in a transcription Bennight posted. "I just wanted to follow up with you on that and ask you a question with something that's come up, if you wouldn't mind giving me a ring.”

The FBI did not immediately comment when reached by Fox News asking about Cruz's YouTube account, which has since been taken down. Bennight also did not immediately return Fox News' request for comment.

Cruz was charged Thursday with 17 counts of premeditated murder. He was booked into Broward County Jail after federal and local investigators questioned him. Cruz allegedly walked into the school with a gas mask, smoke grenades and multiple magazines of ammunition before firing an AR-15 at students and faculty members.

Details about Cruz’s troubled past have emerged hours after the deadly shooting. The 19-year-old was a former student at the high school, but was expelled in the last school year after getting into a fight with the boyfriend of his ex-girlfriend, a student told The Associated Press.

Katherine Lam is a breaking and trending news digital producer for Fox News. Follow her on Twitter at @bykatherinelam

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/02/15...gger-says.html

Wow. So FBI had a lead but couldn't follow it. What a shame!! They should have sent out nationwide alert asking the public to call in if they had any idea who it might be. They can track a hack of the DNC to Russia, but they can't track a YouTube gonna shoot up a school post in the US? They would need a warrant, but hard to imagine a court wouldn't give them one. They need to send out alerts, like Amber Alerts, for any social media comment related to school shootings.

It's just been reported that the FBI had his name from the YouTube post. Unbelievable. Too pre-occupied chasing Imaginary Russians and pushing their "insurance policy" to do their frigging jobs. What a shame. All they had to do was put out an alert that a Nikolaus Cruz had made this post and they needed to locate him to talk to him and the kids in this school would have called in immediately and led them right to him.

BIG FAIL FBI. This one is on you.

And the adoptive parents allowed him to have guns in their house! They are responsible for this too.

They should have handed all guns over to authorities a long time ago! They knew he was a problem!!!

Originally Posted by Beezer

And the adoptive parents allowed him to have guns in their house! They are responsible for this too.

They should have handed all guns over to authorities a long time ago! They knew he was a problem!!!

The father died when Nikolaus was 4, raised by mother who died last year from the flu. She called the police numerous times while she was alive. None of this is their fault. They're long dead.

The school is responsible for this, because they didn't lock the doors during class-time. He just walked right in. Doors should have been locked.

FBI is also responsible for not finding him months ago when they were alerted to his YouTube post that has his name in it.

No excuse with either the school for not locking the doors or the FBI for not chasing him down.

FBI spokesman claiming they just don't have the resources. Really? Of course you've got the resources. Look at all the resources you've devoted to trying to frame the President of the United States? If you've got resources for that, you've got resources to check out and hunt down every Nikolas Cruz in the country. And if you simply notified the media that you were looking for a YouTube poster named Nikolas Cruz who made the statement that he wanted to be a professional school shooter, your phones would have lit up from the police department in Florida, from students in Florida and from school authorities in Florida, and probably from the high school ROTC program as well.

You didn't investigate because you didn't give a damn. You didn't give a damn because you're all wound up trying to frame a President to impeach him to overturn a Presidential Election.

The FBI is rotten to the core.

A horrific event. Lack of resources and manpower. Seems like another huge reason not to give amnesty to millions of people who the government does not have the resources or the manpower to process and vet.

And on "see something, say something," lots of Americans see things, including suspected illegal aliens. They say something about suspected illegal hiring, criminal activity and it is generally ignored.

They have plenty of personnel and resources. They just didn't care. Bigger fish to try to fry. All they had to do was contact their buddies at CNN, WAPO and the NYT and also FOX NEWS and say we need some help locating a person of interest regarding a potential school shooting named Nikolas Cruz who made a post about shooting up a school on YouTube on whatever date it was. Would take 5 minutes by 1 person. They would have had him within an hour. The FBI isn't stupid, they're corrupt.

The ADOPTIVE PARENTS knew he had guns in their house!

Originally Posted by Beezer

The ADOPTIVE PARENTS knew he had guns in their house!

No, Beezer, the adopted father died 14 years ago, the adopted mother may have known, but she died from the flu in November and she called the police numerous times to come talk to him when she was alive. I don't know when he bought the gun, but he now lives with a friend and his family, and they knew he had a gun, but it was kept locked up. Of course he had a key. There is no crime in owning a gun and we don't want there to be one, at least I don't. I've no personal interest in guns, but some day I might want one and I want my right to buy it without a bunch of fanfare.

The FBI is responsible for this because they had his name and his threat 6 months ago, and the school is responsible for not locking up their school during class time. This really isn't complicated. There is no law that will lock your doors for you, you have to lock them. There is no way to secure a school except by the school who builds them, designs the security systems, and maintains security of their premises. After Cruz was expelled, the school said don't let him in with a backpack, yet he walks right in with an AR-15. If you are expelled, then you have no business at the school. Non-students should not be allowed into a school without an appointment and prior arrangements, not just to avoid a shooting, but kidnapping, harassment, and other hazards the general public poses to school children.