4A Saturday, November 17, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
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Parkland shooting panel considers
student safety recommendations
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SUNRISE, Fla. — The
state commission investigat
ing the Florida high school
massacre began discussions
Friday on what recommen
dations it will make regard
ing student safety, mental
health and steps to prevent
future school shootings.
The Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School Com
mission didn’t pass any
specific recommendations
Friday at its latest gather
ing to consider the Feb. 14
attack that killed 14 students
and three staff members at
the school in Parkland. But
it decided to focus its initial
batch of recommendations
on less controversial areas
such as school hardening
before addressing difficult
issues like mental health.
The 14-member panel
must file its initial report to
outgoing Gov. Rick Scott, his
successor and the Legisla
ture by Jan. 1.
State Sen. Lauren Book, a
member of the commission,
said she expects all legisla
tors will read the report and
take it seriously, given the
magnitude of the tragedy.
“We all within the Legis
lature come from different
backgrounds and different
knowledge bases,” Book
said. “Giving some infor
mation is good, getting too
much into the weeds is
dangerous.”
Stoneman Douglas social
studies teacher Ernie
Rospierski, who herded stu
dents down a stairwell and
used his body to barricade
the door behind them after
being grazed by two bullets,
told commissioners
to be “very careful”
about putting more
safety requirements
on teachers because
they are already
overworked. But,
he said, the panel
needs to begin writ
ing “the playbook”
for preventing Cruz
future tragedies.
“Until that is finished, we
are going to see this again
and again,” Rospierski said.
The commissioners
decided not to go through
their items publicly Friday.
They said they would review
possible recommendations
accumulated by their staff
individually, submit sug
gestions and concerns and
then debate them publicly
at their meeting next month.
Meanwhile, the attorney
for the sheriff’s deputy who
was on the campus during
the massacre started a char
ity website to raise money
for the man’s legal defense.
Joseph DiRuzzo III started
a GoFundMe page for now-
retired Broward County
sheriff’s Deputy Scott
Peterson in hopes of rais
ing $150,000 “to defend him
against any spurious claims
of criminal liability.” As of
Friday afternoon, $40 had
been raised before the drive
appeared shut down.
DiRuzzo noted the
GoFundMe page in a lawsuit
filed this week to block Scott
Peterson from being forced
to testify before the com
mission. Many commission
ers have called Peterson “a
coward” for not charging
into the building with his
handgun and confronting
Photos by MIKE STOCKER I Associated Press
Fred Guttenberg, father of shooting victim Jaime Guttenberg and Max Schacter, the father of
Alex hug during a break of the meeting of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public
Safety Commission Thursday Nov. 15, in Sunrise, Fla.
the shooter, who was armed
with a semi-automatic rifle.
Security video shows
Peterson arrived outside
the three-story building
where the killings happened
shortly after the shooting
began, about the same time
the gunman finished slaying
11 people on the first floor.
Peterson drew his handgun,
but retreated to cover next
to the neighboring building.
The video shows Peterson
never left that spot for 50
minutes, even after other
deputies and police officers
arrived on campus and went
inside.
Panel members have
said they believe Peterson’s
inaction allowed suspect
Nikolas Cruz to climb to
the third floor, where five
students and one teacher
were killed. They
believe if Peterson,
55, had confronted
Cruz and engaged
him in a shootout
he could have killed
him or given others
more time to reach
safety.
DiRuzzo said
in his lawsuit that
as the first deputy
on scene, Peterson was
the incident commander
charged with coordinating
law enforcement’s response
until relieved by a superior.
DiRuzzo said Peterson was
never relieved and fulfilled
that duty by directing offi
cers into the building and
ordering the closing of the
school and surrounding
streets.
Pinellas County Sheriff
Bob Gualtieri, the panel’s
chairman, said Friday that
DiRuzzo’s lawsuit is “a work
of fiction.”
Mitch Dworet, left, the father of victim Nick Dworet and
Tony Montalto, the father of shooting victim Gina Montaldo
watch videos from the school shooting during the Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission
meeting Thursday, Nov. 15, in Sunrise, Fla.
“Peterson did not do his
job. Peterson is a failure,
and he should be embar
rassed and held account
able for what he did not do,”
Gualtieri said.
Also Friday, the commis
sion learned that eight of the
state’s 67 countywide school
districts haven’t filed safety
assessments mandated after
the massacre.
State Education Com
missioner Pam Stewart, a
commission member, said
Friday there’s little she
can do to districts that don’t
file the assessments, which
were due Oct. 31. She said
one county’s report was
delayed because of Hur
ricane Michael and others
are completed but awaiting
approval of their district
school boards.
Polk County Sheriff
Grady Judd, a commission
member, said the new state
law should require the sus
pension of a district’s super
intendent and board chair if
the deadline is broken.
The panel has been meet
ing since April and includes
law enforcement, education
and mental health officials,
a legislator and the fathers
of two dead students.
Cruz, a 20-year-old for
mer Stoneman Douglas
student, is charged with the
slayings. He has pleaded
not guilty, but his attorneys
have said he would plead
guilty in exchange for a life
sentence. Prosecutors are
seeking the death penalty.
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CNN’s Acosta back
at White House
after judge’s ruling
BY JESSICA GRESKO
AND MICHAEL BALSAMO
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A
federal judge ordered
the Trump administra
tion on Friday to imme
diately return the White
House press credentials of
CNN reporter Jim Acosta,
though a lawsuit over the
credentials’ revocation is
continuing.
U.S. District Court Judge
Timothy Kelly,
an appointee of
President Donald
Trump, announced
his decision at a
hearing Friday
morning. The
judge said Acosta’s
credentials must
be reactivated to
allow him access
to the White House
complex for press briefings
and other events.
Acosta, CNN’s chief
White House correspon
dent, was back in the after
noon. The White House
said it would be developing
new rules for orderly press
conferences.
The White House
revoked Acosta’s creden
tials last week after he and
Trump tangled verbally
during a press conference
following the midterm elec
tions. CNN sued and asked
the judge to issue a tempo
rary restraining order forc
ing the White House to give
back Acosta’s credentials.
The judge agreed.
CNN alleged that Acos
ta’s First and Fifth Amend
ment rights were violated
when the White House
revoked his “hard pass.”
While the judge didn’t
rule on the underlying
case, he ordered Acosta’s
pass returned for now in
part because he said CNN
was likely to prevail on its
Fifth Amendment
claim that Acosta
hadn’t received
sufficient notice or
explanation before
his credentials
were revoked or
been given suffi
cient opportunity
to respond before
they were.
The judge said the gov
ernment could not say who
initially decided to revoke
Acosta’s hard pass and how
that decision was reached.
“In response to the court,
we will temporarily rein
state the reporter’s hard
pass,” White House press
secretary Sarah Huckabee
Sanders said in a state
ment. “We will also further
develop rules and pro
cesses to ensure fair and
orderly press conferences
in the future.”
Acosta
