Michael Laughlin/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP

If we were to place the blame for the Parkland massacre on a single person, it wouldn’t be Wayne LaPierre, despite what some people may say. No, that “honor” belongs to Scott Israel.

The disgraced former sheriff of Broward County is the man whose department failed to act on the dozens of calls regarding the eventual gunman, including calls over domestic violence. That alone would have prohibited the killer from getting a firearm. Yet, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office did nothing.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Israel began spinning a narrative that blamed the National Rifle Association for the attack in an effort to deflect the blame from his department.

Earlier this year, he was fired.

Now, the man seeks to regain his old job by taking to the campaign trail.

ormer Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel is campaigning for his old job after being removed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for his officers’ failure to protect Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 students died in a mass shooting last year. DeSantis quickly suspended Israel after assuming the governorship this year and appointed former Coral Springs police Sgt. Gregory Tony to replace Israel.

CBS affiliate WPEC-TV reports that Israel filed his paperwork Monday morning to run for re-election as sheriff in the 2020 Democratic primary.

“I want to get back to working with the incredible men and women of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office,” Israel said. “I want to get back to my communities.”

Because he hasn’t screwed up Broward County nearly enough.

Make no mistake, his department’s failure to address the issue with the killer is a huge part of what happened in Parkland. Additionally, he made changes to the department’s active shooter policy so that it said deputies “may” enter such a situation, rather than directing them to, which may have led to some confusion on the part of officers at the scene.

The understanding across the nation is that waiting outside does not end the threat until it’s too late. We’ve known that since Columbine. The standard practice is for officers to enter and engage the attacker. They generally don’t use the word “may” because it creates a delay in responding.

The people of Broward County should vote him down and hopefully kill his law enforcement political career quick, fast, and in a hurry. However, considering what I’ve seen about the county, I’m afraid he stands a decent chance of winning.

Israel isn’t just a bad leader. No, he’s dangerous. His officers didn’t respect him and all evidence is that he’s incompetent in general, but because he spouts the right politics on things beyond his control, the gun-grabbing ninnies that populate that part of Florida may well usher the man in.

Which will only cause folks like me to ask, just when will the next tragedy take place? Regardless of how badly he screws up, we all know the real monster in his mind will be the NRA and the pro-gun community.