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Jury Rejects Death Penalty for Parkland School Shooter

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A Florida jury rejected the death penalty Thursday for the Parkland school shooter who killed 17 people on Valentine’s Day 2018.

The shooter received life in prison without the possibility of parole for each of the murders, causing disappointment and frustration among family members of the victims attending the trial.

“What do we have the death penalty for,” said Dr. Ilan Alhadeff, who gave a moving victim impact statement in August on the murder of his daughter Alyssa, a 14-year-old varsity soccer player. “We are beyond disappointed with the outcome today,” his wife, Lori, said Thursday, reports The New York Times. “I just don’t understand this.”

“I don’t know how this jury came to the conclusions that they did today, but 17 families did not receive justice,” said Fred Guttenberg, who lost his 14-year-old daughter Jaime.

The shooter, who The Daily Wire will not name, was in the penalty phase of his trial, having pleaded guilty to seventeen counts of murder last year. Fourteen students and three staff members were killed, with the youngest victims only 14 years old. (Read more from “Jury Rejects Death Penalty for Parkland Shooter” HERE)

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WATCH: Special Needs Son of Slain Parkland Staffer Delivers Heartbreaking Testimony

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They were perhaps the three most heartbreaking words of testimony yet at the sentencing trial of Parkland killer Nikolas Cruz.

A Florida prosecutor on Thursday asked the shy special needs son of slain athletic director Chris Hixon if there was something he wanted to tell jurors about his father.

“Yeah,” Corey Hixon said nervously before looking to his mother, who joined him on the stand for support.

“I miss him.”

With those words, the shattered boy leaned into his mom for a hug and began to sob.

(Read more from “WATCH: Special Needs Son of Slain Parkland Staffer Delivers Heartbreaking Testimony” HERE)

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Parkland Shooter Blames Pot, Racism for Attack That Killed 17

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Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing 17 people in the 2018 massacre at his former high school — before apologizing for the rampage and going on a bizarre rant about marijuana and racism.

“I am very sorry for what I did and I have to live with it every day,” Cruz, 23, told Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer. . .

“I hate drugs and I believe this country would do better if everyone would stop smoking marjiuana and doing all these drugs and causing racism and violence out on the streets.”

Cruz said he was trying his best to maintain his composure before adding: “I just want you to know that I’m really sorry and I hope you give me a chance to try to help others.”

Cruz also pleaded guilty to 17 counts of first-degree attempted murder for wounding 17 others during the massacre at the high school outside Fort Lauderdale. He was 19 at the time. (Read more from “Parkland Shooter Blames Pot, Racism for Attack That Killed 17” HERE)

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Horror: Parkland Shooter Made Videos Before Massacre. Here’s What He Said.

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By The Daily Wire. On Wednesday, videos made by the deranged gunman who shot up Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February were released that appeared to reveal a possible motive of why he shot up the school.

“It’s going to be a big event,” the Parkland shooter said before laughing. “And when you see me on the news, you’ll all know who I am.” . . .

The 19-year-old said that his goal was to kill at least 20 people, saying, “I had enough of people telling me I’m an idiot and a dumbass…you will all know who my name is. With the power of my AR you will all know who I am.”

“There is a certain group of school shooters who engaged in fame-seeking behavior,” Peter Langman, a clinical psychologist, told The Miami Herald. “They want to be known. They want to change from a nobody into a somebody and the only way they can think to do that it to kill a lot of people.” (Read more from “Horror: Parkland Shooter Made Videos Before Massacre. Here’s What He Said.” HERE)

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‘You’re All Going to Die.’ Nikolas Cruz Made Cellphone Videos Plotting Parkland Attack.

By The Miami Herald. Nikolas Cruz reached for his cellphone before his rifle.

Sometime before killing 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, Cruz recorded three cellphone videos discussing his plan to murder students and staff. . .

Prosecutors released the videos Wednesday afternoon as they prepare for a possible death penalty trial. The videos may offer insight into what motivated Cruz to commit Florida’s worst school shooting, which has led to a nationwide debate over gun control.

Cruz, a former Stoneman Douglas student who seems to have meticulously planned his attack, expressed anger at his old classmates, saying they thought he was an “idiot and a dumb ass” when in fact it was they who had been “brainwashed by these f***ing political government programs.” And he declared his love for a girl he identified only by her first name, saying he hoped to see her “in the afterlife.”

The videos, all shorter than 90 seconds, will almost certainly bolster the prosecution’s efforts to convict Cruz, 19, of first-degree murder, a capital offense: Under Florida law, such charges must be premeditated. (Read more from “‘You’re All Going to Die.’ Nikolas Cruz Made Cellphone Videos Plotting Parkland Attack.” HERE)

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Cop Criticizes David Hogg on Social Media, Gets Suspended

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A veteran Coconut Creek Police Officer who made a snide and disparaging comment about student activists from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School will be suspended from his job without pay for 5 days and undergo sensitivity training, the city’s police chief told CBS 4 News.

The fallout from the comment by Officer Brian Valenti will result in all Coconut Creek city employees undergoing training in the proper use of social media for personal use in the near future.

Valenti is a K-9 officer for the Coconut Creek Police Department. He’s been with the agency for 23 years but despite a distinguished career he is now known for a nasty comment he made on a social media post about last week’s die-in protest at Publix organized by survivors of the Stoneman Douglas shooting. Student activists like David Hogg made their voices heard regarding campaign contributions by the grocery store giant to politicians who support the NRA. Meanwhile, Officer Valenti posted on Facebook that maybe an old lady would lose control of her car in the Publix lot where some of the students drew chalk outlines to signify the number of dead in the February 14th school shooting…

“He made a horrible error in judgment,” said Coconut Creek Police Chief Butch Arenal, who admitted he was aghast at the comment made by the veteran officer over the weekend.

“When we are on or off duty we have a special role in our community and he understands that,” Arenal said. “He is extremely remorseful and is very embarrassed by the situation.” (Read more from “Cop Criticizes David Hogg on Social Media, Gets Suspended” HERE)

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Bombshell: Parkland Shooter Was Assigned to Obama-Era Program, Superintendent Lied, Report Suggests

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By WLRN. Broward school district officials admitted Sunday that the confessed Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School gunman was assigned to a controversial disciplinary program, after the superintendent repeatedly claimed Nikolas Cruz had “no connection” to the alternative punishment designed to limit on-campus arrests.

Two sources with knowledge of Cruz’s discipline records told WLRN he was referred to the so-called PROMISE Program for a three-day stint after committing vandalism at Westglades Middle School in 2013.

When asked for a response, a spokeswoman for Superintendent Robert Runcie stated on Friday that district administrators were aggressively analyzing Cruz’s records. Then Tracy Clark said on Sunday afternoon the district had “confirmed” Cruz’s referral to PROMISE after he vandalized a bathroom at the middle school on Nov. 25, 2013.

However, it’s unclear if Cruz ever attended the program.

Clark said he appeared at Pine Ridge Education Center in Fort Lauderdale — an alternative school facility where PROMISE is housed — for an intake interview the day after the vandalism incident. (Read more from “Bombshell: Parkland Shooter Was Assigned to Obama-Era Program, Superintendent Lied, Report Suggests” HERE)

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Parkland Shooter Assigned to Obama-Era Program

By The Daily Wire. . .Superintendent Robert W. Runcie implemented the PROMISE Program in Broward County Public Schools in 2013 at the behest of the Obama administration’s efforts to reduce the number of minority students who ended up in prison from crimes that they committed on campus.

The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro analyzed a report from Real Clear Investigations and wrote that Broward County Public Schools “had rewritten its disciplinary policies to make it nearly impossible to suspend, expel, or arrest students for behavioral problems including criminal activity.”

School district spokesperson Tracy Clark told WLRN on Friday that administrators in the district were analyzing the shooter’s records and on Sunday they confirmed that he had been referred to PROMISE after he vandalized a bathroom at the middle school shortly after the program was put in place in 2013. (Read more from “Parkland Shooter Assigned to Obama-Era Program” HERE)

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Kyle Kashuv Takes down Far-Left Parkland Activist in One Tweet

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On Monday, conservative Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Kyle Kashuv responded to a tweet from a far-left Parkland activist in epic fashion.

Lauren Hogg, sister of far-left provocateur David Hogg, tweeted: “I’m tired of people saying, “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.“ Fighting fire with fire never got anything done. It just burned everything down. It is the same reason why we must never fight hate with hate. Only love can drive out hate.”

. . .

(Read more from “Kyle Kashuv Takes down Far-Left Parkland Activist in One Tweet” HERE)

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Father of Parkland Victim Sues School Resource Officer in Wrongful Death Lawsuit

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Andrew Pollack’s daughter, Meadow, was murdered in the Parkland school shooting in February. On Monday, he filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a number of parties, including the school resource officer who was on duty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on the day his daughter died.

The school resource officer, Broward County Sheriff Deputy Scot Peterson, remained outside the building while Nikolas Cruz killed seventeen people on Valentine’s Day.

Other defendants include the estate of Lynda Cruz, James Snead, Kimberly Snead, Henderson Behavioral Health, Jerome Golden Center for Behavioral Health, Inc., and South County Mental Health Center, Inc.

In a Twitter post, Pollack announced: “I filed a wrongful death suit against Deputy Peterson today. I want to expose that coward so bad. Where ever (sic) he goes I want people to recognize him and say that’s one of the cowards of Broward. The SRO that let those children and teachers die on the 3rd floor!” . . .

Peterson’s lawyer defended his client in a news conference shortly after the shooting, saying, “Let there be no mistake, Mr. Peterson wishes that he could have prevented the untimely passing of the 17 victims on that day, and his heart goes out to the families of the victims in their time of need. However, the allegations that Mr. Peterson was a coward and that his performance, under the circumstances, failed to meet the standards of police officers are patently untrue.” (Read more from “Father of Parkland Victim Sues School Resource Officer in Wrongful Death Lawsuit” HERE)

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GROSS: Ex-Vanity Fair, MSNBC Contributor Says Kyle Kashuv Is in Desperate Need of ‘Psychiatric Help’

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Apparently, Kurt Eichenwald — who may or may not have a contract with Vanity Fair and MSNBC — sent a series of emails to Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro regarding Parkland survivor Kyle Kashuv . . .

Eichenwald emailed Shapiro Tuesday claiming he was doing a piece on Shapiro’s and Kashuv’s professional relationship, however, the email comes across extremely condescending toward Kyle — and the right in general.

The emails sent by Eichenwald to Shapiro called into question Kyle’s mental health, accused Kyle of using right-wing trolls and Ben Shapiro to agitate Eichenwald online, and of being “obsessed” with Shapiro to an unhealthy extent. Shapiro didn’t take kindly to the emails and posted them online . . .

“I consulted a friend of mine who is a psychiatrist – a political conservative, since that seems so important to you – and based on what he read, the psychiatrist said the following,” claimed Eichenwald. “Kyle is in desperate need of psychiatric help or support.”

He later refers to Kashuv as a “psychologically troubled kid” and asks Shapiro not to show the emails to Kyle. Eichenwald then accuses Shapiro’s followers of sending him strobe GIFs to trigger an epileptic seizure.

(Read more from “GROSS: Ex-Vanity Fair, MSNBC Contributor Says Kyle Kashuv Is in Desperate Need of ‘Psychiatric Help'” HERE)

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