Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel's suspension was upheld by the Florida State Senate on Wednesday as they voted to confirm Israel's removal from the position which was ordered by Gov. Ron DeSantis back in January.
The 25-15 vote by the Florida Senate confirmed DeSantis' order, who suspended Israel due to allegations of neglect of duty and failures in his department's responses to the 2017 mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale's airport and the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. DeSantis specifically cited the actions of deputy Scot Peterson, the school resource officer who was on duty at the time of the shooting at the high school in Parkland. Video showed Peterson failed to respond to the gunshots and never entered the school that day.
Gov. DeSantis suspended Israel in January under Florida's state constitution, which allows the executive branch to suspend elected officials, which includes sheriffs. However, those suspensions must be cleared by the state Senate. The vote on Wednesday was largely along party lines with three Democratic state Senators voting for and one Republican voting against Israel's removal.
Israel, who is a Democrat, blamed partisanship in his removal in a statement posted in a now-deleted tweet following the Senate's vote to remove him.
"Your vote has been stolen and the results of our 2016 election have been overturned. From 450 miles away, the Governor substituted his judgement for yours and installed his own sheriff in Broward County," he wrote.
Israel first took office in 2012 and won re-election in 2016. He has promised to run again in 2020. When Gov. DeSantis was asked if he would suspend Israel again if he won, the governor said no.
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