Florida leaders are examining their own preparedness following the Manchester bombings.
Florida Governor Rick Scott says his thoughts are with the victim’s families of the Manchester bombings.
“What happened in Manchester and the first thing you think about is your own family. You can’t imagine that this would happen to anybody’s family and I guess we will continue to learn the details of this. My heart goes out to everybody that was impacted by this. I remember back to the Pulse terrorist attack and those 49 lives that were lost and talking to those families. You’re just sorry that these things happen,” Scott said.
Following the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting, Scott and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement asked for about $5.8 million to fund counter-terrorism initiatives. House and Senate leaders included those funds in the spending plan they passed this legislative session. Orange Country Sheriff Jerry Demings says the money will be used to hire 46 agents that will actively fight terrorism throughout the state of Florida.
“Out of the 46 new personnel, it’s my understanding that the FDLE will assign them to do counter-terrorism investigations in corporation with the FBI and that they will be assigned throughout the state,” Demings said.
Demings also encourages citizens to keep their eyes open for suspicious activity, whether it be during large events, on college campuses, or in chat rooms online.
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