OPINION | This article contains the author's opinion.
A video clip is going viral of Florida Sheriff Carmine Marceno who directly warned those who would attack a school in his county.
“We are going to kill you,” Marceno said. His comment comes in response to the recent school shooting in in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 students and two adults.
“You don’t get to shoot our children, you don’t get to hurt our children,” he said. “You bring deadly force in this county, we are going to kill you.”
Law enforcement in Texas has faced major scrutiny after the timeline revealed they delayed entering the school to stop the shooter.
If an individual goes “to one of our schools and present[s] deadly force,” Marceno says his deputies are going to “meet you with deadly force and we are going to kill you.” Watch the clip:
Florida’s #lawandorder Sheriff Carmine Marceno responds to #Uvalde, TX school shooting:
You don’t get to shoot our children. You bring deadly force in this county, we are going to kill you. pic.twitter.com/bYVnNT5FSl
— Carmine Marceno – Florida’s Law and Order Sheriff (@SheriffLeeFL) May 27, 2022
“In our schools, over 100,000 children go to school, over 118 schools in Lee County,” he said.
“Our great governor DeSantis has made it very clear, by giving me and all sheriffs and law enforcement across our great state, all the tools that we need to absolutely make certain that our mission is complete, and that is safety and law and order.”
“My policy is very simple,” he said, “When we get that dreaded call, God forbid, get that dreaded call, we don’t wait one second. We don’t wait one second.”
“For any person or persons that go into a school where our children are and they present deadly force0, they will be met with deadly force immediately.”
“We are going to kill them. We’re not going to hesitate. We’re not going to wait.”
“So, when that suspect, that person or persons, make that fatal error, it’s on them,” he said.
“You don’t get to come into a school in our county and hurt our children. You don’t get to present deadly physical force in Lee County, where you walk into a school where our teachers, faculty, and staff are there protecting and teaching our children.”