Sure seems to me Broward County officials are trying to present a "tough on crime" face, so they've taken to be super tough on misdemeanants.
From another source:
His arrest created concern in the Stoneman Douglas community and caused Florida Gov. Rick Scott to order highway patrol troopers on campus to bolster already heightened security provided by the sheriff's office....(
Source)
What? The boy was arrested and
then the governor sends in highway patrol troopers! Seriously?
After the boy's arrest the governor sends in state troopers! Does Cruz have superpowers or something?
Zachary Cruz had spent the last 10 days in custody...Cruz, shackled at the wrists and ankles and wearing a tan prison jumpsuit, was led into court by six deputies(
Source)
Really?
I get that Broward Co. officials, after having dropped the ball, several IMO, with regard to N. Cruz, want to appear to be "taking their jobs seriously." But do that will suspected felons not second-degree misdemeanants. I wonder what Broward's officials will do with jawalkers?
I agree that legally, 500K is excessive. Apparently, he and his lawyer won that battle in court.
The linked article said that he had been to the school at least 3 times since the shooting. It’s a matter of common sense that he stay away. Someone may bust a cap in his ass if he goes back, a very high price for reflecting.
Given what officials have specifically said, it's not easy for one to comprehend the nature of the boy's trespass.
Look at the photos of the campus. There are fences (with gates, of course) around the sporting grounds, but it doesn't appear there are fences around the buildings, which have doors.
Looking at the photos, what I see is a campus with lots of unsecured outdoor areas around and between the what are surely secured campus buildings, and I see fenced-in sporting grounds.
I'm willing to accept that the boy was riding his skateboard somewhere on school grounds. I'm willing to accept that the area in which he was riding his skateboard was behind a locked door or gate, thus making Cruz's presence there a trespass, so that he was charged with misdemeanor trespassing is not outside the realm of what's permissible....First time, third time, 200th time...Makes no difference; trespass is trespass, and the school is within its rights to want a trespasser charged with the crime and penalized.
The penalty consists of:
- Probation. Fine.
- Restraining order to stay away from the school. Fine.
- Ankle-mounted tracker. Seems "extravagant," but whatever.
- Restraining order from the whole of Broward County, which, inasmuch as Cruz attended MSD High, the boy lives in, thus forcing a parentless 18 year-old to move. Seems excessive to me for a misdemeanor trespass of a single specific property, whether it's the first or fiftieth incident of such. The whole county...1200+ sq. miles...come on...
"Dots" That Aren't Connecting That Should:
From two articles:
Cruz was arrested March 19 after police found him skateboarding at the school, having bypassed locked
doors and gates, according to police. (
Source)
Robert Rutkowski said in the police report, Cruz had "surpassed all locked
doors and gates and proceeded to ride his skateboard through school grounds." (
Source)
...police found him skateboarding at Stoneman Douglas after school ... (
Source)
Broward sheriff's deputies say school officials had told him not to come on campus, but his attorney, Joseph Kimok, denied that. (
Source)
The cops were quite vague, and for no apparent reason. In particular and pertaining to the trespass act itself, what did Rutkowski mean by saying Cruz "surpassed all locked doors and gates?"
- Had the boy climbed the fence and been found riding his skateboard outside?
- If the boy was outdoors, why even mention doors?
- Riding a skateboard on a track, outdoor basketball court, tennis courts or parking lot doesn't strike me as particularly threatening.
- Trespass, sure.
- Menacing enough to warrant being banned from a county? No.
- Had the boy broken through a door and been found riding his skateboard inside?
- Why was there no breaking and entering charge or mention of the break?
- Why is there no vandalism or destruction of property charge, or mention of property damage?
- Did the boy pick locks and then enter a building to ride his skateboard through the halls?
- If he did, again, I'd have expected to have heard something about some sort of breaking and entering activity or charge.
It’s a matter of common sense that he stay away.
What? Where does that come from?
- It's a school. The boy was there after-hours. Where I live, it's not at all uncommon for young people to avail themselves of a school's track or parking lot or other open area to do stuff like ride a skateboard. Outdoor bleachers are places we used to go to "make out."
- It's a school that's been "all over" the news. People from all around have been visiting it. I'm sure Zachary is curious too.
- Zachary attended the school, so I'm sure he feels some sense "kinship" to/with the place.
I understand that the circumstances at MSD were exceptional, but I know too that life must return to its normal pace, as it were. The kids and their families are surely not recovered, but Cruz was on campus after school (I don't know how long after.) and, apparently, he didn't have a weapon. MSD, moreover, has resumed classes. The schedule of life in the Parkland and greater Broward area has returned to so-called normal.
