FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ A GoFundMe account is accepting donations for former Broward Sheriff's deputy Scot Peterson, who didn't confront the gunman during the Parkland school massacre that left 17 dead and 17 wounded.
The legal defense fund created by lawyer Joseph DiRuzzo is seeking to raise $150,000 for Peterson, and at first drew more incredulous and insulting comments than donations.
One poster with the name Ian wrote, "Scott. You failed the community and the students you were sworn to protect. I am an unarmed security guard and would have still ran to and tried to stop the threat that day. Maybe you should look in the mirror instead of feeling sorry for yourself and realize that this is on you!"
Another writer called Bruce said in part, " ... This GoFundMe is just sad and a slap in the face to the KIDS THAT DIED BECAUSE YOU DID NOTHING!!"
The donation page says, "Mr. Peterson has been forced to hire counsel (with extensive experience in contesting the propriety of subpoenas) to defend him against any spurious claims of criminal liability."
Created Wednesday, it listed a $20 anonymous donation made Friday. By 10:30 a.m., more than 25 people had left mostly negative comments. There were a few "likes," but it was unclear if that was for the fund or in support of what others had written.
By noon, all of the comments vanished from the page and another $10 was donated.
In April, Peterson began receiving state pension payments of $8,700 a month, or an estimated $104,424 annually.
His lawyer told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that legal bills could surpass that annual payment.
DiRuzzo said, "You are well aware of the cost of litigation. Could you afford over $100,000 in litigation?"
At the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission meeting Thursday, DiRuzzo said Peterson would not testify and that he is suing to stop the commission's efforts regarding the former lawman's actions on Feb. 14, the day of the shootings.
Peterson's lawsuit accuses the commission of improperly using its civil power to issue subpoenas and assist the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's criminal investigation.
DiRuzzo issued a news release regarding the lawsuit. He also accused the commission of suppressing a list of facts favorable to Peterson's actions that day and his belief that the shooter may have been outside.
"Instead of being a neutral fact-finding body, the Commission has succumbed to the not-so-thinly veiled personal agendas of the commission members," DiRuzzo's news release said.
Tony Montalto, a Parkland parent who lost his daughter Gina, a 14-year-old freshman, in the shootings, said Friday: "Former deputy Peterson has his lifetime earnings and sadly, his pension to cover the legal bills that he may face regarding his failure to do his job. He had a good life, he's got a retirement and those are things that _ due in part to his actions _ are not available to the people who passed that day.
"GoFundMe accounts are generally set up to help people to do good things," Montalto said. "Clearly, former deputy Peterson did not do good things on Feb. 14. He failed to perform and clearly contributed to the death of some students and teachers that day. He should not be asking for money now, when he declined his chance to tell his story for free in front of the MSD commission yesterday."
