October 26, 2017

Action Alert:
Tell Pasco County Sheriff to Fire Deputy Michael Brady


On October 12th, Pasco County Sheriff’s deputies, armed with handguns and AR-15 semiautomatic rifles, engaged in a gun battle in the street with a severely mentally ill 30 year-old man named Brian DiSario. Disario was firing back at the deputies with a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle sold to him by Pasco County Sheriff’s Office detention deputy Michael Brady.

“Gentle giant” Brian DiSario and his mother were close. When she first saw his AR-15, he told her, “I would never hurt you, mom.” She told reporters, “My sunshine is gone.”

Officers arrived on-site to hear DiSario kill his mother’s friend, 55 year-old Dave Armstrong, with the AR-15 rifle once owned by deputy Brady. DiSario would later kill himself with it.

The rifle was sold privately to DiSario without a background check.  DiSario’s criminal record included arrests for disorderly conduct, aggravated assault and using threats.  He was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder when he was 19 and frequently heard voices in his head. He stopped taking his medication a year ago according to his mother, Kathy Ulbrich.

Ulbrich called the Pasco County Sheriff’s office multiple times in recent months to see if they could remove her son’s rifles from their home. She notified them about his mental illness and past history of violence. They told her there was nothing they could do.

Sheriff Chris Nocco has taken no action against his deputy, Michael Brady. His office has indicated that because Brady’s sale was legal under Florida’s incredibly lax gun laws, than was he did was fine. That is not the case.

Please share the following message with Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco through one of the channels listed below:

Please fire deputy Michael Brady for selling an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle to Brian DiSario, a severely mentally ill man in your community with a lengthy arrest record. By making this sale, he put this young man and everyone around him at risk unnecessarily. This was an act of gross negligence that led to the deaths of Brian DiSario and Dave Armstrong.  It also terrorized a community and put children at Gulf HIghlands Elementary at risk. Whether or not Deputy Brady’s sale was legal or not is IRRELEVANT because Florida has incredibly weak gun laws. What is relevant is that his act was totally lacking in judgment, which is necessary for a law enforcement officer. You should also acknowledge the failure of your office to take Kathy Ulbrich’s warnings more seriously concerning Brian’s AR-15 and another rifle he was keeping in their home. Did deputy Brady inform her at that time that he had made this sale to her son?

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco
Phone: (727) 847-5878
Email: See form at bottom of https://pascosheriff.com/contact/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pascosheriff/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PascoSheriff

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