Thank you, US Air Force, for enabling a homegrown American terrorist

There is a term for this inexcusable chain of events: “malign neglect.”

The US air force missed four chances to stop the gunman who killed 26 people at a church in Texas in 2017 buying guns after he was accused of violent crimes while in the military, a report by the Department of Defense’s inspector general said on Friday.

Because the air force failed to submit Devin Kelley’s fingerprints to the FBI, the former airman cleared background checks to buy the guns he used at First Baptist church in Sutherland Springs. …

According to the inspector general’s report, the first missed chance came in June 2011, after the air force office of special investigations began investigating a report of Kelley beating his stepson while based in New Mexico.

The second chance came in February 2012, after the air force learned of allegations Kelley was beating his wife.

The third was in June 2012, when Kelley confessed on video to injuring his stepson.

The fourth was after Kelley’s court-martial conviction for the assaults in November 2013.

“If Kelley’s fingerprints were submitted to the FBI, he would have been prohibited from purchasing a firearm from a licensed firearms dealer,” the report said.

Bloomberg also reports an additional outrage surrounding the Sutherland Springs terrorist.

Air Force investigators who worked on Kelley’s case told the inspector general they didn’t know they were supposed to turn his fingerprints over to the FBI, according to the report. The inspector general said the Air Force provided insufficient training on reporting to the FBI.

A few training planners’ heads should roll. The blood of 26 Americans is in part on their hands.