The Uvalde massacre is rapidly turning into Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott's Katrina. Abbott appeared with law enforcement officers the day after the tragedy to declare, "It could have been worse. The reason it was not worse is because law enforcement officials did what they do."
What's undeniably clear now is that 19 local police officers and a Border Patrol tactical team waited outside while defenseless kids inside the classroom placed repeated 911 calls.
Yet Abbott stood behind local law enforcement's unverified accounts Wednesday at the first major press conference and praised officers for showing "amazing courage by running towards gunfire for the singular purpose of trying to save lives."
Two days later, Abbott said he was "livid" about being "misled."
“I was on this very stage two days ago and I was telling the public information that had been told to me,” Abbott said angrily. “As everybody has learned, the information that I was given turned out in part to be inaccurate. And I’m absolutely livid about that.”
Correction: Nearly every word Abbott spoke was inaccurate.
One cannot help but be reminded of then-President George W. Bush praising the response of his FEMA Director Michael Brown in the days following the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster.
“Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job,” Bush said.
Uvalde active shooter training
In other devastating news, New York Times reporter Mike Baker got ahold of the active shooter training manual that local Uvalde officers used in a training two months before the Robb Elementary massacre.
The documents acknowledge that the first officers may very well be risking their lives, adding, "A first responder unwilling to place the lives of the innocent above their own safety should consider another career field."
Houston protests at the annual NRA event
Meanwhile, in Houston, thousands of protesters turned out Friday at the annual NRA convention to register their anger and disgust. Houston Chronicle story here.