Not one LEO has resigned from Uvalde PD, CISD cops, University police, no constable, deputy, Abbott's private army the DPS, TX Rangers, no DEA, US Marshal, Border Patrol, DHS officer, not even the Game Warden, who yes, was there.
None fired nor charged.
Buffer that thought then,
watch the videos again.
At last week's open-format, often tense meeting, Uvalde community members and parents of Robb shooting victims ripped into district leaders and called for accountability. They specifically decried district Police Chief Pete Arredondo's continued employment with the district, and one mother of four said it was time for the district "to clean house" and hire new police officers.
In response, Superintendent Hal Harrell said he would continue to consider how to best secure Uvalde CISD campuses.
www.washingtontimes.com/…
The principal of Robb has been placed on administrative leave after a closed-door school board meeting. Yet, they have not found the courage to fire Pete Arredondo, whose lawyer made them postpone a previous meeting that was set to do that, seemingly. The school year’s beginning was pushed back three weeks to early September and they made some announcements about general approaches to further security.
Meanwhile the county commissioners met and sparks flew as parents gave them an earful. The meeting was short and it’s worth a look at the video to see the growing strength of the parents and their advocates. The commissioners, who control the budget for the Sheriff were asked point blank if cops were pointing guns at parents while their children were being murdered by a mass shooter who wasn't being engaged by LEOs, how are the deputies not acting as accessories to murder? You will note that question failed to get a direct answer. But it was a powerful moment that I hope is highlighted on the national news.
"We respected who they were, we're friends and family, it's so hard. But it's harder to hurt the way we hurt, it's harder knowing they had the ability to prevent or to even help other children and they didn't," Berlinda Arreola, grandmother of Amerie Jo Garza said after Monday’s meeting.
One public leader absent from the meeting was Precinct 2 Commissioner Mariano Pargas, Jr.. Pargas is the Uvalde Police lieutenant who was the acting chief the day of the shooting and has not attended three previous meetings. He was placed on administrative leave last week by the city but still maintains his seat as county commissioner.
“[He] didn’t do a damn thing, and he still has his position. He didn’t even show up today, and it’s a continuous slap in the face,” Cross told KENS 5 after the meeting. Cross and other parents told commissioners they didn’t feel safe with sheriff’s deputies on the street. 16 deputies from the department responded to the Robb Elementary shooting.
Cross and other parents demanded commissioners make a statement about the actions of law enforcement during Monday’s meeting, commissioner Ronnie Pargas said the video of the response on May 24 “speaks for itself.”
“Nothing has changed in the past two months, we’re still in the same place where we are two months ago, May 24 to today, everybody has the same positions, same schools, nothing has changed,” Arreola said.
The real takeaway was when a Berlinda Areola accused the dithering Sheriff’s deputies of being accessories to murder, when they pointed guns at parents while failing to stop the ongoing slaughter inside of the school. Morally, she’s not wrong. Legally, she might even have a solid point. Again, watch the video. It’s devastating.
Meanwhile in Austin, last week the DPS announced an “internal investigation” into the DPS response to Uvalde that will conveniently allow then to deny open records requests until the election is over, doubtlessly. Abbott attended no funerals. DPS spokesmodel McCraw has not been seen in public lately. 91 DPS officers were present while the killer went unchallenged. Noe set up a command center none entered the rooms where the the killer did his dastardly work.
In a desperate effort to hold onto their jobs and be seen as doing something, both the Country commissioners and the school board will call for Governor Abbot to convene a special session of the lege to raise the age from 18 to 21 to buy an assault rifle. This is unlikely to do much outside of Uvalde, given the previous history of Greg Abbott and his advocacy for the NRA.
Beto O’Roarke continues to raise money and do well in the polls, currently about 5 points behind Abbott.
Meanwhile no one has been fired from any job. It would seem the order of the day is to stall, deflect, spin, obfuscate and stonewall all the most important questions. The APPEARANCE of some transparency has most reporters and the public distracted. Yet, no records request of any kind has been answered by any agency under the thumb of Greg Abbott, or any local or county or federal LEO agency either. All of the body cam recordings released by the mayor start too late and end way too early to be called full transparency. And the dynamite material of the 911 calls will likely never see the light of day.
To me the only real development that counts is that the parents are becoming a true and abiding force for change. I hope they continue to be so, as it is clear they are stepping up to the moment with increasing clarity and focus, and indelible force.