As RedState reported earlier on Friday, Gregg Abbott’s prior praise of the police in Uvalde, TX, turned to anger after it became clear he was lied to. Contrary to earlier reports, which suggested that the police responded in the most appropriate way given the circumstances, it is now clear that the local police did not wait for the Border Patrol agents to enter the classroom barricaded and killed the shooter.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott: “Yes, I was misled. “I am furious about the events.” pic.twitter.com/zCAOcw7syP
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 27, 2022
The situation could have been even worse if the police had not defied the authorities, which, given what happened, is a shocking thing to think about. Yet, I believe Abbott’s sudden shift exposes a blind spot that has so often plagued Republican politicians.
I have a very nuanced position toward the police. The vast majority of police officers do an excellent job. Still, I’ve seen far too many examples, ranging from abuse of power to complete ineptness, to ever generically “back the blue” without question. Too many GOP officials haven’t learned that lesson, though.
Abbott was quick to praise and defend the police officers early, despite mounting evidence that many of the problems were not just with the response but also that the inexplicable decisions made by Abbott had contributed to the chaos. That’s an issue in that it demonstrates a lack of caution and critical thinking in these situations.
From the beginning, it was clear that the officers engaged the shooter in a matter of minutes after the attack on the school began. Abbott’s skepticism should have been awakened immediately given the circumstances. What is the way a shooter could kill so many people in such a short time? It was all absurd.
So yes, Abbott was misled and should be furious about that, but he also shouldn’t have allowed himself to be misled in the first place. When the flags began waving brightly and strongly indicating that there was something wrong, it wasn’t right to rush into praising the police.
Republicans should respect law enforcement. We need to be the party who does most to improve public safety. But I also think it’s time for the GOP to stop being so reflexive in how they respond in situations like this. We should wait until the facts are in order to convict the police, which has already been done in this case.
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