Republican Senator Delivers Rebuke-Worthy Take on Uvalde School Shooting – Opinion

There’s always one, right? It was Senator John Cornyn, who blindly defended the response of Uvalde School shooting police officers.

Cornyn, who has been as conservative as the Republican Party can get, felt now was the right time to point out how insanely and dangerous the police’s response after a mass shooter fatally shot 19 children and teachers. Cornyn, on the other hand, deserves to be criticized here.

I quite literally have a desire to punch a wall and use obscenities I don’t normally use after reading this.

Second guessing between state and local police officers can be distracting, destructive and even unfair. Complex scenarios require split second decisions. Easy to criticize with 20-20 hindsight https://t.co/ssq2FAInDX

— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) May 28, 2022

This is why no one trusts our institutions, and I’m not just talking about the “defund the police” nutters in the Democrat Party. I’m talking about the many Republicans who have also grown disillusioned with knee-jerk defenses of law enforcement that belabor belief. Let’s not forget Uvalde. How many Republicans rushed to protect the FBI in the FISA abuse scandal. The answer is “a lot,” and that is part of the culture on the right that refuses to use nuance–when nuance is absolutely demanded.

When I return to Uvalde, it is clear that the police committed terrible and unforgivable acts that resulted in the loss of lives. After taking random pot shots outside of the school for twelve minutes, the gunman entered through an unlocked backdoor. The police didn’t arrive until four minutes after he entered. What in the world took the police 18 minutes to reach a small town to deal with an active shooter situation when they are only 10 minutes away from the nearest police station?

They entered the building and began firing shots before retreating. Although they had an overwhelming numerical advantage, up to 19 officers per reports, the police decided to stay outside and harass parents for an hour instead of acting. A Border Patrol tactical group arrived just after the 30 minute mark and local law enforcement denied them entry. It wasn’t until those Border Patrol agents decided to break the chain of command and go it alone that the shooter was finally neutralized.

Which explanation is available that would make any of this acceptable? Cornyn insists that more facts will be needed. Cornyn, what facts? According to the Texas DPS, we know the facts. Now is the time to raise hell, not “back the blue” with generic statements of praise. It’s no longer “hindsight” to understand that inexplicable decision were made that cost lives.

Cornyn is still one of the most unqualified GOP senators, even though he comes from a red state. Let’s stop making excuses. Stand up and call for accountability, because this situation didn’t happen because of a lack of gun control laws (which Cornyn is now working with Democrats to pass). It happened because a police force that bragged about its tactical capabilities in Facebook posts, posing with their long rifles, yet wouldn’t do exactly what their protocols demanded, which was to confront the shooter no matter the cost. Speak the truth—or stop talking.