I knew something was rotten about how hard Governor Hotwheels was bootlicking the police response, and now we learn that the cops let that shitbag shoot up the school for ONE HOUR while panicked parents stood outside, begging for them to either do something or let the parents go in themselves. Unfuckingbelievable.
You can take it to the bank -- when a Republican says something is terrific, that thing is in fact very shitty.
I read this opinion today, and it seems to reinforce my earlier comments about the response to the shooting being a racist thing.
According to it, the white power structure keeps the Hispanic population in thrall to their power. (Just as I surmised.)
"They acted, generally, as if saving a brown child from the slaughter was not worth the price of Uvalde’s police officers, who are, by dint of having most of the guns, the embodiment of white power."
Opinion | I’m from Uvalde. I’m not surprised this happened. - The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/29/uvalde-shooting-warning-signs-racism-poverty-guns/
Saw this article that gives one an idea of the typical mind set of rural Texas politics. I found it interesting that author points out large percentage of Hispanics but all the "officials" were white Republicans during the 1st news conference with Gov Abbott. Even though both police chiefs(city and ISD) were Hispanic but were not allowed to speak.
I spent a few days away from this thread and in the meantime we have found out that the reality is, unimaginably, far worse than we feared.
Remember the unofficial police motto - "Better to be tried by 12 than carried by 6."
There's going to be an investigation and we may get a few more details, but honestly the gist is pretty simple. They didn't go in....because they didn't want to get shot.
FACT#1: Since 2015, Texas has been leading yearly gun deaths in the USA.
In 2020, Texas had a 14.2% gun death rate (4,164 deaths) and IL had a 14.1% gun death rate (1,745 deaths). I'm tired of hearing that gun crime in Chicago is worse, while people don't look at the real numbers. Gun death by crime may be worse in Chicago, but more people are dying by guns in Texas in cases such as friendly fire, accidental shootings, suicide, etc
- CDC NCHS Stats: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/firearm_mortality/firearm.htm
- John Hopkins: https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2022/new-report-highlights-us-2020-gun-related-deaths-highest-number-ever-recorded-by-cdc-gun-homicides-increase-by-more-than-one-third
FACT#2: In 1996, the Republican-congress stripped any funding for gun research on behalf of the NRA. That ban is still in place, so there is no regular gun deaths research nor better predictors.
- Non-Paywall: https://thehill.com/news/286847-gop-blocks-dem-attempts-to-allow-federal-gun-research/
- Paywall: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/10/04/gun-violence-research-has-been-shut-down-for-20-years/
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/firearm_mortality/firearm.htm (The statistics below are pulled from death certificates and this is the only funding power the CDC has, so data is always a few years behind)
I bet the police arrived late because they had to get the Humvee out for a photo op on arrival. Why was there never any smoke deployed? Surely they had flash bang grenades, is it even possible for a lone gunman to cover both ends of the building at the same time? The inhumanity of this is ludicrous Can't wait to watch the awards ceremony for these brave officers who stopped it from becoming worse? WTF
One little girl was shot once in the kidneys. Bled out because of the police. Doctor told parents she could have lived.
New flag for chickenshit cops. Feel free to repost wherever you like.
Article https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/05/27/stopping-mass-shooters-q-a-00035762
So much for the "good guys with guns" theory.
Let's face it: for most cops, policing is an opportunity to wield authoritah over the enemy — oops, public — and play with military weapons. They are most certainly not interested in opening the door on an AK47-wielding killer just to rescue some stranger's kids. The police exist to protect The Man and that's the end of the story.
Abbott's now doing a photo op promising Uvalde all kinds of aid from state agencies and others. Notably, there's no mention of taking steps to prevent mass gun deaths from happening again. The word 'gun' is not mentioned.
EDIT: Now he's taking questions he doesn't want to answer. Keeps deflecting to his distraction, saying he'll answer *those other questions* afterward. Sure, he will. 🙄
From what I've read, his mother and father were separated, the gunman lived with his grandmother, and his parents didn't give a shit about him.
His mother is/was a drug addict, who wasn't exactly the upstanding member of society, and his father took off a long time ago.
Abuse, drugs and apathy are great ways to ruin a child who has a stutter and emotional problems to begin with. He was bullied throughout his life.
I don't know where he got the money, but it cost him over $2K for that gun and ammo. Pretty sure that it wasn't legal money, either.
Texas has some of the most purely evil elected officials I've seen in a long time-all of them Republican, who chase the almighty dollar.
If they can't run the state, how does anyone expect the cops to do a better job?
However, the top cop in Texas said, "We make big boo boo." not too loudly, though.
Why, gee whiz, ya think? Bozo! Dozens of calls, pleas from parents, and they stood around twiddling their thumbs with an active shooter in the building.
I'd suggest everyone involved in that massacre go back to basic training and get it right. The next time could be even fucking worse.
As I've been watching updates today, I've put together my protest poster ...
So for today's version of the story, Gee, they realize now that they should have gone in to save the children and the incident commander just made a mistake by calling it a barricaded shooter instead of an active shooter, (while this stupid fucker is hearing gunshots & little kids are calling 911). They're sorry. They just made a mistake. Ya think? I hope these useless last responder cowards feel so guilty for letting those kids die they start killing themselves. They were supposed to PROTECT & serve. If they won't even save helpless little kids what good are they.
The cops were slow to go in because they reportedly didn't understand the situation, and didn't know where the shooter was.
Now, I can see the reasoning behind this, but an hour? Come on, assholes-that is the worst fucking excuse in the fucking world. A good cop tries to scope out the situation as quickly as possible.
BTW, I'm of the mind that perhaps the cops were a little slower to react because the children there were not 100% white. Cops in a racist state can be pretty racist.
I wouldn't ascribe all of it too that, but it sure does look pretty shitty to be standing around while kids who are being terrorized are in danger of dying no matter what their skin color.
One thing I keep NOT hearing: According to the first stories, the cops were in pursuit of this shooter since 9-1-1 got the call from his grandma's neighbor, yet it's questionable how soon they even engaged with him. That gap between his grandmother's house and the school needs to be revealed.
Here are some more details:
Pictorial timeline:
This is how the shooting played out over the course of nearly two hours from when Ramos killed his grandmother at home. He arrived at the school at 11.28am and the first 911 calls were made. He then walked unobstructed into the building with his AR-15 and headed towards the classroom. He fought off cops at 11.44am, then was left alone in the room with the victims until around 12.44pm - when SWAT arrived. The incident was declared over at 1.06pm.
From Heather Cox Richardson's "Letters from an American" today...
"Parents tried to get the police to go in but instead found themselves under attack for interfering with an investigation. One man was thrown to the ground and pepper sprayed. U.S. Marshals arrested and handcuffed Angeli Rose Gomez, whose children were in the school and who had had time to drive 40 miles to get to them, for interfering as she demanded they do something. Gomez got local officers she knew to talk the Marshals into releasing her. Then she jumped the school fence, ran in, grabbed her two kids, and ran out."
All sounds about as well oiled as the Texas power grid. Way to go Abbott/Paxton/Cruz and the rest of you Texas-phucks.
They have like a predatory pack animal mindset. engaging in ruthless, vicious, and malicious acts against others or even members of their own race while in the cohort of their pack. Then stick together and lie under oath to avoid accountability or make a charge stick against a victim of their nefarious subterfuge e.g. planting evidence.
WOW! So they did have to pay the money back? Cops are the worst of everything. They are the opposite of what they are supposed to be. White supremacy-supporting thugs!