Democratic Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez accused Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday of taking no action after the Uvalde school shooting.
The state senator claimed Abbott has the “direct power” to hold the Texas Department of Public Safety and other law enforcement agencies accountable for the officers’ delayed response to the incident.
“The Department of Public Safety Director is the direct report to Greg Abbot,” he said. “Greg Abbott has to power, and by the way, I’m sure Greg Abbott saw those videos a long time before we all did, but he has the direct power to go and ask for accountability. The direct power to ask what happened here, why didn’t you tell people to go in, why didn’t your supervisors tell people to go in. He has the direct power to get any kind of report that he wants, he’s the governor of the state of Texas.”
A Texas House investigative committee issued a 77-paged report that described the “systemic failures” of the 376 officers who arrived at the scene inside Robb Elementary School on May 24. The committee stated it is “plausible” that some victims could have survived the shooting if officers acted in a shorter period of time.
The state senator alleged the governor has not traveled to Uvalde since the third day of the aftermath of the shooting. He then criticized the governor for his alleged refusal to raise the age limit on AR-15’s from 18 to 21 years of age. The gunman, Salvador Ramos, opened fire recently following his 18th birthday. (RELATED: Beto O’Rourke Tears Into Gov. Abbott Moments After Derailing His Press Conference)
“He has refused to step in. Since Day 3 he has not been back to Uvalde and he’s refused to ask for any kind of accountability here,” Gutierrez said. “And he’s done nothing but put obstacles in the District Attorney and other people that he’s put in place that have just devastated this community. We have to get to the bottom of this, but it begins at the top in Texas.”
“He didn’t go to any single funeral,” he continued. “He has not been back since his second news conference, which would have been on Friday after it happened on that Tuesday.”
A spokesperson for Abbott, Renae Eze, told the Daily Caller the governor has been to Uvalde several times and has spoken to leaders in the community on a daily basis.
“The Senator’s comments do nothing to help the Uvalde community as they work to heal,” Eze said. “Governor Abbott has been to the community multiple times since that tragic day, joining his fellow Texans to grieve and worship at events into June. The Governor and his office remain in regular contact with Mayor McLaughlin and Uvalde leaders, speaking on an almost daily basis to ensure the Uvalde community is receiving the support and all available resources to heal.”
The governor issued six directives going toward school safety, including providing $105 million to fund both school safety and mental health initiatives, Eze said. He further requested committees within the Texas legislature to deliberate legislative changes regarding school and firearm safety, police training, and social media.
Abbott held two news conferences in Uvalde in the days following the shooting. The first got derailed by former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke, who accused the governor of “doing nothing” to prevent mass shootings. At the second conference, the governor railed against law enforcement agencies for their inaccurate initial reports on their response to the shooting.
“I’m absolutely livid about that. And here’s my expectation,” Abbott previously said. “My expectation is that the law enforcement leaders that are leading the investigations, which includes the Texas rangers and the FBI, they will get to the bottom of every fact with absolute certainty.”
