A bureaucratic spat over whether to release video from inside Robb Elementary School during the May 24 mass shooting grew increasingly complex on Monday after a key Texas state legislator suggested that there was now finally an agreement between law enforcement and local officials to disclose a portion of the footage — only for one of the parties to the supposed agreement to quickly rebuff that claim.
At a hearing in the state capitol in Austin, Rep. Dustin Burrows, the chairman of a special Texas House panel investigating the Robb shooting, announced Monday morning that the Texas Department of Public Safety and the mayor of Uvalde had reached a deal to disclose surveillance video showing officers gathered in the hallway outside of the classroom containing the 21-year-old gunman.
But within hours of Burrows’ comment, the Texas Department of Public Safety gave ABC News a July 8 letter it sent to the chairman informing him that the law enforcement agency could not unilaterally grant his request for the tapes, citing instruction from the Uvalde-area district attorney, Christina Busbee.
“[Busbee] has objected to releasing the video and has instructed us not to do so,” according to the letter, which was signed by DPS Deputy Director Freeman Martin. “As the individual with authority to consider whether any criminal prosecution should result from the events in Uvalde, we are guided by her professional judgment regarding the potential impact of releasing the video.”
After Monday’s hearing concluded, Burrows clarified his earlier comments, telling ABC News, “We’re still working on getting the video released, but no agreements.” Busbee did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.
[…]
On Sunday, families of the victims gathered in Uvalde’s town square to voice their frustrations with state and local leaders over their handling of the shooting and subsequent investigations. The event was called The Unheard Voices March & Rally, as a reflection of the sentiment shared by many residents of the small West Texas town.
The public back-and-forth over whether and what investigative evidence to publicly share from inside the school has become a source of conflict between some family members of the victims and officials who claimed to represent their interests. Busbee has said that releasing footage could hinder her ongoing probe into whether the shooting warrants any criminal charges.
Over the weekend, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin accused Busbee of misleading family members about McLaughlin’s support for releasing certain footage showing the police response during the rampage.
On Friday, McLaughlin affirmed his support for the release of “all videos,” including “the entire 77-minute hallway video … up the moment of the breach.” But less than 24 hours later, he issued a follow-up statement clarifying that he only sought the release of video showing the police response — not any children or any images from the classroom.
In the course of his about-face, McLaughlin claimed that Busbee had been “advising” families of the victims that he supported releasing videos showing deceased children, and accused her of “not telling the truth.”
McLaughlin later told ABC News that video from the hallway inside of Robb would “contradict misconceptions that Uvalde police were the only ones inside with weapons,” and releasing the tape would “provide transparency to everyone.”
See here for the previous update. On the one hand, I don’t care who’s to blame for what didn’t happen in Uvalde. The much bigger problem is the one in which violent 18-year-olds – or anyone really, but let’s focus on what should be the easier bit of this to address – can easily buy guns that can kill a lot of people in a short period of time. That’s not going to be affected by the release of these videos. On the other hand, and at a very basic level, we deserve to know the truth. This was a massive failure, what should be the last time anyone would believe the “good guy with a gun” canard. I don’t want to add to the pain of any Uvalde family members, but I can’t see how what we’re doing now is any better for them. Release the tapes already.
They are just delaying the inevitable. The police chief, and every officer who was there, but failed to act, should all lose their jobs, if for no other reason then they have lost the faith and trust of the people of Uvalde they serve. How would you feel calling the police and having one of those cops show up, or you get pulled over by the same cop that failed to act and now your neighbor’s kid is dead?
The worst part of it is, they physically prevented people from trying to save their own kids. That just rubbed salt into a very fresh wound.
I am assuming those cops know they are going to be out of their jobs and are just clinging to those paychecks as long as they can. I can’t see them being too effective at their jobs right now.
Austin American Statesman has video from the school’s hallway camera. I was particularly impressed with the front line hero who took the time to use hand sanitizer while the kids were being shot and bleeding out. Safety first!
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2022/07/12/uvalde-school-shooting-video-of-robb-elementary-shows-police-response/65370384007/
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