Amid revelations by Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Chris Olivarez that nearly ninety minutes passed between the arrival of Uvalde Police to Robb Elementary School and the death of demented gunman Salvador Ramos, Texas Representative Joaquin Castro (D) is calling for a full FBI investigation into law enforcement’s response to the mass shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead.
Criticism of the police has been steadily mounting as videos of frantic parents begging police officers to act have gone viral.
As BizPac Review reported, Olivarez told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Thursday that officers didn’t want to encounter the gunman without backup because “they could’ve been shot,” sparking outrage from all sides of the political spectrum. Desperate parents were reportedly handcuffed, pepper-sprayed, and tased for trying to take matters into their own hands.
Representative Castro took to Twitter Thursday to call out the inconsistencies in the Uvalde timeline.
“State authorities have provided the public with conflicting accounts of how the tragedy in Uvalde unfolded,” he tweeted. “I’m calling on the @FBI to use their maximum authority to investigate and provide a full report on the timeline, the law enforcement response and how 21 Texans were killed.”
State authorities have provided the public with conflicting accounts of how the tragedy in Uvalde unfolded. I’m calling on the @FBI to use their maximum authority to investigate and provide a full report on the timeline, the law enforcement response and how 21 Texans were killed.
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) May 26, 2022
“The people of Uvalde, of Texas, and of the nation deserve an accurate account of what transpired,” Castro wrote in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray. “However, state officials have provided conflicting accounts that are at odds with those provided by witnesses, including: Whether the school security officer and the gunman exchanged fire outside the school; [and] How long law enforcement officers were in adjoining classrooms while the gunman barricaded himself in a classroom with students and teachers.”
“Moreover,” Castro continued, “a block of time between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. local time has yet to be fully accounted for. Onlookers allege that parents unsuccessfully urged law enforcement to enter the building during this time and confront the shooter.”
“I urge the FBI to use its maximum authority to thoroughly examine the timeline of events and the law enforcement response and to produce a full, timely, and transparent report on your findings,” he concluded. “Your agency must ensure that the American people have a complete and comprehensive account of how this tragedy occurred.”
Asked if President Biden would support such an investigation, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre suggested that POTUS is waiting on “more details.”
“The president — we’ve been watching the reporting on this — the president has the utmost respect, as you all know, for the men and women of law enforcement… I know that right now authorities are working to piece together more details of what happened so we won’t prejudge the results from here,” she said.
‘We won’t prejudge the results…it is always a good idea to look back and try to find any lessons we can learn,’ said press sec Karine Jean-Pierre when asked about the WH’s view on the police response to the Uvalde shooting pic.twitter.com/OIJWUxjtX1
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) May 26, 2022
In a Thursday press conference, Department of Public Safety South Texas Regional Director Victor Escalon stated that Ramos did not encounter law enforcement prior to entering the school.
“He walked in unobstructed initially,” Escalon said. “He was not confronted by anybody. Four minutes later, law enforcement are coming in to solve this problem.”
When asked why so much time elapsed before the shooter was stopped and whether more lives could have been saved with more aggressive actions, Escalon stressed that more officers still needed to be interviewed before that determination could be made.
“There are a lot of possibilities, there was numerous officers at that classroom,” he said. “Once we interview all those officers and find out what they were thinking, we’ll have a better idea.”
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
- House Dems have Biden’s back, block GOP effort to override ESG investment rules veto - March 24, 2023
- DeSantis defends defamation legislation that presumes malice when outlets cite anonymous sources ‘to smear people’ - March 24, 2023
- ‘I’m begging!’ Megyn Kelly pleads for help to stop trans athlete ‘farce’ once and for all - March 24, 2023
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
