Uvalde Shooting Shows Law Enforcement’s Effectiveness Is Questionable

Over the last 60 years, changes in law enforcement created distrust and a total lack of confidence for those who promise to “protect and serve” the American people. If you reside in a community that is less than mostly white and affluent, you are less respected and subject to unnecessary suspicion.

The murders of 19 children in Uvalde, Texas, have raised many questions including racism. Why did more than a dozen well-armed members of law enforcement remain outside Robb Elementary school for 77 minutes although they continued to hear gunfire inside? Could some of the 21 lives, 19 children and two adult staff, have been saved? What possible reason could the men and women who swore to protect and serve the people of Uvalde have for their refusal to act?

Not a single member of law enforcement can offer a reasonable explanation for the delay. We know that at least one mother breached the line of armed officers and entered the building to protect her children. Others screamed at the officers, pleading for them to move inside the building.

No one has shown the courage to ask the question which must be asked. Was the delay based on racism? Robb Elementary is mostly Hispanic. Would the situation have been handled differently if it had been a mostly white school?

I do not believe in using “the race card,” but when the facts are present, I am obliged to keep my promise that “the truth lives here.” What reason, what excuse is there for inaction when they were fully aware that small children were facing an armed gunman inside?

Now, consider this fact. When a peaceful protest by Black Lives Matter is organized, dozens of armed officers wearing riot gear are immediately present. When a white supremacist, Neo-Nazi group marches through our city’s streets, law enforcement rushes to protect them from anti-fascists. I watched as at least four New York police officers stood by and watched one of their own use a choke hold which killed Eric Garner in 2014. During a BLM protest in Minneapolis in 2020, law enforcement was everywhere, but none attempted to save the life of George Floyd as one officer was kneeling on his neck and killing him. We all heard him begging for help, clearly saying, “I can’t breathe.” I read about several situations when a single black man was surrounded by multiple officers, guns raised, and after “feeling threatened,” shot and killed, although he was an unarmed man.

So, what happened in Uvalde? One man with an assault rifle was known to be inside. Why were they all gathered at the front entrance of the school? What did they learn or not learn while attending the academy? Were they ordered to hold their ground, or was no one in charge? Too many questions and no answers.

Lawsuits have been filed. They will very likely be won by the plaintiffs. Not a single valid reason has been offered for their failure to act knowing an “active shooter” was involved.

Finally, someone must tell Republicans that they must do more than simply “offer their thoughts and prayers” after another mass shooting. Do something, anything to halt the increase of domestic terrorism.

Op-ed by James Turnage

Sources:

ABC News: Uvalde officer passed up chance to shoot gunman for fear of hitting children; by Nadine El-bawab
CNN Politics: Police failed to act quickly in Uvalde. Experts say their inaction allowed for the massacre to continue and led to catastrophic consequences; by Emma Tucker

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Don Holloway’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inline Image Courtesy of Stephen Melkisethian’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License