On Tuesday, Mayor Don McLaughlin of Uvalde, Texas, accused the media of leaking surveillance film that demonstrates the terrible police response to the Uvalde gunman.
The video, posted by the Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV, shows cops arriving on the scene just minutes after the attack began. However, for almost 1.5 hours, cops stood outside of the classroom where the murderer was barricaded and refused to engage him, which might have prevented more deaths.
In one clip, cops are seen reading social media messages and using a hand sanitizer dispenser in the corridor.
What did McLaughlin have to say?
At a Uvalde City Council meeting, McLaughlin criticized the media for releasing the footage before relatives of the deceased had a chance to view it themselves.
“I’d like to go on the record: In my opinion, one of the most chicken things I’ve ever seen was how that video was released today.”
The mayor said that authorities had intended to meet with the families of the victims on Sunday, where they would be given a report on the police response and given the chance to examine the video after it had been edited. The one published in the media included footage of the shooter as he fired into the classroom, along with hearing the gunshots.
“There was no need to show that to those families. They were going to see the video, but they didn’t have to observe the gunman enter and hear the shots,” McLaughlin said. “They don’t want to go through it all over again.”
“The mayor said ‘chicken’ — it was chickens**t to make that video public in the manner you did,” Councilman Ernest King added.
“That’s right,” agreed McLaughlin.
What was the response of the citizen?
During the same debate, when King was railing against the media for publishing the footage for money and attention, an audience member interjected to inquire about the police response.
“Are you kidding? What about the police? Are they chicken-shit?” asked a citizen.
Then, addressing McLaughlin, he says to the mayor, who had identified him as “Adam,” “You still think they did a good job?”
