UVALDE, Texas – Brett Cross has been camping outside the Ovaldi school district offices for nearly 200 hours. He didn’t sleep much. It’s sad.
The video above is about Steve McCraw, the director of the Texas Police Department, wishing state soldiers had taken control of the operation at Robb Elementary School.
But the 32-year-old wind turbine service technician said he won’t end his vigil until the Ovaldi School Board stops the five school district police officers who were at Robb Elementary School on May 24, the day an 18-year-old gunman entered the school and was killed 19 students and two teachers.
Among the victims was Aziya Garcia, Croce’s 10-year-old nephew. The school district police were among hundreds of law enforcement officers who waited more than an hour to confront the gunman, and went through active shooting training that teaches the officers to eliminate the threat on the spot. A Texas House of Representatives committee report criticized local, state and federal law enforcement agencies implicated for a chaotic scene without clear leadership.
Cross, who was Aziyah’s legal guardian, began the protest on September 27, joined by about a dozen families of the victims and Uvald residents. Since then, Cross has been staying the night alone on the school grounds.
“I request … that these officers be removed from this campus until it is established whether or not they are justified in sitting outside the classroom for 77 minutes,” Cross said.
Cross’s wife, Nikki, often joins him during the day. 19 school backpacks and two suitcases were placed in front of the schoolhouse doors on Tuesday, representing the 21 people lost in the shooting.
Friends and residents of Uvalde visit regularly and bring the couple food, drinks, and fans to beat the Texas heat.
“Families come together. We laugh, we cry, we tell stories,” Cross said.
Hal Harrell, superintendent of the Uvald Unified Independent School District, met privately with Cross after three days of protest. Harrell said that for security reasons, he cannot afford to suspend school district police officers.
See also: Daughter of the hero teacher Uvalde: “I know she didn’t hesitate” to protect the students
There are also more than 30 Texas Department of Public Safety officers on the Uvalde school campus, but Harrell said DPS officers are limited in what they can do and perform different roles than school district police officers. The region did not explain how the roles differ.
“We do not condone the behavior of this group and seek to end the disruption,” Harrell wrote in a letter to area families on September 30. “We are working to identify state and local partners willing to help us restore the peace that will allow us to conduct schoolwork the way you used to.”
Former Uvalde CISD Chief Pete Arredondo, who was one of the first officers on the scene and was the designated incident commander in the area’s active shooting plan, took much of the blame for the failed response. Arredondo was arrested by the district on June 22 and expelled on August 24.
The DPS, the US Department of Justice, a Texas House of Representatives committee and the Uvald County District Attorney have launched separate investigations into the law enforcement response.
On September 28, the day after the start of the protest, Uvalde CISD announce that outgroup, JPPI Investigationsan independent review of Uvalde CISD police actions will take place on May 24.
The ad did not satisfy Cross, who said he wanted more transparency and accountability from the school district.
“I honestly feel like they don’t care,” Cross said. “They want to keep making excuses.” “All they want to do is sweep it under the rug and act as if it didn’t happen and carry on with their fun lives, collect their cute little paycheck and not be held accountable.”
Gloria Cazares, mother of 10-year-old victim Jackie Cazares, joined the protest on the first day and returned to sit with Cross. She said she was exhausted but that it was necessary to pressure the district to launch an independent investigation because it had the power to hold the school police to account.
“No one will answer us. No one will talk to us. They will not answer our questions,” Casares said. “We’ve been waiting 18 weeks. We tried to do it their way, but it didn’t work. So now we’re trying a different way.”
Cross said the idea to protest and camp outside the Ovaldi school district building came to him after speaking to Manuel Oliver, whose son Joaquin Oliver was killed in a 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that killed 14 students. and three faculty members.
Cross said he spoke to Oliver in Washington, D.C., earlier this year, and Oliver recounted how he protested the government’s lack of action on gun control outside the White House until a meeting with federal officials.
After the Parkland shooting, Florida lawmakers enacted a red flag law that allows counties to take guns from people found to pose a “significant danger” to themselves or others. Florida too Raising the minimum age to purchase firearms From 18 to 21.
Yuvaldi’s families have called for the passage of the Texas Red Flag Act, a proposal that did Failed to gain traction in the Texas legislature. They have also pushed to raise the minimum age to buy AR-style rifles like the ones that shooter Robb Elementary bought.
governor. Greg Abbott said in Last Friday’s governors’ debate with the Democratic opponent Beto O’Rourke That raising the minimum age to purchase assault rifles in Texas would be unconstitutional and that he opposed the Red Flag Act because it “would deny legitimate gun owners in Texas their due process rights.”
Cross urges people to vote in the November elections. He said he wanted Abbott to leave his post.
“Those people in power forget that they are working with us, not the other way around,” he said. “It’s time to make them remember that.”
Cross said he longs for a good night’s sleep in his bed and to be with his family. But he won’t go home until the police officers are off duty.
“Nothing I say or do will bring (Azia) back, but I can help create and preserve a better future for the rest of my children and everyone else’s children,” he said.
RELATED: 13 investigates how Texas and Florida responded differently after the school shooting
Watch the full coverage of the fatal school shooting in Ovaldi.
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