A viral clip shows an activist reprimanding Texas Senator Ted Cruz for his views on guns in the wake of the Uvalde, Texas school massacre.
The confrontation, filmed Friday, came hours after the Conservative lawmaker delivered a speech at a National Rifle Association convention in Houston.
“Why is this still happening?” a furious man shouts, accusing Cruz of “taking blood money” when delivering the speech days after the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School that killed 19 children and two adults.
The activist, identified as Benjamin Hernandez with the Houston Indivisible Liberal Trend Group, shouts as security pushes him out of the restaurant.
He says, “When 19 kids died, it’s in your hands … Ted Cruz is in your hands.”
The confrontation came hours after Ted Cruz gave a speech at a National Rifle Association convention in Houston, and days after the shooting at the school in Uvalde, Texas. Indivisible Houston via Storyful
Hernandez initially approached the senator in a friendly enough manner and asked for a photograph, which Cruz forced, the video shows.
But after the flash, Hernandez confronts Cruz and asks the senator why he refuses to support further background checks for gun buyers.
“Background checks would not have stopped the shooter,” Cruz replies. “Do you know what it should be? The bill I presented …
After the flash, Benjamin Hernandez confronted Ted Cruz and asked the senator why he refuses to support further background checks for gun buyers. Indivisible Houston via Storyful
Hernandez quickly cuts Cruz, who becomes visibly more agitated.
“We can make it harder for people to get guns in this country, sir,” Hernandez says. “You know, but you’re here, you’re at the NRA convention. It’s harder when there are more weapons to stop armed violence.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cruz says, showing the clip.
Benjamin Hernandez works with the Houston Indivisible Liberal Trend Group and shouted as security pulled him out of the restaurant. Indivisible Houston through Storyful
As the verbal confrontation intensifies, Cruz’s security detail comes between the two and tells Hernandez to “make a backup” before being kicked out as things continue to escalate.
Hernandez later defended his actions on Twitter.
The latest in a Texas school shooting
“I wasn’t going to let that idiot go into the restaurant where I was having dinner and not listen to me. They can do something, but they just don’t want to. So let’s let them have it,” he wrote.
“Challenge them every time. Don’t stop until they do something,” he said in a follow-up tweet.
During his remarks at the NRA convention, Cruz criticized Democrats for pushing for stricter gun laws. Instead, he proposed increasing security in schools, suggesting single-door entrances to schools and armed guards to curb shootings in schools.