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A day after an elementary school shooter killed 21 people in a small Texas town this week, Gov. Greg Abbott appeared before an afflicted nation to explain how it happened, offering an authoritative account of the heroes of the world. law enforcement in the face of evil and avoiding further loss of life with swift action.
But much of this story was not true.
Abbott returned to Uvalde, Texas on Friday to acknowledge that key parts of what he had said in the country had been denied by the ongoing criminal investigation and to fix the errors on law enforcement officials who had informed him on Wednesday.
“I was on that same stage two days ago and I was explaining the public information they had told me,” the Republican said, his voice sometimes angry. “As everyone knows, the information they gave me was partly inaccurate. And I’m absolutely free about it.”
The dramatic outbreak came as distress grew among grieving families over the response of law enforcement. It also came as Abbott, the most visible messenger in the days following the massacre, faces growing criticism for moving too quickly to amplify a false law enforcement narrative that aligns with his own. political beliefs.
Federal authorities were “surprised by the amateur communications from Texas,” said a federal law enforcement official who, along with others, spoke on condition of anonymity to address sensitive issues related to the shooting.
State Democrats have begun calling for the FBI to play a more important role in reviewing events, while raising questions about Abbott’s decision to transmit unverified information. Abbott is ahead of the polls for his re-election this year and is increasingly seen as a possible candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
“If I were the governor, when you have something so terrible that affects so many lives, I would like to make sure my information is solid,” said State Rep. Richard Raymond, a Democratic chairman of the committee overseeing the Texas Military Department. working closely with the Department of Public Safety. “You can’t mess with this one.”
Abbott has extensive experience in these situations. Since his election as governor in 2014, the governor has overseen the state’s response to mass shootings that have killed more than 90 people, including in attacks on a Sutherland Springs church, a school high school in Santa Fe, a Walmart in El Pas and shooting in the streets of Odessa, Midland and Dallas.
Abbott has supported increased training and funding for school safety in response, but has resisted efforts to impose greater restrictions on gun ownership and use. Instead, he has pushed for loosening gun regulations, signing a 2015 law that allows concealed pistols on college campuses and a 2021 law that allows jeans to carry a concealed pistol without a license or training.
He signed other laws last year that allow gun owners to store firearms in hotel rooms, have mufflers and carry weapons off their shoulder or belt sheath. It also banned the government from reducing arms sales during disasters and emergencies.
Since Tuesday’s shooting, he has shown no signs of rethinking any of these positions.
“Let’s be clear,” he said Friday. “None of the laws I signed this past session had any intersection with this crime.”
Abbott was in Abilene on Tuesday afternoon, providing updates on the wildfires that burned an eastern strip of his state, when first asked about reports of a four-hour school shooting south of Uvalde.
Lawmakers who flanked him at a news conference had only seen brief snippets on his phones: chaos in an elementary school, more than a dozen children murdered. But the governor spoke with confidence of what had just happened, identified the shooter and declared him dead.
Abbott seemed charged after his comments to Abilene, recalled State Senator Charles Perry, a fellow Republican who joined his press conference. When the press conference was over, Perry asked, “Are you doing well?”
“Hard day,” was his response, the state lawmaker recalled.
But Governor’s Day was far from over. Before returning to Austin, he stopped at a fundraiser in Walker County, north of Houston, a move that former Republican aides and agents said baffled them. One said he feared a fundraiser was the reason the governor did not go directly to Uvalde on Tuesday night, but was “surprised” to learn he was right.
Fundraiser organizer Jeff Bradley confirmed in a text message that the governor had welcomed that he had been there “for a very short time because of the crisis in Uvalde,” and said he did not know how much collected the event from the attendees.
A spokesman for Abbott’s campaign said more political activity had been postponed and the governor, in response to a question about fundraising, told reporters that “he stopped and let people know that I couldn’t stay, I had to go and I wanted them to do it. ” to know what happened and to return to Austin so that I can continue my collaboration with the Texas law enforcement. “
Abbott also spoke with President Biden on Tuesday evening, offering “all assistance,” according to the White House.
On Wednesday, he traveled to Uvalde, where he appeared with law enforcement and other senior state officials, as well as federal and state lawmakers, to provide details on how the shooting had unfolded. The press conference was primarily headlined because it was interrupted by Beto O’Rourke, the Texas Democrat and former congressman running against Abbott as governor.
Abbott’s mission was not to debate, he made clear, but to clarify misconceptions about the shooting. “Let me tell you the best information we have right now,” he said, stressing that the investigation was still ongoing.
He placed special emphasis on police heroism.
“As horrible as it happened, it could have been worse,” Abbott said. “The reason it wasn’t worse is because law enforcement officers did what they did. They showed incredible courage running toward shots with the singular purpose of trying to save lives.”
Crucially, he said school agents “approached the gunman and related to the gunman.” The report echoed statements from state authorities, some of whom said officers exchanged fire with the gunman.
But on Thursday, state officials made it clear that officers had not engaged the gunman outside the school and that a school district police officer was not on campus at the time. Abbott kept a low profile, meeting with helpers in Austin. On Twitter, he shared images from an information session with state agencies and pledged to “make all state resources available to help the families of the victims, teachers and the Uvalde community as they work to heal.”
And on Friday, Steven McCraw, director of the Department of Public Safety, went even further back in the initial accounts by acknowledging that a local incident commander had made the “wrong decision” in preventing officers from entering the classroom with the gunman. believing that he had changed. from an “active shooter” to a “barricaded subject.”
For nearly 50 minutes, children inside called 911 for help with the active shooter, while officers waited outside a couple of classrooms, McCraw acknowledged for the first time Friday.
An Abbott spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on where he was receiving his information and how he was verifying it.
Abbott dismissed a planned appearance Friday at a National Rifle Association meeting in Houston in favor of pre-recorded comments in which he rejected the idea that more gun regulations would have prevented atrocities.
“There are thousands of laws in books across the country that limit the possession or use of firearms, laws that have not prevented insane people from committing malicious acts against innocent people in peaceful communities,” he told weapons defense group.
Later in Uvalde, he refused to immediately convene a special legislative session to develop solutions that could stifle armed violence, although he said he wanted a thorough overhaul of state law, especially around safety and health. school.
“Let me clarify one thing. The status quo is unacceptable, “he said.” This crime is unacceptable. “
Deputy Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.) Said inconsistent statements by state leaders and law enforcement have “found the confidence of Texans in the state government and the governor.”
Congressman also accused Abbott of making the state less secure as mass shootings piled up. “It has made the state more dangerous by making it easier for dangerous people to get a gun,” Castro said.
On Friday, calls for a legislative response became bipartisan, and Republican state Sen. Kel Seliger urged Abbott to “call us to special sessions until we do SOMETHING.”
Former collaborators said the engagement window in Austin has narrowed, especially before the November election. And they said that calling lawmakers back to Austin, just to make the talks useless, could be detrimental to Abbott.
Wayne Hamilton, who managed the Abbott campaign in 2014, said he expects the governor, who has used a wheelchair since an accident in the 1980s, to take his time before reacting to the requests for new legislation.
“As someone who has experienced a personal tragedy, he is very attuned and focused on being with the people who are suffering, and that is what you will see him do in the near future,” Hamilton said. “You won’t get him to talk about political and political issues.”
After the 2018 Santa Fe shooting, he called on the legislature to explore a new red-flag law that would “identify those attempted gun violence” and allow the state to withdraw weapons from its possession. But the proposal suffered a negative reaction, including …