June 2022
“In the month since the shooting at Robb elementary in Uvalde, Texas, killed 19 children and two adults, revelations about the police response to the crisis have led to public outcry and a Texas safety chief to call the operation an ‘abject failure’. This story keeps getting worse and worse. Every single time we learn something, it gets worse and worse.
We already knew that they waited far too long to confront the shooter. I’m referring to the 70 minutes officers spent waiting before they stormed the classroom where the shooter was hiding out. But now we found out that they lied about not having enough weapons to go in. The officers had assault rifles, body armor and ballistic shields, so I’m sorry, what else were they waiting for? The invincible star from Mario? How do you not go in?
Uvalde police also didn’t try to get into the classroom. The department previously stated that officers had to wait for a key because the door was locked, but the Texas public safety director announced on Tuesday that the door was never locked. They just never tried to open it? Which is ridiculous. Even people waiting outside like a locked bathroom at Starbucks will jiggle the handle after like two minutes, just to be sure. But it turns out these cops couldn’t do what the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park took five minutes to learn.
The tragic irony, was that the one time it would’ve been appropriate to go in guns blazing, the cops decide to have a picnic outside. But if you’re Black, or you have a broken tail light, then all of a sudden they go full Rambo on your ass. It’s another reminder that you can’t just trust what the police say. Yes, they’re police. Yes, you respect them. But it doesn’t mean that you trust every single thing they say after an incident.
What we have learned is that cops in America, they basically use the same principle as toddlers: they’ll tell the truth, but only if it doesn’t get them in trouble.” —Trevor Noah
