John A. Stoehr: What are Uvalde police hiding? It's not their incompetence and cowardice.

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.editorialboard.com/what-are-uvalde-police-hiding/

Texas law enforcement authorities said last week that Salvador Ramos got into Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, by way of a door propped open by a teacher. From there, they said, Ramos found a classroom with two teachers and 19 fourth-graders. He shot them all to pieces.

The same officials said Tuesday the door was not propped open. Nor was it propped open by a teacher. Instead, the teacher closed it. The problem was the door didn’t lock, they said. That’s how Ramos got in.

The presumption is that we’ll believe this.

The new detail, about the unlocked door, gives the impression that the kids weren’t slaughtered because police dithered for an hour. It gives the impression the school is at fault for having a door that didn’t lock.

Together, these impressions provide cover for the Uvalde police’s breathtaking incompetence and cowardice. Federal agents were prepared to take the shooter down. Local cops wouldn’t let them. Only after mothers wailed in despair at the sound of gunfire inside the school did Border Patrol officers storm the school and kill Ramos.

*snip*

[MagickMuffin]

1. It wouldn't surprise me if they were involved in the black market drugs trade

They be running scared.

[sop]

2. American cops are trained to be in a state of constant, self-imposed fear, and prioritize their own

safety above all else. The overwhelming focus of their training is on the threats to the police themselves, not the public they are supposed to "protect and serve."

[empedocles]

3. Police departments do not like close scrutiny

[TxGuitar]

19. Didn't some Supreme Court ruling say

Police are under no legal obligation to protect the public or am I mistaken?

[sop]

29. No, you're not mistaken:

https://mises.org/power-market/police-have-no-duty-protect-you-federal-court-affirms-yet-again

[Novara]

4. That theory is doing a lot of work that it isn't capable of doing

I don't doubt that underlying racism is within this mess but not the way the author thinks it does. I don't think the race of the shooter was a factor to the police; I think the race of the victims may have been. If the same brown shooter went into a white school with his gun, does anyone think the cops would be standing in the hallway with their thumbs up their asses for more than an hour?

[erronis]

5. Agree. But the "thin blue line" was also totally incompetent. No "good man with a gun" there.

I don't want to cast aspersion on the types of personnel that a small town (especially in TX) can hire, but they may not be the top of their class in high-school or in other positive civic engagement.

[wnylib]

24. The cops are also brown.

Looks like it was something other than race.

[erronis]

6. I wonder if "what they are hiding" isn't more than massive incompetence. Perhaps malfeasance?

Meaning "on purpose" or "sins of commission"?

We've seen malfeasance in most actions by any white-oriented government when dealing with non-whites.

Of course this happens everywhere in the world - the depredations of the current Chinese government against the Uighurs, the tribal conflicts in Africa, the Indians against the Tamils.

Since the Uvalde law enforcement seems to have a fair representation of non-Whites, this makes me think more of the co-opting during the British Raj of Indians of a particular caste/class (Sikhs) to maintain order.

[questionseverything]

7. This is something I have been wondering

Is it established hispanics vs “new” hispanics?

I don’t want to think these cops let these kids die on purpose but if they didn’t do everything they could to save them they should be prosecuted

[gopiscrap]

8. typical fucking pig

most cops don't care about anything or anyone but themselves. They are usually fascist assholes and get into law enforcement so they can bully people around.

[towerbum]

9. totally dis agree ! there's a lot of good cop's !

you got bad in everything ! city's,state, government, military,
DON'T PIN IT ON JUST ONE DAMN THING !

[mgardener]

13. Too bad

There have been more then a few "damn things".

There have been many "damn things" in recent years. And they are damming.

And I have cops in my family

[Nevilledog]

14. So the good cops who don't say anything about bad cops are still good?

[towerbum]

18. got to agree with ya' ! think I'm just stay out of this ! ---- never ending !

[Jakes Progress]

10. Don't chase the shiny object.

Yes the police were incompetent. That isn't why the children were killed.

They were killed because the kid had a weapon specifically designed to kill many people quickly and easily. This weapon may be needed on a battlefield. It is a stupid thing to make it available to any and all comers.

The gun manufacturers are tossing all this into the media mulch to detract us from the fact that they profit by letting this war tool be sold to more than the military.

Blaming the incompetent police or teachers or anything else other than the availability of this gun will not do a thing to keep more people from mass shootings. Banning these weapons will greatly reduce the deaths. Getting alll hot and bothered about the police will not help.

Don't let the NRA distract us from their evil.

[Silver Gaia]

20. +1

[wnylib]

26. +1000

Even if the door was locked, he could have shot the lock with an AR15.

[Evolve Dammit]

12. May truth be unleashed. Please

[ashredux]

15. Really LARGE legal problems and VERY LARGE settlements

[onecaliberal]

16. The police absolutely failed. I don't know how they're going live knowing they let a monster kill

people. However... The GUNS OF WAR should NOT be available for the general public. Fuck the gun humpers and the NRA. THIS IS ON THEM.

[Mozeltov Cocktail]

17. Seriously, we all know what they are hiding...

Uvalde police released a statement within 20 hours of the slaughter saying that the lone shooter was responsible for all the victims in Robb Elementary...

Okay, except that no investigation into a massacre of this magnitude would reach or release any results within 20 hours...

I believe that Uvalde police officers killed one or more of the victims...the former prosecutor for Uvalde (keep in mind she's on their side) says that because of her personal dealings with the Uvalde police, the truth will not come out until every video is made public...

The prosecutor takes their cases to trial and she does not believe in the Uvalde police department...

[Bernardo de La Paz]

21. On the way to a disaster there are many fault points, but the last (police timidity) is key. . . .nt

[Meowmee]

22. Lots appears to have been covered up here

But neither of those deflects from them not going in for an hour while they heard shots and had 911 calls for help from children, nor from trying to stop the federal agents from helping. Fortunately the agents did not listen.

I have been reading what teachers are saying about their plans in an active shooter situation. Many said they feel like pawns in all of this and some said they plan to leave the building to escape, not to shelter in place. I think that is the first recommended thing to do if you can, to leave and escape the situation not to shelter in place.

[wnylib]

27. Maybe. But a group of children

and teachers running from a building can be a shooting target, too.

[Meowmee]

33. Yes it all depends on the situation

If the shooter is inside attacking people inside leaving the building, whether it is a school or not, is usually recommended first if you are able to safely do that. Which would be better than waiting there to possibly be shot/ die etc.

[dlk]

23. The ugly reality of racism...

n/t

[wnylib]

28. Brown shooter, brown victims, brown cops.

Where is the racism?

[dlk]

31. When someone identifies with those in power

They mimic their behaviors to fit in.

[wnylib]

32. Or, they're just acting like cops in many

locations and situations do.

I just don't see racism in this case. Not like Buffalo.

Shootings and incompetence in police departments are not always racist.

[GoCubsGo]

25. Yep. The whole thing reeks.

The more I hear about it, the more I think it goes beyond just incompetence and ass-covering. I have the feeling that if we ever learn do the truth, we are all going to be shocked beyond belief. Just what the fuck are they trying to cover up?

[PurgedVoter]

30. The Supreme Court ruling was that cops get to decide the risk.

Essentially the police cannot be prosecuted for deciding a situation was too dangerous. In other words, it is their judgement call. That said, I would expressly put a "Do not rehire" on every one of their records. They made the call, but the call they made announced to us all that they are not crime stoppers or public defenders and the money spent on them was a total waste of tax payer money.

Kind of like a tough and ready boyfriend isn't obligated to step in the way of a vicious dog when his girlfriend is threatened. Afterwards though, it seems fair that the girlfriend might decide to break it off and it seems fair that she might tell a few friends why she broke up with him. No judgement on the guy, but he didn't live up to our typical expectation.

As far as the police reaction goes, I go with the laziest and most selfish theories first.

The man in charge may have been wanting more money and thought escalation was a good thing. That has happened.

Maybe the man in charge formed an initial image of what was going on and in a TFG style, was unable to rethink it based on information and didn't have the compassion to try. A lot of tough guy macho boss types are like this.

Lots of things can make the wrong man for a job go bad. An argument with his wife or mistress, an opportunity to try and look tough in front of a girl, an ancient grudge with a teacher at the school, or any number of other things can make the wrong man worse.

What bothers me is that the police stood there on his order. They remained united. That takes something. As a camp councilor years ago, when there was a call for help, near the cliffs we were hiking next to, all of us, girls too, would take off running to see what we could do. We didn't think about risk or duty, we just responded as quick as we could cause that was what you did. I find it hard to imagine that out of 19 men with guns, none of them broke ranks. That takes some serious discipline and I think it is an indication of the selection process and mentality of the officers who retained their jobs in this town. It doesn't seem unlikely that they have a side hustle that might be found with a bit of effort. Their priority was not heroic or even human.

[ThoughtCriminal]

34. Schools are another example of crumbling infrastructure

Roofs that leak, doors that stick or won't lock properly, bad plumbing and electrical systems. Patch-work, temporary repairs that fail within days or weeks. All too common especially in red states. But it is not the teacher's fault, not the staff, or even the administration. Blame GOP state legislators and governors that have made scrimping funding to public schools a priority.