Just when you you thought the Uvalde Police Department couldn’t possibly cover themselves in any more glory, they go and find a way to outdo themselves.
Earlier this week, we told you about VICE News’ scoop on the Texas Department of Public Safety asking the Texas State Attorney General’s Office not to allow the public release of Uvalde Police bodycam footage from during last month’s deadly mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. Releasing the footage could expose “weaknesses” in the police force, and they wouldn’t want that, now would they?
Texas police are refusing to release the bodycam footage of the Uvlade school shooting to Motherboard because they claim it could be used by other shooters to determine "weaknesses" in cop response to crimes. Asked state Attorney General to block release https://t.co/uh6vPxOeFb
— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) June 13, 2022
Well, today, VICE’s Jason Koebler is reporting that Uvalde and the Uvalde PD have hired a private law firm to help prevent the footage from being released, because it could be “embarrassing” for the city and police, and they wouldn’t want that, now would they?
SCOOP: Uvalde and Uvalde Police have hired a private law firm to fight against being required to release body camera footage and other records related to school shooting
Files could be 'highly embarrassing,' involve 'emotional/mental distress,' it argueshttps://t.co/8GYMgLYJQv
— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) June 17, 2022
The City of Uvalde and its police department are working with a private law firm to prevent the release of nearly any record related to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in which 19 children and two teachers died, according to a letter obtained by Motherboard in response to a series of public information requests we made. The public records Uvalde is trying to suppress include body camera footage, photos, 911 calls, emails, text messages, criminal records, and more.
“The City has not voluntarily released any information to a member of the public,” the city’s lawyer, Cynthia Trevino, who works for the private law firm Denton Navarro Rocha Bernal & Zech, wrote in a letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The city wrote the letter asking Paxton for a determination about what information it is required to release to the public, which is standard practice in Texas. Paxton’s office will eventually rule which of the city’s arguments have merit and will determine which, if any, public records it is required to release.
The letter makes clear, however, that the city and its police department want to be exempted from releasing a wide variety of records in part because it is being sued, in part because some of the records could include “highly embarrassing information,” in part because some of the information is “not of legitimate concern to the public,” in part because the information could reveal “methods, techniques, and strategies for preventing and predicting crime,” in part because some of the information may cause or may “regard … emotional/mental distress,” and in part because its response to the shooting is being investigated by the Texas Rangers, the FBI, and the Uvalde County District Attorney.
Pardon our French, but who the f*ck cares if Uvalde and the Uvalde PD are highly embarrassed about this? They should be embarrassed. Ashamed. Guilt-ridden. There’s blood on their hands.
Uvalde says it has received 148 public records requests from the shooting. Letter to Texas Attorney General seems to seek to suppress records relating to all/most/many of them
— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) June 17, 2022
This is insane.
So:
Taxpayers:
– pay for the police
– pay the private lawyers to defend the police when the police are bad
– pay for the private lawyers to prevent the release of public records
– pay for the investigation into the police and any litigation that arises
– pay out any damages— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) June 17, 2022
Yeah, sorry, but no.
Lol excuse me? https://t.co/yN1dem2tGr
— Sunny McSunnyface (@sunnyright) June 17, 2022
Say what? https://t.co/1CZ6wZC2Ip
— Phineas "Extreme Dark Ultra" Fahrquar (@irishspy) June 17, 2022
Considering the hell the citizens of Uvalde have already been put through and the hell they still stand to be put through if their safety depends on incompetents, the very least they deserve is to see exactly what happened the day of the shooting as well as everything that led up to it and occurred in the aftermath.
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