On Monday, July 25, 2022, Congressman Al Green released the following statement:

“Today marks 61 days since May 25, 2022, the day that Governor Greg Abbott held a press conference on the Uvalde mass shooting and wittingly or unwittingly helped lay the foundation for a cover-up. What happened at Robb Elementary School the day before was a preventable tragedy that need not happen again. While a multiplicity of steps can and should be taken to ensure it doesn’t happen again, transparency and accountability from our public officials is vital to that process.”

“Governor Abbott, however, is not being transparent regarding the actions taken by officers who were present within the school hallway during the mass shooting. At the press conference he hosted the day after the shooting, Governor Abbott claimed that officers showed ‘amazing courage by running toward gunfire for the singular purpose of trying to save lives, and it is a fact that because of their quick response, getting on the scene, being able to respond to the gunman, and eliminate the gunman, they were able to save lives.’ Governor Abbott said he was livid about being misled and that ‘the information he originally shared was provided during a briefing by a roomful of law enforcement and public officials, who detailed the actions and response by law enforcement.’ However, he still has not said who was in the room giving him this nefarious information. Rooms can’t think or speak and they cannot provide information by their own volition. Governor Abbott owes the families of the victims and Texans across the state an answer as to who exactly tried to push this trumped-up narrative covering up the pusillanimous behavior of some law enforcement officers shown in the video released by the Austin American-Statesman.”

“While I can’t say with certainty why the behavior of pusillanimous officers would be covered up with fallacious embellishments, I can say with certainty what the effect of this pernicious narrative from the mouth of the governor without the video might have on the victims’ families. This pernicious narrative (cover-up) emanating wittingly or unwittingly from the Governor of the State of Texas without the revelatory video could deny the victims’ families justice through the courts.”

“Denying victims’ families their day in court after losing their children or loved ones is the epitome of a despicable abomination. The families deserve to know the names of the law enforcement and public officials who would perpetrate such a shameful fraud. The governor needs to provide the victims’ families justice by exposing their names, not the room they were in.”