Texas Governor Greg Abbott Gets Booed As He Visits The Site Of The Uvalde School Shooting
Charisa Bossinakis
Featured Image Credit: Jintak Han/ZUMA Press Wire. Mario Cantu/Cal Sport Media/Sipa USA
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has received a frosty reception while visiting a memorial at Robb Elementary for the victims of the Uvalde mass school shooting.
Reuters reports that as the state's leader paid his respects to victims and their grieving families, several onlookers confronted him.
Not only did they demand he try to enact some sort of gun law reform following the deadly massacre, but some even booed him.
#Happeningnow Crowd Boos Texas Gov Greg Abbott as he arrives at the memorial outside of Uvalde Elementary School.#Uvalde #Texas pic.twitter.com/QWDOfXcvEw
— Oliya Scootercaster (@ScooterCasterNY) May 29, 2022
One person reportedly yelled amid the booing: "Our children are under constant attack in this community. We need help."
Another cried: “Shame on you, Abbott.”
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A third person said: “We need change Abbott.”
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden also visited the site, where community members yelled at them to ‘do something’.
The President responded: “We will.”
Governor Abbott is facing increasing backlash after having a history of loosening gun laws in the state.
In June 2021, the Texas Governor signed a bill that allowed people to carry handguns openly in public without a permit.
Shortly after signing the piece of legislation, he stated: "You could say that I signed into law today some laws that protect gun rights.
"But today, I signed documents that instilled freedom in the Lone Star State."
The Texas Tribute reports that the pro-gun rights politician also approved legislation that enabled teachers to have more access to guns on school grounds.
Volunteer leader with the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, Hilary Whitfield, slammed the bill, saying it does nothing to protect students while running the risk of a tragedy occurring.
She said: “If we put an unlimited number of guns in our schools, we’re only creating an unlimited number of potential mistakes that could harm our children.”
A day after the shooting at Robb Elementary, Governor Abbott appeared at a press conference, where Texan politician Beto O’Rourke also confronted him.
The Democrat accused Abbott of 'doing nothing' in the wake of the school mass shooting, according to Politico.
In hindsight @BetoORourke was even more justified in this — now that we know the true extent of Abbott & law enforcement’s failure. https://t.co/namTMI1IGm pic.twitter.com/CNtWsZAZJV
— Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) May 27, 2022
“Governor Abbott, I have to say something,” O’Rourke said.
“The time to stop the next shooting is right now and you are doing nothing.”
As O’Rourke continued to confront the Republican, he was ushered out by security while officials yelled at him to ‘go home’.
Governor Abbott was also set to appear at an NRA convention in Texas three days after the Robb Elementary massacre, but he dropped out last minute due to growing pressure, according to the New York Post.