Why did the Uvalde CISD police chief testify in secret, escorted out a back door?


AUSTIN (KXAN) – As Gov. Greg Abbott promised “transparency,” Uvalde CISD Police Chief Pete Arredondo walked out of secret, closed-door testimony at the Capitol Tuesday and stepped into an elevator surrounded by police, wordlessly.

“I challenge the chief to come testify in public about what happened here,” Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) said earlier in the day. “Don’t hide in the House. Come to the Senate where the Texas public can ask these questions.”

Arredondo testified before a House committee that, unlike the Senate hearing, was closed to the public. Committee Chairman Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) said the investigative hearing will be held behind closed doors due to the “quasi-judicial nature” of his work.

“We’re just now starting to see some things, talk about some things, and I don’t want to be any more part of the problem by giving real-time accounting until we can be accurate,” Burrows said after the private hearing. , “and make sure we have a full representation of what we’ve come to.”

However, DPS Director Steve McCraw also testified publicly Tuesday about the law enforcement response. During his testimony before the Senate special committee to “Protect All Texans,” McCraw called Arredondo’s handling of the massacre an “abject failure.” In gripping testimony, he revealed a minute-by-minute timeline of events, along with transcripts of police radio and phone calls made at the scene along with security details about the school’s communication capabilities and security features, many of which were new.

The question first amendment advocates are asking is why Arredondo’s testimony was kept secret and why he was escorted to the camera through a back door out of public view.

“That right there shows that information about law enforcement can be released to the public, should be released to the public,” said Kelley Shannon, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. “Law enforcement can release information about the investigations at any time they want and [do] if they have a motive or reason to do so.”

Shannon previously told KXAN that she is concerned that the so-called “Escape Dead Suspect” from Texas could be used to block the release of public records that could shed light on what happened in Uvalde.

“The more information that comes out of this and how the police handled it, the better,” Shannon said. “We want complete information. We don’t want bits of information. We, the public, starting with the citizens of Uvalde…want information about this so that we can hopefully prevent it from happening again.”

To try to get answers, KXAN has made multiple public information requests with the Texas Department of Public Safety, Uvalde Police and Uvalde CISD. We have received denial letters, unresponsive records, or challenges with the Attorney General’s office.

All of this comes on the same day that Abbott promised transparency about what happened.

“All information the Governor’s Office has related to the Uvalde shooting has either been made public or is in an expedited process for release,” Abbott spokeswoman Renae Eze said in a statement. “Governor Abbott has been adamant from day one that all information related to the tragedy at Robb Elementary School is shared with the families of the victims, the Uvalde community and the entire state.”

The governor’s office said it will work to ensure the documents are released, including the full results of investigations by the Texas Rangers and the FBI.

“The Governor wants all the facts of this tragedy to be made public as quickly as possible and will do his part to achieve that goal,” Eze said.



Reference-www.kxan.com

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