Judging Freedom - Uvalde School Shooting - Why Didn_t the Police Chief Do More_

Episode Date: January 11, 2023

Hi everyone, Judge Andrew Napolitano here with Judging Freedom. Today is Wednesday, January 15, 2023. It's about 3.15 in the afternoon here on the east coast of the United States. CNN has done some terrific reporting, as you may know, on the massacre at the Uvalde School in Uvalde, Texas. You may recall a crazy guy got in the classroom and started slaughtering people. There were over 300 police surrounding the building before a couple of federal agents decided to go in and take him out. 19 students, two teachers, and the killer himself were killed. The chief of the Uvalde school system, Peter Arredondo, has since resigned, and there's been a lot of speculation and investigation of his role. Recently, CNN got a tape of Arredondo saying that he knew what was going on in the classroom. He either assumed everybody in there was dead, or he was afraid for his men, or he was afraid that the killer might come out and kill more people. But he never did the right thing, which the feds eventually did after the children were

slaughtered, which is break into that classroom and take the killer out. So this tape we're going to run from you is part interview with him, part tapes of him, part reporting by CNN. It's obviously from CNN. It's an excellent product. It's a little on the long side for a judging freedom clip. It's a minute and 13 seconds. It's riveting. Watch. I know there's probably victims in there. And with the shots I heard, I know it was probably somebody that was going to be deceased.

In new video obtained by CNN, Arredondo telling investigators he assumed students in the room with the shooter were already dead, so he chose to clear children from surrounding classrooms. There's nobody in there? No, not in here. We now know he was wrong. At least three victims were pulled out of the room alive, who later died from their injuries. My first thought is that we need to vacate.

We haven't contained. And I know this is horrible, and I know this is what our train tells us to do, but we haven't contained. There's probably going to be some deceased in there, but we don't need any more from out here. So I called out and I said, get these kids out. Whatever I told them, bust those windows, get them out. And for the first time, we learned that he heard the gunman, alone in a room full of children, reloading his weapon. And still, he took no action that stopped the gunman.

I'm certain I heard him reload. I heard something over the pin. You obviously well know what that sounds like. Not with a pin, I'm sorry, with a clip. I'm assuming he reloaded, but I know he did something with a pin. You obviously well know what that sounds like. Not with a pin, I'm sorry, with a clip. I'm assuming he reloaded, but I know he did something with it. I did hear that at one time. I don't know if there was a second. I'm not a cop. I have worked with police for most of my adult life and my career as a lawyer, as a judge, and as a television commentator. But this is the picture of cowardice. This is a person in charge who was just afraid to do his

job. I know it's a risky job. It's a chance you take when you become a cop. It's why they train you, and that's why they supply you with equipment. Your first goal is to stop the killing. And we all know, and the CNN reporter did a terrific job, recounted that when they pulled three of those children out of that classroom alive, they died because they bled to death, because they were saved too late in the day, because the killer was taken out too late in the day because the local cops and in particular this fellow chief arredondo former chief arredondo uh lacked the personal courage to do the right thing two feds didn't the feds got there late why were the feds called well the feds were listening if you recall the story if you recall the facts the feds were listening. If you recall the story, if you recall the facts, the feds were listening to the

radio communications and they knew something horrible was going on. The border patrol facilities for that part of South Texas was located in that town. And there were hundreds of federal officers about to go to work out of that border patrol facility, and they went to the school instead. It was not their job to go there, but had they not gone there, we don't know how much farther this slaughter would have gone on, but we do know that the local police and the chief failed miserably to do their job, and as a result, innocent babies were killed. I don't think this is the end of the story. The Texas police failed miserably. Texas police management failed miserably.

Too much authority was given to this local school police department. The local school police department was not trained properly by Texas police officials. And personal courage was not found until the feds arrived. Judge Napolitano for judging freedom.