‘I Got a Knife. Pull Your Gun Out!’ Great-Grandfather of Slain Uvalde Student Rips Police Over Response to School Shooting
The great-grandfather of a child killed in last week’s elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas dramatically challenged two police officers over law enforcement’s response to the tragedy.
One of those children was Alexandra Rubio. She was just 10 years old.
Uvalde police have come under heavy scrutiny after giving false reports about the incident, in which an 18-year-old gunman holed himself up in Robb Elementary School last Tuesday for about 90 minutes and killed 19 students and two teachers. Reports also indicate up to 19 officers waited in a hallway outside the classroom instead of attempting to stop the shooter.
The gunman was killed when a Border Patrol tactical unit unilaterally decided to breach the classroom and kill him.
On Sunday, Rubio’s great-grandfather, Ruben Mata lashed out at police inaction as the tragedy unfolded inside the school.
“Where were you, when she was in class, in the room!?” – Grieving great grandfather of a Uvalde massacre victim pleads with police. “You want to put me in jail? Go ahead.” pic.twitter.com/xvZcxi9xbJ
— Status Coup News (@StatusCoup) June 1, 2022
Working for Status Coup News, freelance video journalist Jon Farina recorded a dramatic scene in Uvalde where Mata holds a knife in front of officers but tells them he’s not going to hurt anyone.
As the police arrive on the scene, Mata says, “It didn’t take you but a few minutes” to get there.
Based on their cruiser, the officers who responded were not from Uvalde, but from Conroe, Texas. They were in Uvalde in order to assist in the wake of the mass shooting and arrived from 300 miles away as part of a convoy of law enforcement from other jurisdictions.
“I’m gonna show you something,” Mata says, reaching into his pocket as two officers approach. Meanwhile, bystanders urge Mata to calm down, lest he provoke a reaction from the police.
Mata is undeterred.
“I got a knife,” he tells officers after pulling a small knife from his pocket. “Pull your gun out! I’m not going to kill nobody! But I got a knife! Let’s see how brave y’all are with your guns.”
Mata then gives the knife to a bystander, who hands the knife to one of the officers.
Perhaps sensing he is not a threat, the officers approach him casually, albeit cautiously.
“Oh, you’re gonna put me in jail?” Mata tells them, holding up his wrists. “Go ahead.”
Later in the video, Mata walks to a makeshift memorial of the dead and points to one of the displays.
“That’s my great-granddaughter,” he tells the officers. “Where were you people?”
