Uvalde School District Calls Police to Threaten CNN with Criminal Trespass if They Don’t Leave Property

Sarah RumpfJun 1st, 2022, 12:03 pm
 

Screenshot via CNN.

The Uvalde Independent School District really does not want to talk to the media about their police department’s response to the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School that left 19 children and two teachers dead, going so far as to call the Uvalde Police Department to threaten a CNN reporter and his camera crew with criminal trespass.

Earlier Wednesday, CNN correspondent Shimon Prokupecz had confronted Uvalde ISD Police Chief Pedro Arredondo outside the school district building, asking for his response to Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Steven McCraw identifying him as the incident commander who made the “wrong decision” to delay breaching the classroom door for roughly an hour.

Arredondo dodged Prokupecz’s questions, claiming they were waiting to release information until the victims could be buried and that they had been communicating with DPS “every day,” contrary to other recent reports that the Uvalde ISD Police and Uvalde Police Department were now refusing to cooperate with DPS.

Prokupecz reported on his interaction with Arredondo on CNN Newsroom Wednesday morning, and posted several tweets following up on his report. A spokesperson for Uvalde ISD provided a statement to CNN, which Prokupecz noted contradicted DPS’s statement that Arredondo was not returning their calls.

“UCISD has and will continue to work with law enforcement who are investigating the event and realize that many questions remain,” the statement said. “Because the investigation is ongoing and information is evolving, we are going to reserve comment until all state and federal agencies have completed their review.”

The statement also noted that students and staff would not be returning to the Robb Elementary campus, and the district was “working through plans on how to serve students on other campuses.”

At some point after providing that statement to Prokupecz, the Uvalde ISD called the city police department to get CNN to leave their property.

Officers with the Uvalde ISD police told Prokupecz and his camera crew that the city police were on their way, as shown in a short cell phone video Prokupecz took.

“Once they get here, they’ll start issuing criminal trespasses for the property,” a Uvalde ISD officer told Prokupecz.

Another officer added, “Yeah, they want us to give you guys the initial warning, and then if you guys are still present, they’re going to issue criminal trespasses.”

“OK, appreciate that,” Prokupecz can be heard saying.

“‘Cause they themselves have asked y’all to leave,” the first officer said.

“OK,” Prokupecz responded.

Watch the video above, via Shimon Prokupecz on Twitter.

UPDATE 4:30 pm ET: The Uvalde ISD police also issued the same warning and threat of criminal trespass to local reporters with the San Antonio Express-News. One of the Express-News’ reporters, Guillermo Contreras, posted several tweets with photos stating that the Uvalde ISD officials were declaring their offices as “private property,” having police order media off the lot, and forming a “security detail” around the building.

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.