Acevedo had cause to slam GOP senators after sergeant’s slaying

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo was visibly angry in discussing the shooting death of a beloved sergeant, Chris Brewster — and had some choice words for Senate Republicans whom he believes help enable such tragedies.

Brewster, 32, was responding to a domestic disturbance in Magnolia Park on Saturday evening when police say he was shot multiple times by the subject of the complaint, Arturo Solis. Solis opened fire on Brewster as the nine-year veteran was trying to get his attention, authorities said, and he was seemingly remorseless after being apprehended later that evening. Brewster allegedly told investigators that he should have shot his girlfriend, who had called the police.

This tragedy fits a familiar pattern in which acts of of gun violence are preceded by instances of domestic violence. So in remarks to reporters, Acevedo singled out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn for criticism for not having taken up the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which has been stalled in the Senate along with other legislation passed by the Democratic-controlled House.

The National Rifle Association opposes the House-approved legislation because in addition to reauthorizing the act itself, it includes a provision intended to tackle the “boyfriend loophole,” under which certain domestic abusers are not barred from buying or owning firearms.

As Acevedo sees it, Senate Republicans are putting the political demands of the GOP-allied NRA over the well-being of their own constituents, including lawenforcement officers.

“I don’t want to see their little smug faces about how much they care about law enforcement when I’m burying a sergeant because they don’t want to piss off the NRA,” Acevedo said, referring to the three senators.

“You’re either here for women and children and our daughters and our sisters and our aunts or you’re here for the NRA,” he continued. “Make up your minds.”

The outspoken Acevedo, who recently began his fourth year as chief, concluded by saying that he had nothing more to say on the subject for now and intended to spend the week focusing on Brewster’s life, and mourning his death.

Cornyn and Cruz seemed to feel that Acevedo had already said enough.

“What the chief neglected to mention yesterday is Solis, who had a prior conviction of family violence, was already prohibited from owning a firearm under Texas and federal law,” said Drew Brandewie, a spokesman for Cornyn.

“So the ‘loophole’ he spent so much time blaming

Sens. Cornyn and Cruz for didn’t apply because he already wasn’t supposed to own a gun,” Brandewie said.

The 1996 Lautenberg Amendment to the Federal Gun Control Act bans people convicted of domestic violence against a spouse, co-parent, or family member of possessing a gun. Solis, who has been charged with capital murder, has a previous conviction for misdemeanor assault of a family member.

Cruz made this point also, about the federal law, before suggesting that Acevedo’s interest in the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act was politically motivated.

“It’s unfortunate the chief of police in Houston seems more focused on trying to

advance his own political ambitions than on supporting the brave men and women of HPD,” said Cruz.

It’s true that the reauthorization of the 1994 law, co-sponsored by then-U.S. Sens. Joe Biden and Orrin Hatch and signed by President Bill Clinton, probably wouldn’t have prevented Brewster’s death.

But it’s hard to fault Acevedo for giving voice to the grief and anger many Houstonians are feeling, in the wake of such a tragedy.

And if the chief ’s critics think there’s a more appropriate moment to have a discussion about the nexus between domestic violence and gun deaths, they should feel free to suggest it.

Acevedo, for his part, raised the issue last week, just two days before the sergeant’s slaying, at a news conference with Mayor Sylvester Turner, Mayor Pro-Tem Ellen Cohen, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez and Emilee Whitehurst, the president and CEO of the Houston Area Women’s Center.

“Enough is enough,” Acevedo said then, noting that the city had seen 40 homicides through November — out of 253 overall, up to that point — that were related to domestic violence.

“Every day that this is not authorized, it gives the notion that there’s a passive acceptance that violence against women is acceptable,” Gonzalez said.

Acevedo called on Cornyn and Cruz to help pass the measure in the Senate and work with their House counterparts to resolve any disagreements over the “boyfriend loophole,” for example, in conference.

“The one thing that we know is that the fear to pass this is a disservice to women, to children, and it’s a disservice to our community,” he said.

Advocates agree with that.

“Honestly, it’s ridiculous that we would even have to have a conversation,” said Barbie Breshear, executive director of the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council. “That it wouldn’t be reauthorized …?” she sighed.

On Tuesday, the department’s SWAT team had a standoff after another such call, involving a boyfriend with a gun and a criminal record.

“It’s always in the back of officers’ minds, on every call that they run, after we have an incident like (the one) that happened last week,” said HPD Lt. Rick Besselman, after the suspect was apprehended. “But we have to do our job.”

Senate Republicans, including Cornyn and Cruz, need to do theirs.