Uvalde crowd wants cops fired, but council takes no action
UVALDE — A day after Mayor Cody Smith abruptly resigned, an angry crowd was back before the City Council on Tuesday night, demanding the firing of police officers who responded to a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School nearly two years ago.
Some in the crowd had been anticipating the meeting, hoping that Smith would announce disciplinary action against officers for failing to save more lives at Robb on May 24, 2022, the day a gunman killed 19 fourth graders and two teachers. Activists have demanded the firing of three officers in particular who were in a hallway outside the classroom where the slaughter took place.
But on Monday, Smith resigned effective immediately, citing unspecified medical reasons, and at Tuesday’s meeting, council members took no disciplinary action against any police officers.
A detailed report by retired Austin police detective Jesse Prado, hired by the city to assess the department’s performance, determined that none of the 28 Uvalde officers who responded to the shooting violated department policies. They all acted “in good faith” and could not be blamed for failing to neutralize the shooter early in the incident, Prado said.
Council Member Everardo Zamora, who is serving as mayor pro tempore until a successor to Smith is elected in the fall, said after the meeting that neither he nor the council could fire any police officer. That decision would lie with the police chief or with City Manager Vince Dipiazza, he said.
Uvalde will soon be without a permanent police chief. Chief Daniel Rodriguez is stepping down effective Saturday, and an acting chief will fill the position while the city searches for a permanent replacement.
“By law, according to our attorney, we cannot fire any police officer. By law, I can’t,” Zamora said, adding that the acting chief is not authorized to fire officers either.
“Do we have a chief of police?” he asked. “We need a chief.”
When Zamora was asked if the council could order Dipiazza to fire officers, Council Member Ernest “Chip” King III interjected, “We don’t direct anyone to terminate.”
Dipiazza told the Express-news that council members could tell him what they thought ought to be done, and that he would listen to their opinions.
“I work for the City Council; the police chief works for me,” he said. But he added that the council has “not made any formal directive” to him to fire officers.
Some of those who addressed the council at recent meetings have demanded that the city fire Lt. Javier Martinez, Sgt. Eduardo Canales and Detective Louis Landry, all veteran Uvalde officers.
No one has offered a specific reason to fire those officers, two of whom were wounded by gunfire. In his report, Prado exonerated all three. But the victims’ family members have made it plain they’re determined to see someone pay for the loss of life.
“I know that y’all ain’t talking about this,” said Brett Cross, guardian of one of the children killed, 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia, and leader of a loosely affiliated protest movement. “Y’all keep saying, ‘Oh, give us time, give us time. You’ve had two years. But the issue with that is, why won’t you call it to a vote?
“Are y’all not tired of being the joke of this country?” he asked.
Smith, a local bank executive, resigned just months into his third term as mayor. He spent 17 years on the council before he was elected mayor for the first time in 2008. He was reelected in 2010 but declined to run for a third term in 2012.
In 2023, he sought the office for a third time, saying he felt compelled to run to help the community heal after the Robb Elementary tragedy. He was victorious in November, defeating Kimberly Mata-rubio, whose 10-year-old daughter, Lexi, was among the children slain.
In his resignation letter Monday, Smith thanked residents “for their thoughts and prayers during my ongoing recovery from unexpected medical issues I have experienced in recent weeks.” He went on to say, “After much consultation and prayer, I have decided to resign as Mayor of the City of Uvalde to focus on my health.”
Prado’s review was the latest in a series of official inquiries into the police response to the school massacre. Unlike the others, his focused exclusively on the Uvalde Police Department. In all, 380 officers from two dozen local, state and federal agencies were on the scene that day. Not until 77 minutes after the first 911 call did members of a Border Patrol tactical team storm the classroom and kill the shooter.
Members of the public who addressed the council Tuesday night tended to be critical of both Prado’s report and the council’s handling of it. Diana Olvedokarau, a local activist who ran unsuccessfully for Uvalde County commissioner in 2022, faulted the way the report was made public. Prado recited his findings during a council meeting, responding to questions from City Attorney Paul Tarski.
The council had not seen the report in advance and did not know what Prado would say.
Olvedo-karau told council members that “was really a misstep on your behalf.”
Another Uvalde activist, Jesse Rizo, urged the council to imagine what grieving families have endured since the school shooting, the second worst in U.S. history.
“The families do not have the ability to just simply check out and resign and go home and heal. It’s forever going to be a void,” he said. “Mr. Smith, we wish him the best, but unfortunately not everybody has that same ability to go on and heal like he’s healing right now.”