The board initially was set to think about Arredondo’s job standing on July 23, however the matter was twice postponed on the request of Arredondo’s legal professional and ultimately moved to Wednesday.
Arredondo will not seem on the assembly, in accordance with a 17-page press assertion despatched to the varsity board by his legal professional.
Within the assertion issued lower than an hour earlier than the scheduled begin of the assembly, legal professional George Hyde accused the board of failing to comply with correct process in pursuing potential termination of Arredondo’s employment.
Hyde argues {that a} letter from the district suspending him with out pay doesn’t rely as an official “criticism” required by legislation to think about termination.
“Chief Arredondo is not going to take part in his personal unlawful and unconstitutional public lynching and respectfully requests the Board instantly reinstate him, with all backpay and advantages and shut the criticism as unfounded,” the assertion concludes.
The assembly began with feedback from members of the general public, a few of whom referred to as for Arredondo, who’s on unpaid depart, to show in his badge.
The board members mentioned Texas legislation requires for the listening to on the chief’s employment standing to be held in closed session. An agenda for the assembly says the board will return to open session for “dialogue and potential motion.”
Arredondo has come beneath intense public scrutiny over the police response to the Might 24 bloodbath, America’s deadliest faculty taking pictures since 2012.
The Uvalde colleges superintendent has advisable that Arredondo be fired. State officers recognized Arredondo because the on-scene police commander, although he has mentioned he didn’t think about himself in cost.
The attacker remained in two adjoined lecture rooms for greater than an hour earlier than officers entered the rooms and killed him, authorities say. The delay contradicted broadly taught protocol for lively shooter conditions that decision for police to instantly cease the risk and got here whilst kids inside repeatedly referred to as 911 and begged for assist.
In his assertion for Arredondo, Hyde says the chief was not notified between June 22 and July 19 of a college district investigation and was not requested to take part or give an announcement.
“The district can’t withhold its data for months, current solely that which they discover helps the Superintendent, after which disclose it and not using a affordable alternative to evaluation it, and the chance to find impeachment or non-obligatory completeness proof.”
Wednesday’s assembly comes after heated faculty board periods wherein mother and father have demanded that Arredondo and others within the faculty system be fired, and after a number of situations wherein officers have criticized the police response to the taking pictures in hearings and a Texas Home investigative report.
Report described ‘lackadaisical strategy’ by legislation enforcement
In a listening to earlier than the Texas Senate on June 21, the director of the Texas Division of Public Security referred to as the police response an “abject failure.” The director, Col. Steven McCraw, positioned blame for the failure on Arredondo, who state authorities recognized because the on-scene commander. The on-scene commander, McCraw mentioned, was “the one factor” stopping officers from coming into the lecture rooms to interact the gunman.
However Arredondo instructed a Texas Home investigative committee that he didn’t think about himself the incident commander — echoing feedback he made to the Texas Tribune in June.
In a preliminary report launched July 17, the Texas Home panel positioned blame extra broadly, outlining a sequence of failures by a number of legislation enforcement businesses.
The 77-page report described “an general lackadaisical strategy” by the 376 native, state and federal legislation enforcement officers who responded and have been on the faculty.
“There isn’t a one to whom we are able to attribute malice or in poor health motives,” the report says. “As an alternative, we discovered systemic failures and egregious poor resolution making.”
The report additionally notes others may have assumed command. Superior Regulation Enforcement Fast Response Coaching “teaches that any legislation enforcement officer can assume command, that someone should assume command, and that an incident commander can switch duty as an incident develops,” it says.
“That didn’t occur at Robb Elementary, and the shortage of efficient incident command is a significant component that brought about different important measures to be left undone,” in accordance with the report.
In that report, Arredondo mentioned his strategy was “responding as a police officer,” and that he subsequently “did not title myself.”
Nevertheless, a minimum of one of many responding officers expressed the idea that Arredondo was main the legislation enforcement response inside the varsity, telling others that the “chief is in cost,” in accordance with a timeline from the Texas Division of Public Security.
Within the wake of sharp criticism, Uvalde faculty district Superintendent Hal Harrell positioned Arredondo — who has been the varsity district police chief since March 2020 — on depart from his place as faculty police chief on June 22.
Individually, Arredondo resigned his place on the Uvalde Metropolis Council in early July, and the council accepted the resignation July 12.
‘Too little, too late’
At a college board assembly July 18 — a day after the Home report was launched — an uncle of one of many slain kids angrily requested why Arredondo nonetheless was employed.
“Why the hell does he nonetheless have a job with y’all?” Brett Cross, an uncle of 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia, requested the board, including he needed members to resign if Arredondo weren’t fired by the following day. “Since you all don’t give a rattling about our youngsters or us. Stand with us or in opposition to us, as a result of we ain’t going nowhere.”
Firing Arredondo now, Cross instructed CNN later that week, could be “too little, too late.” Cross, who had been elevating Uziyah as his son earlier than the kid was killed within the taking pictures, and a few others in the neighborhood have been calling for the superintendent, the board and the varsity police division to get replaced.
At a gathering Monday night time, the varsity board met to evaluation mother and father’ complaints calling for the superintendent’s elimination. The board handed a movement that, partly, requires the superintendent to offer to the board names or organizations that would evaluation the district’s administrative practices about accountability.
Some group members in attendance — together with Cross — expressed anger on the finish of the assembly, with some saying that it took three hours to not accomplish something.
“Come out Wednesday,” Cross mentioned as he and others left Monday’s assembly. “I am f**king bored with this bulls**t.”
CNN’s Eric Levenson, Rosa Flores, Matthew J. Friedman, Christina Maxouris, Shimon Prokupecz and Rebekah Riess contributed to this report.
