Uvalde parent forcibly removed from school as students protest gun violence
UVALDE, Texas - Jarring video coming out of Uvalde as Ana Rodriguez, mother of Robb Elementary shooting victim Maite Rodriguez, was forcibly removed from a school. That scene unfolded while hundreds of Uvalde students walked out of school Wednesday to protest gun violence.
April 5 was "Walk-Out Wednesday," which is a national initiative in which students walked out of school to protest gun violence. In a community like Uvalde, that strikes a cord.
Bret Cross lost his son Uziyah on May 24th in the Uvalde shooting.
"These children wanted to walk out because they are tired of being afraid to go to school," said Cross.
On Wednesday, many parents, including Cross, went to pick up their kids from Flores elementary so their children could participate in the walkout.
"She [Rodriguez] had went in and they wouldn't let her get her child, so she yelled for her son to walk out because they would not let her get her child and they pushed her out. And that is when I started filming."
Cross took the video which shows Ana being forcibly removed from Flores elementary.
"She was trying to get her son. She was trying to get her son and they wouldn't let her," Cross added.
Now, State Senator Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, is calling for an investigation into the incident.
"It is disturbing to me that a DPS Trooper would grab somebody, lift them up, push them against the door. It's just.. it's just astounding," Gutierrez said.
Former chief of police in Phoenix and assistant chief in Dallas Danny Garcia says that trooper failed here - just like law enforcement did 11 months ago.
"The law enforcement interaction with the families of the victims should be with empathy. It should be with compassion," Garcia said.
"They continue to act not just with gross negligence but with intentional misconduct," Gutierrez said. "For its parents who lost their children completely and utterly unacceptable. "
We reached out to the school district and to the Texas Department of Public Safety on Thursday and on Wednesday but neither have responded. However, this letter was sent out to Uvalde CISD parents from their superintendent Gary Patterson.
In the letter, Patterson says, "Although each campus attempted to provide a safe and secure area for students to participate in the Student Walkout on campus, many chose to leave campus without checking out or getting permission from their parents or administration."
Patterson also says the district will "remain sensitive" on gun violence and safety issues.
"I think he should issue a public apology to her," Cross said. "She is left with bruises all over her arms and everything and he didn't have to react that way."
