Tony Gonzales calls on DPS Director Steve McCraw to resign

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U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, who represents Uvalde, on Thursday turned the primary main Republican to name for the resignation of Steve McCraw, the director of the Department of Public Safety, for his company’s response to an elementary college capturing within the metropolis that left 19 youngsters and two adults lifeless and captured the eye of a nation for its failed regulation enforcement response.

“DPS Director McCraw should RESIGN immediately,” Gonzales stated on Twitter.

His feedback adopted a gathering of the Public Safety Commission, which oversees DPS, at which McCraw insisted the company had not failed the town of Uvalde. Last month, McCraw stated publicly that he would resign if DPS troopers who responded to the capturing had “any culpability.”

Since these feedback, the company has fired its first trooper linked to the incident, Sgt. Juan Maldonado, who was one of many first and most-senior troopers to get to the varsity. The company revealed in September that not less than 5 troopers have been underneath investigation for his or her conduct that day.

Law enforcement officers waited greater than an hour to confront the shooter at Robb Elementary in May, which investigators stated could have cost the lives of among the victims.

Other politicians have additionally referred to as for McCraw’s resignation. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat who represents Uvalde, has lengthy faulted McCraw for his company’s response. And on Wednesday evening, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke referred to as for McCraw to “immediately resign.”

Family members of Uvalde victims are additionally persevering with to apply strain for accountability from regulation enforcement. Those relations confirmed up to the Public Safety Commission’s Thursday assembly and referred to as for McCraw to resign.

Gonzales has been seen as responsive to calls for extra gun security measures after the capturing. He was the one House Republican to vote for a landmark gun safety bill that handed Congress this summer time. That invoice was authored by fellow Texas Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, and incentivized states to move purple flag legal guidelines, closed loopholes on purchases made by these convicted of home violence towards spouses or companions and gave native officers a 10-day window to scour databases for disqualifying information for first-time gun patrons underneath the age of 21.