According to this source, the chairman is not pushing for the release of video showing victims or footage of violence.
Rep. Dustin Burroughs, the committee’s chairman, is barred from releasing the 77-minute “corridor” video of the law enforcement response because he signed a nondisclosure agreement with the Texas Department of Public Safety, Burroughs revealed on Twitter Friday .
Burroughs attached two letters to his tweet. In one letter, he asked the DPS for permission to release the video to the public. The other letter was a response from DPS saying the agency agreed the video would bring “clarity to the public regarding the tragic events in Uvalde,” but that the Uvalde District Attorney “objected to the release of the video.”
Burrow’s tweet stated that the video he insisted on being released “does not contain images of victims or footage of violence.”
On Thursday, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin refuted a new assessment of law enforcement’s response to the shooting, saying the Center for Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) report “does not provide a complete and accurate account of what happened.”
McLaughlin disputed the first part of the report, which said a Uvalde police officer with a rifle spotted the shooter outside the school, but the superintendent either did not hear the officer or responded too late when the officer asked for permission to shoot.
“Not a single Uvalde police officer saw the shooter on May 24 before he entered the school,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “No Uvalde police officers had the opportunity to shoot the shooter.”
CNN reached out to Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchell Busby on Friday and Sunday asking her to comment on why she objects to the release of the video, but did not receive a response.
According to the same source, the preliminary report of the Texas House investigative committee will clarify conflicting accounts from previous reviews of what happened on May 24. The report will include verbatim quotes from sworn testimony, the source said.
The next Texas House Investigative Committee hearing is scheduled for Monday, July 11 at 9 am CT in Austin.
The full list of witnesses for the hearing has not been released. But Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco told CNN on Sunday that he plans to testify Monday. Nolasco said his testimony will be via video conference and not in person.
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) created the three-member commission last month. Burroughs, a Republican, was appointed chairman; Representative Joe Moody (D) was named vice chairman; and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman is a member.
The purpose of the investigative commission is to establish the facts. Two other House committees, Youth Health and Safety and Homeland Security and Public Safety, will be tasked with making legislative recommendations.
Add Comment