Out-of-town police have descended in Uvalde, TX, and are blocking journalists from covering the aftermath of the mass shooting.
The San Antonio Express-News reported:
As waves of police from departments across Texas converge on Uvalde, officers have continued to intimidate, harass and impede journalists covering the aftermath of the second-deadliest K-12 school shooting ever in the United States.
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Citing the privacy of victims’ families, some officers have ordered reporters off public sidewalks and used public safety vehicles to block journalists from taking photographs of funerals and burials. In some cases, police have threatened to arrest journalists for walking on public streets.
The Police In Uvalde Are Obstructing And Criminalizing Journalism
The Republican political leadership in Texas has no desire to act to prevent the next mass shooting, and the police are not allowing the consequences of Texas’s gun laws to be shown to the public.
Journalists have a right to cover a story in public spaces. The United States has a free press, and what the police are doing is more like a cover-up than providing privacy for the families. A journalist standing on or walking on a sidewalk is not disturbing anyone.
Police have rallied around Uvalde and apparently don’t want the story of the second deadliest school shooting in US history to be told.
The situation in Uvalde is ugly because the government and the police are not being honest and transparent about their mistakes that may have gotten children killed.
The politicians and police in Uvalde must be investigated.
Mr. Easley is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association