O’Rourke interrupts Abbot’s press conference: ‘You are doing nothing’ [Video]

• Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke interrupted a press conference on the Uvalde school shooting and accused Texas officials of “doing nothing.”
• O’Rourke approached the stage and yelled, “You are offering up nothing.”
• O’Rourke called on everyone to stand up and do something to prevent another massacre.

A press conference on the Uvalde, Texas, elementary school mass shooting was interrupted by Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke (D), who accused Texas officials of “doing nothing.”

The conference, which was attended by several Texas officials, was conducted after the deadly shooting claimed the lives of 19 kids and at least 2 adults.

O’Rourke, who had been highly critical of Gov. Greg Abbott’s support of gun rights, is challenging him for the governor’s seat.

Just as Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick was about to speak on stage, O’Rourke approached and yelled, “You are doing nothing. You are offering up nothing. You said this was not predictable. This was totally predictable when you choose not to do anything.”

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) told O’Rourke to “sit down,” while Patrick said, “You are out of line and an embarrassment.”

Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin called O’Rourke a “sick son of a b****” and accused him of coming to the conference to make it “a political issue.”

As O’Rourke was being escorted out of the auditorium, he turned toward the Texas officials again and yelled, “This is on you.” To which McLaughlin replied, “It’s on a**h**** like you, why don’t you get out of here?”

After O’Rourke exited the building, Abbott stated, “There’s no words anybody shouting can come up here — and do anything — to heal those broken hearts.”

Outside the auditorium, O’Rourke called on “all Texans of good conscience,” whatever political party they may support, “to stand up right now for yourself, for your kids, for our families, and to stop the next shooting just like this one.”

He called on all Americans to “do something right now,” adding, “If we continue to accept this, it is on us. It’s not just the governor’s fault, it is on us. I’m not going to accept it, so I’m here, I’m calling attention to it.”

O’Rourke declared, “We could have stopped this if we had stood up after Santa Fe high school, if we had stood up after El Paso. We’re gonna stop the next one.”

The former Texas congressman is from El Paso, Texas, where a 2019 shooting killed 23 people and injured 23 others.

Following the El Paso shooting, Abbott pledged to “do everything we can to make sure a crime like this doesn’t happen again.” But he and other Texas lawmakers later loosened gun laws in the state, including passing legislation that allows people to carry concealed handguns without a permit.

Source: Axios