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Rep. Ruben Gallego, an Iraq war veteran, called out several of his Congressional colleagues in a series of tweets expressing outrage and grief over the circumstances that led to the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school on Tuesday
Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona called GOP Texas Senator Ted Cruz a ‘f***ing baby killer’ in a series of Twitter posts on Tuesday night expressing his outrage and grief over the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas that killed at least 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School.
Gallego, an Iraq war veteran, raged at lawmakers who have stood in the way of recent federal gun reform legislation efforts after an 18-year-old gunman slaughtered nearly two dozen people and then reportedly was killed by law enforcment.
‘Just to be clear f*** you [Ted Cruz] you f***ing baby killer,’ Gallego tweeted.
Cruz told CNN after the shooting, ‘Inevitably when there’s a murder of this kind, you see politicians try to politicize it, you see Democrats and a lot of folks in the media whose immediate solution is to try to restrict the constitutional rights of law abiding citizens.’
‘We know from past experience that the most effective tool for keeping kids safe is armed law enforcement on the campus.’
He and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton themselves responded to the slaughter by reigniting right-wing calls to arm teachers and other school staff.
‘The reality is, we don’t have the resources to have law enforcement at every school,’ Paxton said on Fox News.
‘It takes time for law enforcement, no matter how prepared, no matter how good they are to get there. So, having the right training for some of these people at the school is the best hope.’
Gallego shared Cruz’s comments on Twitter, replying: ‘F*** you [Ted Cruz].’
‘You care about a fetus but you will let our children get slaughtered. Just get your ass to Cancun. You are useless,’ he said, referencing the Texas senator’s infamous but brief trip to Mexico while millions in his state were struggling with extreme cold during a power grid failure.
Gallego went after Texas Senator Ted Cruz in multiple tweets after the conservative accused Democrats of trying to politicize the tragedy
He called out Cruz with a reference to the Senator’s ill-advised trip to Cancun, Mexico when millions of people were out of power in his state amid record low temperatures
Cruz, along with Texas Governor Greg Abbott and former President Donald Trump, is slated to speak at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in Houston – less than 300 miles away from the site of the massacre.
‘F*** you, NRA,’ Gallego said on Tuesday night.
In response to California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa offering his ‘thoughts and prayers’ to the families of the victims, Gallego said: ‘F*** your prayers. They haven’t worked for the last 20 mass shootings how about passing laws that will stop these killings.’
While a majority of Republican lawmakers have long been against strict gun control legislation, Democrats’ efforts to pass such bills over the last year have also been hampered by moderate lawmakers within their own party.
Gallego called out one of them, Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema, for opposing a maneuver that would allow Democrats to pass gun control legislation with just their razor-thin majority in Congress.
‘We are horrified and heartbroken by the senseless tragedy unfolding at Robb Elementary School in Texas and grateful to the first responders for acting swiftly. No families should ever have to fear violence in their children’s schools,’ Sinema stated.
Gallego replied online: ‘Please just stop.’
He also criticized the National Rifle Association, which is hosting an event in Houston on Friday
He also criticized California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa over his offer of ‘thoughts and prayers’ while voting against gun control
Democrat Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s opposition to scuttling the filibuster and passing legislation with her party’s slim majority in Congress also earned backlash from Gallego
‘Unless you are willing to break the filibuster to actually pass sensible gun control measures you might as well just say “thoughts and prayers”,’ the progressive veteran said.
Paxton claimed in a Newsmax interview that federal gun reform was not the answer and that Democrats had a ‘political agenda of limiting guns in the hands of everybody, which makes no sense.’
‘We already have laws against killing people and this guy apparently didn’t care what the law was,’ the state attorney general said.
At least 19 children and two teachers were shot dead by gunman Salvador Ramos at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday.
‘We know what is effective, and it is targeting the fugitives and the felons and the bad guys,’ said Cruz.
‘But, as sure as night follows day, you can bet there [are] going to be Democrat politicians looking to advance their own political agenda rather than to work to stop this kind of horrific violence and to keep everyone safe.’
Cruz’s comments come after President Joe Biden called for action on gun control within hours of the massacre.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz accused Democrat politicians of using the Robb Elementary School massacre to advance their political agenda after at least 18 children and a teacher were shot to death at an elementary school in Uvalde
Cruz is set to speak at an event hosted by the National Rifle Association (NRA), a gun rights advocacy group, less than 72 hours after the school shooting. Donald Trump, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and US Representative Dan Crenshaw
But Cruz has himself come under fire after tweeting he was praying for the city of Uvalde after the mass shooting.
‘Heidi & I are fervently lifting up in prayer the children and families in the horrific shooting in Uvalde,’ he said. ‘We are in close contact with local officials, but the precise details are still unfolding. Thank you to heroic law enforcement & first responders for acting so swiftly.’
Many critics pointed out Cruz’ strong track record of opposing legislation intended to curb gun violence.
Shannon Watts, board member of Emerge America, a not-for-profit promoting Democrat women in politics, said: ‘After 16 people were killed in a hot air balloon in Lockhart, Texas, Ted Cruz authored and passed federal legislation improving safety rules.’
‘But after the shootings in El Paso and Santa Fe, he blamed mental illness for gun violence. Thank God there’s no hot air balloon lobby.’
The Texas Senator has repeatedly said that ‘restricting the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens’ to prevent mass shootings ‘doesn’t work’.
Cruz’ comments came as Biden announced it was time to impose gun restrictions, though he stopped short of detailing specific action.
US President Biden said shootings went down when the Clinton administration passed the assault weapons ban, with attacks tripling when the law expired
The US president said he was ‘sick and tired’ of the cyclical discussion, calling for voters to ‘turn this pain into action’ to prevent more mass killings.
‘The idea that an 18-year-old kid can walk into a gun store and buy two assault weapons is just wrong,’ said Joe Biden, addressing the country on Tuesday night.
Biden said shootings went down when the Clinton administration passed the assault weapons ban, with shootings tripling when the law expired, reported the Washington Post.
In 1994, then-president Bill Clinton signed into law the ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, defined as those that could hold more than 10 rounds.
The bill was in place for a decade until President George W. Bush let it expire, but the US Department of Justice found its impact on shootings was mixed, despite Biden’s claim of its effectiveness.
Assault weapons account for 24.6 per cent of public mass shootings, according to Northeastern University professor James Alan Fox.
He later added: ‘I had hoped, when I became president, I would not have to do this. Again. Another massacre.’
The president then accused gun makers of spending decades aggressively marketing assault weapons.
The shooting was the deadliest such incident since 14 high school students and three adult staff were killed in Parkland, Florida in 2018 – and the worst at an elementary school since the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in Connecticut, in which 20 children and six staff were killed.
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