Houston police chief blasts Mitch McConnell after shooting death of officer
As the city of Houston mourns a fallen officer, its police chief has called out U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other Republican legislators regarding gun violence.
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo told reporters Monday that McConnell and Texas senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz have bowed to the National Rifle Association rather than approve a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
Sgt. Christopher Brewster was shot and killed Saturday, while responding to a domestic violence call.
“The NRA doesn’t like the fact that we want to take firearms out of the hands of boyfriends that abuse their girlfriends,” Acevedo said. “And who killed our sergeant? A boyfriend abusing his girlfriend. So you’re either here for women and children and our daughters and our sisters and our aunts, or you’re here for the NRA.
“So I don’t want to see their little smug faces about how much they care about law enforcement when I’m burying a sergeant because they don’t want to piss off the NRA.”
The Violence Against Women bill has stalled in the Senate, partly because of a provision that would tighten restrictions on gun ownership by dating partners convicted of abuse or who are under a restraining order, the so-called “boyfriend loophole.”
The Houston Chronicle reported that the suspect in Brewster’s shooting, Arturo Solis, should not have been able to legally buy a gun anyway because of a prior conviction.
“Who are you coming to work for?” Acevedo asked. “You brag about every piece of legislation you care about. Start caring about cops, children and women and everyday gun violence.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 10:45 PM.
