[Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin] said he agreed the video “needed to be released,” but he complained about the Statesman’s edits to the footage and said the victims families should’ve been the first to see the footage when the city intended to release it.
“That was the most chicken way to put this video out,” McLaughlin said. “Two-thirds of the family or part of their families are in Washington, DC, now, and they’re going to have to turn on the TV and see that tonight? Not even with the rest of their family? This was wrong to do it this way.”
After McLaughlin finished his comments, another member of the council, who Insider identified as Ernest King, took over and added “The mayor said it was chicken, it was chickensh*t to release that video the way you did it. That part of the video was not supposed to be in what they’re doing on Sunday.”
“That was not supposed to be there,” he said. “They did that for ratings, and they did that for money. That’s the only reason they put it out there.”
“What about the cops? Are they chickensh*t?” An audience member asked.
“We’re gonna handle that,” King replied.
“You said that they did their job,” the audience member continued, “Do you still think they did a good job?”
McLaughlin got in to say the investigation ought to proceed, but the audience member told him “You’re out here attacking the media. You should be attacking the cops.” Another attendee agreed, saying “Yeah, you should be attacking the cops that did nothing.”
— Ken Meyer in ‘What About the Cops? Are They Chickensh*T?’ Uvalde Residents Slam City Council Whining About Media Releasing Police Vid
