2 years ago
UVALDE, Texas — A tearful President Joe Biden paid his respects to this grieving city Sunday, comforting family members mourning the loss of 19 children and two adults as well as those who survived the elementary school massacre. He and the first lady placed a bouquet of white flowers at a memorial just outside the site of the shooting.
On the eve of the anniversary of the death of his own son, Beau, from cancer, the trip came just less than two weeks after Biden made a similar visit to Buffalo, N.Y., where 10 people were gunned down by a racist gunman at a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood.
Biden’s grief in Texas was apparent behind his aviators as he embraced Robb Elementary School principal Mandy Gutierrez. At one point, he wiped away a tear.
Some community members responded to the visit by expressing their anguish over their loss, as well as their anger over the nation’s lack of gun control measures. As Biden departed Mass at a Catholic church, the crowd outside chanted, “Do something!” The president, entering his limousine, responded, “We will.”
Earlier as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott joined Biden and the first lady at the memorial outside the elementary school, a man could be heard loudly pleading, “We need help!”
At the memorial outside Robb Elementary School, 21 white crosses bore the victims’ names. They were surrounded by bouquets, candles, stuffed animals, photos, and softballs. The Bidens walked along the memorial, where white flowers surrounded photos of those lost in the shooting.
During the service at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller called for all the children in the sanctuary to come up to the altar.
“They passed away, but you are alive,” Garcia-Siller told them. “And for all of us here, I truly believe that you will help us to rebuild.”
The same day, the Justice Department announced it would investigate the local law enforcement’s response to the attack. Questions and criticism around how the police handled the tragedy have mounted in recent days. Biden was scheduled to meet behind closed doors with first responders in Uvalde.
Biden offered no remarks to the press during his stops. But just the day prior, he reminded the eager graduates of his alma mater, the University of Delaware, of the “far too many places where innocents have died,” pointing to Texas and New York. He previewed his Sunday trip, saying, “As I speak, those parents are literally preparing to bury their children in the United States of America — to bury their children.”
“We cannot outlaw tragedy, I know, but we can make America safer,” Biden said. “We can finally do what we have to do to protect the lives of the people and of our children. So I call on all Americans this hour to join hands and make your voices heard and work together to make this nation what it can and should be. I know we can do this. We have done it before.”
A number of the president’s top staff joined him on the trip, among them senior adviser Mike Donilon, deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed, Oval Office operations director Annie Tomasini, director of communications Kate Bedingfield, and press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
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