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Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz was heavily criticized after suggesting—following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas—schools would be safer if there were fewer exits and if more armed officers were stationed in school buildings.
19 children and two teachers died during the shooting and an increased police presence at the school had not deterred the shooter one bit–but that didn't stop Cruz from continuing to espouse conservative talking points about how militarizing more officers could prevent further shootings.
Cruz, speaking on Fox News, also did not appear to comprehend the fact cutting down the number of exits in a school building would pose an even greater safety risk, as well as a significant fire hazard.
You can hear what Cruz said in the video below.
\u201cOutside the school, Ted says the massacre only happened because a back door at the school was unlocked.\u201d— Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1653520350
Cruz said:
“One of the things that everyone agreed is don’t have all of these unlocked back doors. Have one door into and out of the school and have ... armed police officers at that door."
"If that had happened, if those federal grants had gone to this school, when that psychopath arrived, the armed police officers could have taken him out."
"And we'd have 19 children and two teachers still alive.”
Cruz went on to accuse Democrats of "empty political posturing," dismissing calls for comprehensive gun control measures.
These remarks angered many who mocked Cruz's suggestions.
\u201cTed Cruz is right, it\u2019s the doors, a uniquely American phenomenon. Other countries don\u2019t have mass shooting because they must not have doors.\u201d— Brian Tyler Cohen (@Brian Tyler Cohen) 1653534160
\u201cAll those doors and the police still waited to go in, huh @tedcruz?\u201d— John Pavlovitz (@John Pavlovitz) 1653586199
\u201cGuns are killing children and Ted Cruz is waging war on doors.\u201d— The Good Liars (@The Good Liars) 1653521907
\u201cSo @tedcruz says the solution to the epidemic of mass shootings in America is to ban all back doors.\u201d— Katie S. Phang (@Katie S. Phang) 1653523394
\u201cWould @tedcruz please provide data on how doors are preventing school shootings in other countries? Cause we have the data on guns and it is, well, striking.\u201d— pumping in the pick-up line (@pumping in the pick-up line) 1653601583
\u201cChild murderer enabler Ted Cruz blames doors for gun massacre &suggests changing architecture of school buildings to make it more difficult for shooters to navigate\n\nNo matter how much I hate Cruz he can always do things to make me hate him more\n\n#AbbottCruzMassacre #ProLifeMyAss\u201d— Alicia Smith \ud83d\udc99\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a #FBR (@Alicia Smith \ud83d\udc99\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a #FBR) 1653548861
\u201cTed Cruz\u2019s solution is about doors. Wow.\u201d— George Hahn (@George Hahn) 1653576704
\u201c#wtpBLUE #FreshResists\n.\nTops Market in Buffalo only had 1 door.\n.\nTops Market had an armed guard.\n.\nShooter still killed 10 people because he had a bullet proof vest & an AR-15. \n.\nThe solution is obvious:\n#BanAssaultWeaponsNow!\nhttps://t.co/0B7AhfNH7J\u201d— LongTime\ud83e\udd13FirstTime\ud83d\udc69\u200d\ud83d\udcbb (@LongTime\ud83e\udd13FirstTime\ud83d\udc69\u200d\ud83d\udcbb) 1653578349
\u201cTed Cruz wouldn\u2019t be betting his kids\u2019 safety on locked doors if they were in a public school rather than the cloistered little snobbery of their private school.\u201d— The Hoarse Whisperer (@The Hoarse Whisperer) 1653618241
\u201cThis Memorial Day, remember Senator Ted Cruz chose doors and dollars from The NRA over the lives of elementary school children.\n\nPass it along.\n\n#thursdayvibes\n#Cowards #AbbottCruzMassacre\u201d— StandForBetter.org (@StandForBetter.org) 1653579414
19 children and two adults died during the shooting, which took place at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas early yesterday morning. The mass shooting was the second deadliest school shooting after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.
Authorities identified the shooter as an 18-year-old male who was a resident of Uvalde and a student at Uvalde High School. He purchased two semi-automatic rifles through a local gun store last week, just days after his birthday.
The shooting took place just a week after a mass shooting that occurred at a Buffalo, New York supermarket. 10 people died during that attack and three others were injured. Most of the victims were Black.
The shooter subscribed to the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory often touted by Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, which states White European populations and their descendants are being demographically and culturally replaced with non-European peoples.