Atty for FIRED Uvalde police chief slams ‘illegal and unconstitutional public lynching’, says client won’t participate

As the school board in Uvalde, Texas, voted to terminate its contract with its widely criticized police chief, the attorney for fired Pete Arredondo issued a 17-page statement in which he announced that his client “will not participate in his own illegal and unconstitutional public lynching.”

It has been three months since a crazed teenager entered Robb Elementary School and slaughtered 19 children and two teachers, and, as American Wire reported in July, Police Chief Arredondo has been at the center of a storm of outrage over what appeared to all as an agonizingly slow response while the gunman was barricaded in a fourth-grade classroom.

On Wednesday, the Uvalde school board voted unanimously in a closed session meeting that lasted nearly 90 minutes to terminate Arredondo’s contract, CNN reports.

Neither Arredondo nor his lawyer, George Hyde, were in attendance.

In the lengthy statement — provided less than an hour before the board meeting began — Hyde argued that the district had failed to follow legal procedure in their termination of his client’s contract and contended that “no blame should be placed on Chief Arredondo from this event.”

“None of his decisions or actions demonstrate a failure to meet the accepted standards of conduct for law enforcement officers in similarly situated school districts in Texas,” the statement read.

Hyde called the firing “unconstitutional” and urged the school board to reinstate his client.

“Chief Arredondo will not participate in his own illegal and unconstitutional public lynching and respectfully requests the Board immediately reinstate him, with all backpay and benefits and close the complaint as unfounded,” he wrote.

According to the statement, Arredondo “has been the victim of death threats made by individuals with the means to carry them out,” and the school district has done nothing to protect the Chief of Police.

Wrote Hyde, “the School District has not disclosed any effort on its part to ensure the safety of Chief Arredondo, his legal counsel, or any of the pubic [sic] in attendance under such tense circumstances.”

“Without such steps, Chief Arredondo does not believe the planned district meeting is safe and is certainly not going to appear without exercising his state rights to be armed, unless the School District discloses in writing its safety protocol to ensure Chief Arredondo’s life and the lives of those in attendance, including both the Board, its Superintendent, and the media,” the statement read.

Arredondo’s termination is effective immediately, and on Twitter, one can almost hear the celebratory cheers.

“My heart goes out to Uvalde families, students, and community for the unimaginable horror and losses they’ve suffered, and for the appalling disrespect, lack of transparency, and lack of support & compassion they’ve endured,” wrote one user. “At least—after months—a speck of justice in this firing.”

“They should have fired him that day,” remarked another. “Now he needs to go to prison for 21 counts of manslaughter.”

“Arredondo’s letter shows how aggrieved his ego is—that he did everything right,” noted a third. “Waiting 77 minutes was wrong. Not knowing that teachers and children lay shot, bleeding, and calling for help was wrong.”

“He blamed so many for his failures,” the user stated, “but the ‘Chief’ title was his alone.”

Melissa Fine

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