One hundred twenty-six days after the deadliest school shooting in Texas history submerged his town in grief, Brett Cross began sleeping in front of the Uvalde school district’s administration building. Uncle and guardian to one of the 19 children lost on May 24 at Robb Elementary, Cross announced he wasn’t leaving until the district suspended its five-person police force—a fraction of the 376 officers who wasted 70-plus minutes in the botched response to the killing. Cross met two days later with Uvalde Superintendent Hal Harrell, who swore he couldn’t spare the district’s officers. Harrell then condemned Cross, and others who joined him during the days, writing in a letter: “We do not condone this group’s behavior and are seeking an end to the disruption,” while the district also started installing a fence on site.
Cross, updating his 35,000 Twitter followers regularly, refused to back down. And eight days in, he caught a break: CNN revealed the school police department had hired an ex-state trooper under investigation for her role in May 24’s lackadaisical police response. The trooper was even caught on film saying she would have acted more bravely had her own child been in the school. The story sparked more supporters to join Cross and, on October 7, Harrell suddenly found he could suspend the district police department after all. Then, Harrell—who’d worked three decades in the district and whose father had been superintendent too—announced his retirement. Cross declared victory and, at last, went home.
“With the help of media everywhere we pushed and pushed. … From day one this has been about accountability and transparency,” Cross wrote. “Our children deserve it. We deserve it. We will move forward into the next battle, as this war has no end in sight.”
