Pete Arredondo won’t attend school board meeting where his fate as Uvalde school police chief may be decided

“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,” the statement concludes.

The meeting started with comments from members of the public, some of whom called for Arredondo, who is on unpaid leave, to turn in his badge.

The board members said Texas law requires for the hearing on the chief’s employment status to be held in closed session. An agenda for the meeting says the board will return to open session for “discussion and possible action.”

In his statement for Arredondo, Hyde says the chief was not notified between June 22 and July 19 of a school district investigation and was not asked to participate or give a statement.

“The district cannot withhold its information for months, present only that which they find supports the Superintendent, and then disclose it without a reasonable opportunity to review it, and the opportunity to discover impeachment or optional completeness evidence.”

Report described ‘lackadaisical approach’ by law enforcement

The 77-page report described “an overall lackadaisical approach” by the 376 local, state and federal law enforcement officers who responded and were at the school.

“There is no one to whom we can attribute malice or ill motives,” the report says. “Instead, we found systemic failures and egregious poor decision making.”

The report also notes others could have assumed command. Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training “teaches that any law enforcement officer can assume command, that somebody must assume command, and that an incident commander can transfer responsibility as an incident develops,” it says.

“That did not happen at Robb Elementary, and the lack of effective incident command is a major factor that caused other vital measures to be left undone,” according to the report.

In the wake of sharp criticism, Uvalde school district Superintendent Hal Harrell placed Arredondo — who has been the school district police chief since March 2020 — on leave from his position as school police chief on June 22.

‘Too little, too late’

At a meeting Monday night, the school board met to review parents’ complaints calling for the superintendent’s removal. The board passed a motion that, in part, requires the superintendent to provide to the board names or organizations that could review the district’s administrative practices about accountability.

“Come out Wednesday,” Cross said as he and others left Monday’s meeting. “I’m f**king tired of this bulls**t.”