Police chief slams Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell for ‘caring more about NRA than protecting cops’

The top cop in Houston, Texas, blasted senators Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell and others for their support of the National Rifle Association after he had to confront the reality of losing an officer to gun violence.

Houston Police Chief Art Acevado made his upset known on Monday after the loss of Sergeant Christopher Brewster, 32, who was fatally shot on Saturday.

The chief said he did not want to see their ‘smug little faces’, referring to Cruz and McConnell, both Republicans representing Texas and Kentucky, respectively, and others in support of law enforcement after the officer was gunned down. 

His comments also were specifically directed at John Cornyn, another Republican and senator from Texas. 

  

Houston Police Chief Art Acevado made his upset known on Monday over the loss of Sergeant Christopher Brewster, 32, who was fatally shot on Saturday

Brewster died while responding to a 911 call of a woman who said her boyfriend was assaulting her and was armed with two firearms

Brewster died while responding to a 911 call of a woman who said her boyfriend was assaulting her and was armed with two firearms

Authorities charged 25-year-old Arturo Solis with capital murder for the officer's slaying

Authorities charged 25-year-old Arturo Solis with capital murder for the officer’s slaying

Brewster died while responding to a 911 call of a woman who said her boyfriend was assaulting her and was armed with two firearms. 

Authorities charged 25-year-old Arturo Solis with capital murder for the officer’s slaying. 

Acevado said that lawmakers should reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, to prevent future violence. But he said they haven’t engaged in discussions to bring back the law ‘because the NRA doesn’t like the fact that we want to take firearms out of the hands of boyfriends that abuse their girlfriends’.

‘And who killed our sergeant? A boyfriend abusing his girlfriend. So you’re either here for women and children and our daughters and our sisters and our aunts, or you’re here for the NRA,’ he said. ‘So I don’t want to see their little smug faces about how much they care about law enforcement when I’m burying a sergeant because they don’t want to p**s off the NRA’.

‘Make up your minds, who side are you on?’ the chief asked. ‘Gun manufacturers, the gun lobby, or the children that are getting gunned down in this country every single day’.

The law, first enacted in 1994, provides funding to groups that work on sexual assault and domestic violence issues and prevention. Its reauthorization, however, has stalled in Congress. The law lapsed this year. 

Democrats, who did not want to extend it, preferred passing a reauthorization for another five years instead. 

A more bipartisan version with support from senators Dianne Feinstein of California, a Democrat, and Republican Joni Ernst of Iowa, remains idle after talks broke down.

Last month, Ernst introduced her own version of the law, which extends the act by 10 years. Feinstein also has introduced a Senate version of the House bill.

McConnell did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was blasted by the chief of police in Houston, Texas, for his support of the National Rifle Association

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was blasted by the chief of police in Houston, Texas, for his support of the National Rifle Association

Texas Senator Ted Cruz also drew criticism for backing the NRA from Houston Police Chief Art Acevado

Texas Senator Ted Cruz also drew criticism for backing the NRA from Houston Police Chief Art Acevado

A spokesman for Cruz told CNN the congressman ‘is currently reviewing Violence Against Women Act legislation in the Senate.’ 

Cornyn’s office told the news outlet that Democrats were to blame for delayed action on the law.

‘The Violence Against Women Act is still fully funded despite what the chief implied,’ Cornyn’s office said in an email. 

Houston Police Chief Art Acevado also directed his comments specifically at John Cornyn, another Republican and senator from Texas

Houston Police Chief Art Acevado also directed his comments specifically at John Cornyn, another Republican and senator from Texas

The email adds that the chief ‘got it backwards’.

‘Democrats in D.C. walked away from negotiations and that’s when it fell apart.’

The email also notes remarks made by Cornyn last month in which he said Democrats ‘took the easy way out and simply walked away and introduced their own partisan reauthorization, one that they know has no chance of passing.’

‘Despite the games being played here, my Republican colleagues and I are working to put in the hard work that it takes to actually accomplish something and legislate,’ he said at the time.

Chief Acevado at the news conference criticized partisan politics in a reference to the impeachment process underway against President Donald Trump. 

‘You brag about every piece of legislation you care about,’ he said. ‘Start caring about cops, children, and women and every day gun violence’.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk