In the month since the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, video footage and law enforcement transcripts have shown how the town’s police force failed to properly respond when timing was most crucial. Nineteen children and two teachers were found dead by the time they stormed the Robb Elementary School classrooms. Since May 24, the police department has found troubling ways to explain why it took responders 77 minutes to intervene, despite being armed and shielded.
“What else were they waiting for, the invincible star from Mario?” posed “Daily Show” Trevor Noah on Tuesday. “Get the f— in the room! How did they not go in? They didn’t even try to get in the classroom. They didn’t even try!”
Noah said the response is particularly “insane” when he considers how he’s seen police respond to far more minor incidents in the past.
“The one time it would have been appropriate to go in guns blazing, the cops decide to have a picnic outside,” he said, “But if you’re Black or have a broken taillight, then all of a sudden they go all Rambo on your a–.”
Noah took the Uvalde police department further to task, saying that the lack of response paired with their continued efforts to muddy the truth behind their inaction is just “another reminder” that Americans shouldn’t always trust the police.
“You can’t just trust what the police say,” the host said. “This is one of the clearest reminders. Yes, they’re police; yes, you respect them. But it doesn’t mean that you just trust every single thing that they say after an incident. Journalist shouldn’t be reporting what the police said, they should be investigating what actually happened.”
He continued through the studio audience’s applause: “Time and time again, we learn that cops in America basically use the same principle as toddlers: They’ll tell the truth, but only if it doesn’t get them in trouble.”
