The father of an Uvalde school shooting victim has demanded right-wing lawmakers not mention the names of the children killed on the anniversary of the tragedy.
“I don’t want a single politician who figuratively spit in our faces to mention Uvalde or our kids tomorrow,” Brett Cross, the guardian of 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia, wrote on Twitter.
He specifically called out Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, Governor Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, a host of state and federal lawmakers and law enforcement officers.
“From the bottom of my heart. F*** all of you,” Mr Cross wrote.
The Uvalde community is still seeking accountability for the mass shooting that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers inside a 4th grade classroom at Robb Elementary School on 24 May last year.
A criminal investigation into the botched law enforcement response to the shooting is still ongoing, leaving many unanswered questions for the grieving families.
Five officers under investigation for their role in the shooting response have resigned or been fired, according to the Associated Press.
And victims’ parents say they feel frustrated over the lack of transparency from authorities in Uvalde.
Mr Cross wrote on Twitter that the last time he had seen Uzi was on 10pm the night before he was killed.
“I told him to go to bed, ruffled his hair and told him I loved him. I didn’t see him on the 24th as I left for work before the kids got up for school,” Mr Cross wrote on Tuesday night.
He said he had been “haunted” for the past year by not knowing what Uzi had been wearing when he was killed.
“A year today since I heard his voice, heard him say I love you, heard him bound up the stairs. A year since I saw his contagious smile,” he wrote.
“I’m trying so hard not to break today. I know that life isn’t fair, but the fact is, it’s down right cruel. I hate this life with out him. I hate this world with out him.”
By 9.30am on Wednesday, Mr Cruz had posted tweets promoting his latest podcast episode and an interview on Fox News on Tuesday night, but made no mention of the anniversary of the deadliest school shooting in Texas history.
Mr Abbott and Mr Patrick were also conspicuously silent about the Uvalde anniversary on Wednesday morning.
Beto O’Rourke, who ran for the governorship last year, retweeted several family tributes to the victims early on Wednesday.
“Sending love to the families in Uvalde today and every day,” he wrote.
