HOUSTON – Houston police Chief Art Acevedo admitted his emotional remarks about gun control may not have been perfectly timed, but he maintains that they were justified.
On Monday, Acevedo said politicians seem unwilling to make meaningful change to gun laws which he insinuated may have been able to prevent the death of Sgt. Christopher Brewster. Investigators have said Brewster was gunned down Saturday evening while confronting a suspect in an earlier domestic violence incident.
Union leaders called Acevedo’s remarks just before police escorted Brewster’s body to a funeral home “offensive and inappropriate.”
“The last few days have been very emotional for our department,” Acevedo said during a news conference Tuesday about arrests made in an anti-gang operation. “My emotions got the best of me yesterday. You know, I’m not sure it was the time, but I had a lot of anger and that anger is still here.”
Acevedo said the anger stems from what he knows about Brewster’s actions after the sergeant had been mortally wounded, and the lack of common sense from both sides of the political aisle when it comes to acting on gun legislation.
“A 32-year-old man should not be dead, and it’s not just him,” Acevedo said as he held back tears. “It’s every day in this country. If you don’t understand the emotion, then check your pulse, because you don’t understand me or you don’t understand this profession.”
However, Acevedo’s admission of his emotions didn’t stop him from reiterating the points he made Monday. He said law enforcement officers are stuck in the middle of two extremes when it comes to gun control.
“The extreme on the left, where it seems everybody has fallen in love with coddling violent criminals, and on the right where we’re more focused on guns and gun rights than taking out the emotion and using our common sense,” Acevedo said. “We’ve lost common sense.”
Acevedo said that he will continue to advocate for sensible gun laws, and he’s confident progress can be made.
“I think that when we have these conversations in the upcoming year, I’m very hopeful that when we take out the emotion, all of us on whatever side of the issues you’re at, and we utilize our intellect and our humanity, there’s hope,” Acevedo said. “There’s hope of progress.”