At a news conference on Monday, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo made national headlines for calling out Sen. John Cornyn and other Republicans for not passing the Violence Against Women Act.
Days prior, one of Acevedo’s men, Sgt. Christopher Brewster, was killed in the line of duty after responding to a call from a female victim whose boyfriend, armed, has assaulted her.
“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 piss off the NRA. Make up your minds,” Acevedo said.
One of Cornyn’s Democratic challengers, state senator Royce West of Dallas, weighed in Tuesday.
“I will vote immediately to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act,” West said in a statement. “When I am your U.S. Senator, I will sit down with my counterparts, and we will get things done. I have a long record of working in rooms just like Chief Acevedo was talking about to get things done.”
“The NRA doesn’t own me,” he added. “They never have and they never will.”
Cornyn has twice voted against the Violence Against Women Act. This year, opposition to the VAWA stems from the National Rifle Association, which is fighting a new measure allowing police to take guns from abusers.
Cornyn received an A+ rating from the NRA during his last election.
