The Radios Didn't Work

I've been watching this trial for six days now. And every single day, the prosecution calls a witness to prove Adrian Gonzales failed those children. And every single day, the defense turns that witness into proof that the system failed first.

Today was no different. The state called the 911 communication supervisor from Uvalde PD. Her job was to authenticate the dispatch recordings. Simple witness. Quick testimony. Move on to the next one.

Except defense attorney Gary Hillyard had questions.

15 Minutes of Silence

She admitted that during the massacre, an open mic blocked radio communications for approximately 15 minutes. One of the longest open mics her colleague had ever experienced. That means for 15 minutes, no one could confirm they received critical information. The dispatcher said she "tried and tried" to relay what 911 callers were reporting. Children inside those classrooms were calling for help. And she couldn't confirm a single officer heard her.

Think about that. The prosecution wants to convict Adrian Gonzales for failing to act. But the dispatcher just testified that the communication system was broken. Officers couldn't confirm they received vital information. The 911 calls from children inside those classrooms were being relayed into a void.

The Dead Zones

It gets worse. The defense established that radios don't work properly inside Uvalde schools. Not just Robb Elementary. All of them. Officers have to leave the building to transmit. To call for backup. To call for SWAT.

Hillyard connected the dots directly: "If I've gone into the building, I can't break. I need to leave in order to call for backup. I need to leave in order to call for SWAT. Like Adrian did."

Like Adrian did.

The prosecution's theory is that Gonzales failed to engage, distract, or delay the shooter. But if officers inside the school couldn't communicate with dispatch, couldn't call for backup, couldn't coordinate a response, then what exactly was the plan supposed to be? Run in alone with a handgun against an AR-15 with no ability to call for help?

Systemic Failure Is Not Individual Failure

My father spent 23 years as a criminal defense attorney. He taught me that the system loves to find a scapegoat when things go wrong. It's easier to blame one person than to admit the entire machine is broken.

Nearly 400 officers responded to Robb Elementary that day. The DOJ report called it a "catastrophic failure at every level." Radio systems that didn't work inside schools. An open mic that blocked communication for 15 minutes. No one in command. No one making decisions. A response that treated an active shooter like a barricaded subject.

And out of all that systemic collapse, two officers face charges. Two.

Adrian Gonzales is not the monster who walked into that school and murdered 21 people. He's a school district police officer who responded to a call and found himself in the middle of institutional chaos. The radios didn't work. The chain of command didn't exist. The active shooter protocols that everyone trained on weren't being followed by anyone.

You want to charge someone? Charge the system. Charge the decades of underfunding. Charge the administrators who knew radios didn't work in schools and never fixed it. Charge whoever was supposed to be running the response and wasn't.

But that's not how this works. The families need someone to blame. The community needs closure. And Adrian Gonzales is sitting in that courtroom because he was the first one there.

▶️ WATCH NOW 911 Supervisor Reveals Officers Couldn't Hear Critical Information During Uvalde Massacre

I'm not saying Adrian Gonzales made all the right decisions that day. I wasn't there. Neither were you. But I am saying that charging one officer with 29 counts of child endangerment while the entire system that was supposed to protect those children collapsed around him is not justice.

It's convenience.

The prosecution has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Gonzales personally endangered those children. Today, their own witness revealed that the communication system was broken before he ever made a single decision. That the radios didn't work inside the school. That no one could confirm anyone received critical information for 15 minutes.

That's not proof of individual failure. That's proof the system was designed to fail.

And if you can't separate the two, you can't convict.