Foundation Denounces Uvalde Acquittal As "Betrayal Of Children"
- null null
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Youth Peace and Justice Foundation Denounces Uvalde Acquittal as a Moral Collapse and Betrayal of Children
UVALDE, Texas
Jan. 21, 2026
The Youth Peace and Justice Foundation, also known as The Uvalde Foundation for Kids, issued an urgent and forceful condemnation Wednesday following the acquittal of former Uvalde school police officer Adrian Gonzales, calling the verdict “a gut-wrenching failure of accountability and a betrayal of every child this system is supposed to protect.”
“This decision did not bring justice. It erased responsibility,” the Foundation said in a statement released hours after the verdict. “A jury has now said, in effect, that when children are being slaughtered, duty can be delayed, hesitation can be excused, and inaction carries no consequence. That is a dangerous and unforgivable message.”
Gonzales was found not guilty on all 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment stemming from his response to the May 24, 2022, shooting at Robb Elementary School, where 19 children and two educators were killed.
The Youth Peace and Justice Foundation was formed in Texas in the immediate aftermath of the Uvalde massacre. It was the first education-focused national foundation formed following the shooting created in direct response to the shooting, born not from politics or publicity, but from grief, urgency, and a refusal to accept “this is just how it is” as an answer.
Its founders include community members and advocates who watched the response in Uvalde unfold in real time — and understood instantly that systemic failure, not just a single gunman, had taken children’s lives.
“This case was never about punishing grief or misdirecting blame,” the Foundation said. “It was about whether the word *duty* still has meaning when the lives at stake belong to children. Today, that word was hollowed out.”
Prosecutors argued that Gonzales failed to follow his training despite knowledge of active gunfire, as minutes stretched into more than an hour before the shooter was finally confronted.
During that time, teachers shielded students with their own bodies. Children whispered goodbyes. Children tried to comfort one another. Yet the legal system has now determined that no individual failure within that response rises to criminal accountability.
“What the law may allow and what justice requires are not always the same,” the Foundation said. “Tonight, families are being asked to accept that no one is responsible for standing still while children bled. That is an answer no parent, no survivor, and no conscience can accept.”
The Foundation rejected arguments that responsibility ends with the death of the shooter.
“The gunman is dead. The children are dead. The trauma is permanent,” the statement said. “But institutions remain intact, protected, and uncorrected. When accountability stops at the trigger pull, the next failure is already being scheduled.”
The Foundation also addressed the broader implications of the verdict.
“This ruling does not stay in Uvalde,” the statement said. “It travels to every school hallway, every future emergency, every officer making a split-second decision about whether to act or wait. It lowers the standard — and children will pay the price for that.”
As the trial of former Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo remains pending, the Youth Peace and Justice Foundation called for renewed national resolve.
“We were founded because children deserved better than excuses,” the statement concluded. “We were the first education-focused foundation to rise from the ashes of Uvalde, and we will not soften our voice now. Justice does not mean everyone feels comfortable. It means the truth is faced, the failures are named, and children are finally put first — not in words, but in action.”
About the Youth Peace and Justice Foundation (The Uvalde Foundation for Kids)
Founded in Texas immediately following the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, the Youth Peace and Justice Foundation is a national nonprofit dedicated to youth safety, accountability in school and emergency response systems, and justice-driven reform. The Foundation was the first education-focused organization formed in direct response to the Uvalde tragedy and continues to advocate for uncompromising standards that place children’s lives above institutional protection.
Youth Peace and Justice Foundation
Uvalde Foundation For Kids
254-499-8027
www.theuvaldefoundation.com
Charity ID 88-3268749
Most Current News:
Foundation Collaborates with American Ballet Studio To Create Scholarship Following Shooting Death Of Promising NY Ballerina:
