It has been nearly a month since 19 children and two adults were ruthlessly shot and killed by 18-year-old Salvador Ramos at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde County, Texas, and we still don’t know nearly as much about what went wrong with the police response as we should at this point.

In fact, NPR recently reported that “Uvalde city officials are using a legal loophole and several other broad exemptions in Texas to prevent the release of police records related to last month’s mass shooting,” and stories like this are why the #UvaldeCoverup hashtag is trending on Twitter as citizens are outraged at the idea of law enforcement covering for police negligence by misleading the public or withholding any information that makes cops look bad.

BREAKING: Multiple officers were inside Robb Elementary School with rifles and at least one ballistic shield at 11:52 a.m. the day of the shooting, new video and other evidence shows. They didn’t enter the classroom for another 58 minutes. More soon via @statesman and @KVUE. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/0BcYgq2hcQ

— Tony Plohetski (@tplohetski) June 20, 2022

Imagine your child being killed in that school, and then the city using your tax dollars to hire a firm to prevent you from finding out the details of why they did nothing for 77 minutes they are shameless. #UvaldeCoverUp

— this_is_me_manuel @instagram (@manueltampico) June 20, 2022

A City Hall that is closed to city Residents and press is not a functioning government. #UvaldeCoverUp https://t.co/FGDXCxWn7k

— Old Woman Seeking Justice (@GrownRoom) June 20, 2022

The officers who responded to the Uvalde school shooting had a door-breaching tool available but waited for keys: report https://t.co/lEdWy9FT1X I REALLY DON’T KNOW HOW THEY FACE THE REST OF THEIR LIFE IN PUBLIC, THEY ARE COWARDS! #morningjoe #UvaldeCoverUp

— d hartley (@donthebear) June 21, 2022

Release the tapes.
Release the tapes.
Release the tapes.
Release the tapes.
Release the tapes.
Release the tapes.
Release the tapes.
Release the tapes.
Release the tapes.
Release the tapes.
Release the tapes.
Release the tapes. #Uvalde #UvaldePolice #UvaldeCoverUp pic.twitter.com/oymQDEJyJ8

— m (@_m767m_) June 19, 2022

Meanwhile, Black people in America seemingly have one unified response to all of this condemnation of law enforcement and their apparent refusal to be forthcoming: We told you so.

The thing about the #UvaldeCoverup is how alot of the police actions aren’t new. They’re tried and true. Black People have been shouting about this for decades. What kaepernick kneel for. what defund the police is about. Accountability. This isn’t new.. this is what they do

— Gamernisto (@gamernisto_gwr) June 21, 2022

The thing is, it’s likely that far too many Black people get frustrated when stories like this suddenly become all the literal rage because we were calling out cops long before it was popular to do so. We were alone in our protests against police violence and misconduct back when it was taboo to criticize the boys in blue—our “fearless” protectors who have “really dangerous jobs” and should be met with nothing less than praise and gratitude for their sacrifices. But now cops are low-hanging fruit. If you cut “back the blue” conservatives out of the discussion, it isn’t even controversial to call them out when there’s a clear reason to do so. And a lot of those calling them out—in the case of the Uvalde shooting, for example—are acting brand new.

But we been told y’all about taking police narratives at face value.

We’ve pointed to the countless reports about police accounts being contradicted by evidence. There have been so many instances where a cop said one thing but video evidence said another. If there wasn’t a camera present when George Floyd was murdered, chances are that his story would have ended with the justice system taking law enforcement’s word that his killing was his own fault—which would have been based on the initial police report, which was proven false. If local law enforcement officials had it their way, no one would ever have been arrested for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery—a case where no arrests were made until months after his death due to what appeared to be an intentional effort by an incestuous cabal of law enforcement to bury it.

The point is, for far too long, the public, the media and certainly, the courts have treated police reports like they were gospel when the truth is police officers have all the same incentive to lie in order to cover themselves that civilians have. What’s going on in the Uvalde Police Department regarding last month’s school shooting there is just another Tuesday for law enforcement in general.

And Black people have been saying this all along. Listen to Black people.

SEE ALSO:

‘Cops Aren’t Doing Anything’: Uvalde School Shooting Investigation Spotlights ‘Unprepared’ Police Response

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Deflects To ‘Chicago’ Gun Narrative Following Uvalde School Shooting