#Boebert apologizes ‘for appearance’ of disrespecting Uvalde victims

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) offered an apology Saturday “for the appearance” of disrespecting children who died in the Uvalde shooting, after footage of the congresswoman discarding a tribute pin for one of the victims prompted a wave of harsh criticism.

“If anyone thinks that I was disrespecting a child who tragically lost their lives at the hands of an evil, evil person, I want to apologize for the appearance of that. But that’s not at all what it was,” she said.

In a video that circulated late last week, an activist appears to hand Boebert a pamphlet and a pin. The pin honored one of the 19 children who died in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

Another activist is heard saying to Boebert, who is well known as an advocate for gun rights and an opponent of gun control, that “we hope you take action on gun violence prevention.”

Boebert does not appear to respond to the two activists but can be seen in the video discarding the items in a nearby trash can as she continues walking.

The activist who posted the video said Boebert shook her head and said “no” when she gave her the pamphlet.

In the new video, Boebert accused the activist of being aggressive with her previously.

“I simply did not want to receive anything from this aggressive man who has been harassing me and my office,” Boebert says in the video. She also said she was wearing AirPods and told the person that she was “occupied.”

She said her pastor inspired her to film the response video.

“Last week, there was a video of me throwing an item away that I had received randomly from somebody in the hallway. I was walking and had AirPods in, tried to tell the man that I was occupied, and he continued, and as he was handing me what turned out to be a memorial pin, I recognized him as a man who came at me very aggressively just a few weeks prior during a press conference,” Boebert said.

Boebert, one of the most vocal pro-gun members of Congress, immediately came under fire when the video first aired last week. Local news reported on the backlash from families of the victims and from political activists.