The Statesman and its TV partner KVUE decided not to wait. The paper stated its reasons for publishing. And the TV station did the same when it interrupted afternoon programming -- in this case, ABC's coverage of the Jan. 6 hearing -- to show carefully selected clips from the video.
"We're doing this for these people," anchor Bryan Mays said while showing the faces of the dead, "for their families in Uvalde, for the people of the city, and really the people of the state of Texas who have been desperate to learn what happened inside that school back in May."
The anchors warned viewers in advance that they would see video of the gunman; hear audio of gunfire; and see police officers waiting and waiting in the hallway outside the classrooms. Importantly, the audio of children screaming was edited out. And the video was not graphic per se. But it was gut-wrenching to watch.
"This is not a decision that we have taken lightly," reporter Tony Plohetski, who has been out in front on this story, told viewers. "We have carefully considered what we are doing here." Plohetski said he knew some would disagree, but noted that family members and government officials have called for transparency.
"We found ourselves in a position -- once we obtained this video -- that
we similarly did not feel it was in our interest to withhold it from the public," he said.