O’Rourke to attend protest outside Houston NRA conference

Democratic Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke on Friday will attend a rally outside of the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) annual summit in Houston alongside several organizations following the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, earlier this week.

O’Rourke and the organizations aim to “hold the NRA and the politicians they purchase accountable,” according to an event page posted by his campaign.

“This massacre and the too many others before it are totally predictable, direct consequences of the choices made by Greg Abbott and the majority of those in the Texas legislature,” the statement for the event reads, referring to the Republican state governor.

“There will be more Uvaldes, El Pasos, Sutherland Springs, and Santa Fes until we decide to put the lives of our kids ahead of the political careers of gun lobby politicians like Greg Abbott,” it added, referencing several other mass shootings that have taken place in the state in recent years.

O’Rourke will join eight organizations, including March For Our Lives, which was organized following the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

“Action is the antidote to despair,” O’Rourke wrote in a tweet linking to an event page for the rally.

The protest follows O’Rourke’s confrontation with Abbott at a press conference in Uvalde on Wednesday. O’Rourke, who is challenging Abbott in November’s elections, also called on him to cancel his scheduled appearance at the NRA summit.