Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila Alves visited Uvalde, Texas, to pay their respects and pray for the 19 students and two teachers who were shot and killed inside Robb Elementary School.
Matthew and Camila also brought their three kids: Levi, 13; Vida, 12; and Livingston, 9. CNN reporter Omar Jimenez shared photos of the McConaughey family standing at the memorial.
The Oscar-winning actor, who is a Uvalde native, also visited the Uvalde Civic Center and took photos with school district staff.
“As all of you are aware, there was another mass shooting today, this time in my hometown of Uvalde, Texas. Once again, we have tragically proven that we are failing to be responsible for the rights our freedoms grant us,” McConaughey declared after the tragedy.
The actor lived in the small town of Uvalde until he was 11 year old, located approximately 85 miles from San Antonio, with a population of less than 20,000, mainly identified hispanic or latino. “The true call to action is now for every American to take a longer and deeper look in the mirror and ask ourselves, ‘What is it that we truly value? How do we repair the problem? What small sacrifices can we individually take today, to preserve a healthier and safer nation, state, and neighborhood tomorrow?’ We cannot exhale once again, make excuses and accept these tragic realities as the status quo,” McConaughey continued.
Explaining that, “As Americans, Texans, mothers and fathers, it’s time we re-evaluate, and renegotiate our wants from our needs,” he insisted, “We have to rearrange our values and find a common ground above this devastating American reality that has tragically become our children’s issue.”
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“This is an epidemic we can control, and whichever side of the aisle we stand on, we all know we can do better. We must do better,” McConaughey wrote, “Action must be taken so that no parent has to experience what the parents in Uvalde and the others before them have endured.”
“And to those who dropped off their loved ones today not knowing it was goodbye, no words can comprehend or heal your loss, but if prayers can provide comfort, we will keep them coming,” he concluded.