Quinta Brunson, cast of ‘Abbott Elementary’ weigh in on Uvalde school shooting

“Sick to my stomach tonight over the love affair America has with guns,” said Brunson, the show's creator.

Cast members and the series creator of Abbott Elementary, the wildly successful mockumentary-style ABC show set at a West Philadelphia elementary school, have spoken out about the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school on Tuesday, per a Los Angeles Times report.

Lisa Ann Walter, who plays a second-grade teacher, has been tweeting and retweeting messages about the shooting for the past few days. “I am ANGRY. I plan on waking up angry. I will stay angry thru Nov,” she said on Twitter.

Abbott Elementary thegrio.om
ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” stars Tyler James Williams as Gregory, Janelle James as Ava, Quinta Brunson as Janine, Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara, Chris Perfetti as Jacob, and Lisa Ann Walter as Melissa. (ABC/Pamela Littky)

On Wednesday, Walter posted a photo with Beto O’Rourke with the hashtag #GunSafetyNow. According to the Associated Press, Beto O’Rourke confronted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott during a speech about Tuesday’s mass shooting.

Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph lamented the lack of love for children in America. “Why do we not care?” she asked. Ralph portrays kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard. “Now I lay me down to sleep and all I can think about is the families who lost a child today in another senseless act of gun violence! When will enough be ENOUGH?!?!” she continued. 

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Show creator and cast member, Quinta Brunson, said she is “tired” of tweeting about the issue of gun violence and called it “useless.”

“Sick to my stomach tonight over the love affair America has with guns,” she said.

https://twitter.com/quintabrunson/status/1529202107282124801


She also pushed back against those who requested that an episode of Abbott Elementary address the theme of school shootings. The number of people who requested the themed episode was “wild,” said Brunson, who plays second-grade teacher Janine Teagues on the show. 

“Respectfully, Abbott Elementary the TV show is not a politician. Politicians are. They need to do something about it,” Brunson told one Twitter user, who asked her to reconsider.

https://twitter.com/quintabrunson/status/1529571903102324736

“People are that deeply removed from demanding more from the politicians they’ve elected and are instead demanding ‘entertainment,’” Brunson wrote.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke interrupts a press conference held by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke interrupts a press conference held by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott following a shooting yesterday at Robb Elementary School which left 21 dead including 19 children, on May 25, 2022 in Uvalde, Texas. (Photo by Jordan Vonderhaar/Getty Images)

On Tuesday, police say 18-year-old Salvador Ramos killed at least 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School before he was killed by law enforcement.

The massacre in Uvalde, Texas, the third-deadliest school shooting in the United States behind the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 and the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, has renewed calls for gun reform.

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