The Uvalde cop who was caught on video nonchalantly utilizing hand sanitizer contained in the Robb Elementary College as youngsters had been dying in a close-by classroom has been recognized.

Sheriff’s Deputy Eric Gonzales — who confronted intense backlash for the bizarrely timed act — was IDed by the Every day Mail as a one-time recipient of a medal of valor for “bravery within the line of obligation.”

The 30-year-old cop, who was sporting a helmet and bulletproof vest, casually pumped the hand sanitizer wall unit to wash his fingers as officers mulled across the hallway for greater than an hour earlier than taking out the shooter, the footage first obtained by the Austin-American Statesman confirmed.

Viewers of the 77-minute clip had been outraged by the officers’ retreat and hour of inaction because the 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos slaughtered 19 youngsters and two lecturers.

Social media customers discovered Gonzales’ act significantly off-putting.

“[S]o let me get this straight. Uvalde officers had been inside inside 5 minutes, stood round for over an hour, made certain to get HAND SANITIZER … whereas nonetheless listening to rounds being fired and the youngsters screaming,” Kayce Smith, a Barstool Sports activities media character, tweeted. “What the F— are we doing right here?? That is revolting.”

“Would love to listen to from this Uvalde cop why he was fearful about placing readily available sanitizer whereas a shooter was massacring children twenty toes down the corridor,” tweeted Cabot Phillips, a senior editor on the Every day Wire, a conservative outlet.

Satirically, Gonzales was awarded a bronze star for valor and bravado within the line of obligation in December 2020 after he exchanged gunfire with a person throughout a visitors cease, based on the Uvalde Chief Information.

The Uvalde County Sheriff’s Workplace didn’t instantly reply to a Publish inquiry. Nevertheless, Sheriff Ruben Nolasco informed the Every day Mail that Gonzales was sanitizing his fingers in preparation to help medics in tending to injured victims.

No medical staff, nevertheless, might be seen close by the deputy within the video.

A particular Texas Home panel investigating the Could 24 mass taking pictures and police response concluded that the almost 400 cops who confirmed as much as the lethal scene “didn’t prioritize saving harmless lives over their very own security” in a scathing new report.

“No quantity of hand sanitizer goes to clean off these fingers in Uvalde. None,” tweeted Jack Posobic, senior editor of the conservative information web site Human Occasions.