Houston police chief says union president went 'over the top' with comments following shooting

Houston Police Department Chief Art Acevedo told reporters on Thursday that police union president Joe Gamaldi went "over the top" with his comments about the officer-involved shooting on Monday. Houston Police Department Chief Art Acevedo told reporters on Thursday that police union president Joe Gamaldi went "over the top" with his comments about the officer-involved shooting on Monday. Photo: Mark Mulligan/Staff Photographer Photo: Mark Mulligan/Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close Houston police chief says union president went 'over the top' with comments following shooting 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

After a shooting injured five Houston police officers earlier this week, Chief Art Acevedo called the union president's fiery response to the attack "over the top" during a press conference on Thursday.

The shooting, which left four officers shot, another injured, and two suspects dead in a failed drug raid in southeast Houston on Monday, was among the most violent incidents for Houston police in recent history.

During a Monday night press conference, Union President Joe Gamaldi made an emotional call to end police shootings. Then he took aim at "the ones out there spreading the rhetoric that police officers are the enemy."

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"Well just know that we've all got your number now," Gamaldi said. "We're going to be keeping track of all of y'all, and we're gonna make sure that we hold you accountable every time you stir the pot on our police officers."

Gamaldi appeared on Fox & Friends just two days later and doubled down on those comment, calling out "activists who have severely made our officers the enemy."

"They've put targets on our backs," he told the national news outlet.

Acevedo delivered an update on the shooting on Thursday evening, and he responded to criticism and so-called conspiracy theories about the incident. He said he believed Gamaldi's comments were the center of much of the fallout.

"Quite frankly, I think a big part of it is because Joe Gamaldi's emotions got he best of him...and he just went off a little bit over the top over there — a lot over the top if you ask me," Acevedo said. "Which brings me to this, Joe Gamaldi doesn't run the police department. I do."

Acevedo went on to say that activists and the police department should not be painted with a broad brush "because of one guy's comments."

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Gamaldi responded on Twitter when he learned about Acevedo's comments.

"I was just at City Council defending @houstonpolice budget, [and] while doing so, I was told I was being thrown under the bus at a news conference," Gamaldi said in his tweet. "Sad state of affairs when defending [the] reputation of the brave men and women of law enforcement is frowned upon by a few."

Gamaldi was retweeting people who showed support for his words, including other police association leaders.

"There is no time for political correctness when people are trying to MURDER police officers!" said Anthony White, the vice president for the Fort Worth Police Officer's Association. "Terrible move, @ArtAcevedo. @JoeGamaldi stood up for his officers at the right time and said what many officers feel about society."

The San Francisco Police Officer's Association also chimed in on Twitter, saying Gamaldi "said what needed to be said."

"He was protecting the membership he represents and all of law enforcement," the association's tweet read. "Too many times department heads (aka Chiefs) fold under political pressure. Joe did not go too far. You go Joe!"

On the other side of the issue, Houston Black Lives Matter founder Ashton Woods didn't take kindly to Gamaldi's comments. He told the Houston Chronicle earlier this week that Gamaldi needed to apologize.

"We don't need you blaming us for what happened," Woods said.

Gamaldi continued to emphasize police officer deaths on Friday, despite a decrease in the number of law enforcement deaths nationwide in the last four years, according to data from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

In 2014, 148 officers died compared to 129 in 2017, the latest available year in the data. Gamaldi pointed to an increase compared to 2013, when 120 officers died. However, that was the lowest figure for police officer deaths in the last 60 years, the data shows.

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com | NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here.