U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz was confronted at a Houston restaurant Friday by a man who argued with the senator about his stance on gun rights in the wake of last week's school shootings in Uvalde.
Cruz was in Houston to speak at the National Rifle Association's convention.
Photo: Getty Images
The man, Benjamin Hernandez, asked Cruz why he doesn't support expanded background checks.
"The background checks wouldn’t have stopped the shooter," Cruz responded. "You know what would have? The bill I introduced."
"We can make it harder for people to get guns in this country, sir," Hernandez said. "You know that ..."
Cruz responded, "You don’t know what you're talking about."
The exchange was captured on cell phone video.
As Hernandez and Cruz continue the exchange, a security worker tells Hernandez to "back up."
"Why does this keep happening," Hernandez yells and accuses Cruz of coming to the convention to "take blood money."
As the security person begins to move Hernandez out of the restaurant, he yells at Cruz, "When 19 children died, that is on your hands, Ted Cruz ... that is on your hands."
In 2018, Hernandez unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. House seat in the 9th Congressional District. He's a Rice graduate who has worked for the Houston Health Department.
At the NRA Convention, Cruz had called for increased security in schools. He also touted his legislation that would create a federal task force to stop illegal gun sales and update federal felony databases. Cruz also claimed changes in U.S. culture, violent media and "the absence of community and faith and love" as the cause of shootings such as the one in Uvalde.