Popular Categories


‘Robb-ed’ documentary slated for 2023 release

Craig Garnett
Editor/Publisher

Documentarian Charlie Minn recently wrapped up filming in Uvalde on a project featuring families of Robb Elementary shooting victims and others connected with the tragedy.

According to Minn, his crew filmed 30 people over a period of two days. Seventeen of the 21 who lost loved ones in the attack agreed to appear on film. The footage was recorded in a makeshift studio in room 116 at the Days Inn.

“I don’t think I ever shot a film where all of the families broke down,” Minn said of the raw emotions. “It’s grueling, and I can only imagine what these families are going through. They lost their kid, which is probably the cruelest situation one can face.”

Minn said he is making the film because it follows his pattern of “representing innocent people who have been murdered with a voice.”

“Let’s face it, there are a lot of people in the Uvalde community who want to get something off their chest. And if venting and expressing their frustration for justice and accountability is their way of healing, then by all means go for it.”

Minn said he will be criticized by some through social media that it is too early to ask victims to speak out about the May 24 mass shooting.

“These families want their stories told. Who is anyone to tell them when that happens? They didn’t get shot,” Minn said.

According to the filmmaker, who splits his time between El Paso and New York, the questions he poses to family members are the same, unless the conversation takes a different tack.

A recurring theme with all of the families has been the failed police response. After initially engaging the gunman in classrooms 111 and 112, law enforcement waited for 73 minutes before breaching the door and killing the murderer.

“I think the video tape (of the Robb hallway where officers waited) is just damning. It’s just damning,” the documentarian said.

Minn said that one of the points he hopes to advance with “Robb-Ed” is that the police delay in Uvalde is not new but part of a decades-long pattern in mass shootings.

“The Pulse nightclub in Orlando had a problem, Parkland had a problem, Las Vegas and the El Paso Walmart,” where the gunman, firing an AK-47, was in and out in 6 minutes after shooting 46. Twenty three did not survive.

“My problem is that you had the busiest Walmart in the country and there was no security,” Minn lamented.

Minn estimates that he has produced 40 films since entering the industry in 2010. Among his more recent works are “915: Hunting Hispanics,” about the 2019 Walmart shooting in El Paso, “Parkland: Inside building 112,” and in a bit of irony, “77 Minutes: San Diego McDonald’s Massacre.”

The former producer for “America’s Most Wanted” says the favorite documentary he has produced is “Mexico’s Bravest Man.” Released in 2016, it tells the story of former police chief Julian Leyzaola who survived eight assassination attempts while fighting drug cartels in Tijuana and Juarez.

Minn said he hopes to release “Robb-Ed” at the Forum 6 Theater in Uvalde on the first anniversary of the tragedy.