Video shows US Rep Lauren Boebert throwing pin honoring Uvalde massacre victim in trash

U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado is making headlines after appearing to throw away a pin honoring Uvalde school shooting victim Maite Rodriguez.

The video appears to show Boebert being handed the pin and immediately throwing it away. A second video shows the pin in the trash along with an informational card about Maite and a plea to end gun violence.

The pin was designed for the green Converse Maite was wearing the day she was murdered.

Maite, 10, wore her green high-top Converse sneakers with a heart she had hand-drawn on the right toe to symbolize her love for nature.

Due to the severity of her injuries, Maite’s green Chucks were the only way her family was able to identify her body following the massacre that left 21 people dead on May 24, 2022, at Robb Elementary in Uvalde.

According to the Lives Robbed organization, “Maite’s shoes are a symbol of her beauty and strength, and as a reminder that real people are dying every day from gun violence, including small, innocent children. Instead of celebrating AR-15s, let’s remember all that they have the power to destroy.”

Lives Robbed officials posted a statement to social media Tuesday calling the video showing Boebert throwing out the pin “disgusting and beyond insulting.”

Members of Lives Robbed started handing out the pins as a response to Republican lawmakers’ wearing pins of AR-15s earlier this year.

Uvalde native Matthew McConaughey and his wife, Camila Alves McConaughey even took Maite’s shoes to the White House in June as the actor called for Congress to pass gun control legislation in honor of the Robb Elementary shooting victims.

The actor, who is a gun owner, implored Congress to pass gun reforms that could help save lives without infringing on Second Amendment rights. He asked Congress to bolster background checks for gun purchases and raise the minimum age to purchase an AR-15-style rifle from 18 to 21, according to a report from the Associated Press.

“We want secure and safe schools and we want gun laws that won’t make it so easy for the bad guys to get the damn guns,” McConaughey said.

Boebert has been very outspoken about her gun control stance and in May, she said “I unapologetically support the Second Amendment. No amount of gun control will ever eliminate evil in our society, and unsurprisingly, the data has shown time and again that gun control does not decrease gun violence.”

Boebert has previously been heavily criticized for posing with a shirt earlier this year that said “Since we’re redefining everything, this is a cordless hole puncher,” next to an illustration of an assault weapon. The photo was taken the day after another Texas mass shooting left five people dead, including a child. An AR-style rifle was also used in that shooting.

Boebert has not commented on the backlash surrounding the video, which was shared on Twitter on Tuesday.

Maite’s mother shared her own video on Twitter on Thursday following the Boebert incident:

KSAT has reported extensively on the Uvalde victims, including Maite, who wanted to be a marine biologist.

Learn more about Maite in the video below:

Read more about the victims, including dozens of interviews with family members, survivors and friends on the Remember Their Names page on KSAT.