Matthew McConaughey Shows Shoes Used to Identify Uvalde Victim in Intense Speech

The actor pleaded for a path forward to "actually get something done this time."

By Julie Scagell June 8, 2022

Matthew McConaughey delivered an impassioned speech at the White House yesterday urging lawmakers to take stricter measures when it comes to gun violence and using stories he heard from Uvalde victims’ families to drive the point home.

The Oscar winner and father-of-three has been spending time with Robb Elementary School families since the tragic shooting of 21 people, 19 of them children, on May 24, in his hometown of Uvalde, Texas. The 20-minute speech came after meeting with President Biden. During his time, he explained to those listening that these kids were “mutilated” from the shooter’s AR-15 rifle. DNA tests were used to identify many of the kids because there was no other way.

Wow, this McConaughey speech pic.twitter.com/0CeFFdAhlw
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 7, 2022

“Many children were left not only dead but hollow,” McConaughey said.

McConaughey held up a drawing by 10-year-old Alithia Ramirez, memorializing her short but important life. “Now, Alithia—her dream was to go to art school in Paris and one day share her art with the world,” he said.

I don’t care how Matthew McConaughey votes. He did more today for those innocent children than the entire Republican Party has done in two weeks.
— 𝐁𝐞𝐤𝐬 (@antifaoperative) June 8, 2022

The actor then talked about another victim, Maite Rodriguez, explaining that her love for the environment was so strong that when city officials asked her mom if they could release balloons in her memory, her mom said, “Oh no, Maite wouldn’t want to litter.” He then asked his wife to hold up a pair of green Converse sneakers with a heart drawn on one toe, representing Maite’s love of nature. He told the crowd this was the only way police could identify her remains, slamming his hand down in frustration.

“This moment is different,” he said emotionally. “We’re in a window of opportunity right now that we have not been in before, a window where it seems like real change—real change—can happen,” McConaughey said.

Uvalde, Texas, USA. pic.twitter.com/0iULRGtREm
— Matthew McConaughey (@McConaughey) May 25, 2022

He continued: “While we honor and acknowledge the victims, we need to recognize that this time it seems that something is different. There is a sense that perhaps there is a viable path forward. Responsible parties in this debate seem to at least be committed to sitting down and having a real conversation about a new and improved path forward—a path that can bring us closer together and make us safer as a country, a path that can actually get something done this time.”