Head of Pelosi's Jan. 6 security review urges protesters to 'close down' NRA convention

The retired Army officer commissioned by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to lead a security review following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is calling for a "major protest to close down" the National Rifle Association's annual meeting this weekend, following the mass shooting Tuesday at a Texas elementary school. 

"We need a major protest to close down the @NRA convention this weekend," retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore wrote in a tweet in which he tagged GOP Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader, as well as Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

The NRA "has blood on its hands," said Honore, adding that if Senate Republicans "will not stand up to them then the people of #Texas should." 

Significant protests are expected outside the NRA summit in Houston following the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which19 children and two adults were killed.

Cruz and Abbott are scheduled to speak at the summit, as is former President Donald Trump, who confirmed Wednesday he will go forward with his slated appearance. 

Critics of the NRA argue the gun rights group is so powerful that it has stopped members of Congress from passing tighter gun laws, which such critics say is key to stopping gun violence. 

Tuesday's active shooter incident remains under investigation and is one of the worst school shootings since a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Connecticut nearly a decade ago. The shooting Tuesday follows a recent mass shooting at a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket that left 10 people dead.