Abbott calls for crackdown on ‘riots’
Gov. Greg Abbott announced aggressive new legislative proposals Thursday meant to crack down on the type of protests that unfolded this summer across Texas and much of the country, includingmandatory jail time for lighting fireworks, throwing water bottles at police officers, or helping organize what he loosely called “riots.”
“The Constitution guarantees the right to assemble peaceably, not to riot, to rob, to loot, to set fires, to physically harm anyone or anything,” Abbott said at a news conference in Dallas.
The steps closely mirror those announced earlier this month by Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, a fellow Republican, and come as protests have reignitedover the death of Breonna Taylor, a Blackwoman shot by police during a botched raid in
Kentucky.
Authorities announced Wednesday that none of the officers involved in the raid will be charged in her killing; one officer was indicted on a charge of endangering her neighbors.
Abbott has sought to seize the spotlight in recent weeks over the civil unrest
as he campaigns for several endangered Republican state representatives in swing districts.
Besides the new proposals, the governor has called for lawmakers to defund and strip taxing authority fromcities that reduce their police budgets.
He also threatened a state takeover of the Austin police after city officials voted to redirect police funding to social services to address the underlying causes of some crime. The city also is moving internal affairs investigations and the forensic lab out of the police department's oversight.
Democrats, who are hoping to retake control of the state House in November, accused the governor of trying to distract voters from core issues including the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed at least 15,000 Texans.
“Instead of talking about the issues that matter most to Texans — ending the coronavirus crisis, protecting and expanding health care coverage, and building our economy back better — Abbott chose to introduce nonsensical proposals that will not hold up in court,” the Texas Democratic Party said in a statement.