People traveling to Texas to loot, break law may face federal prosecution, Abbott says
As many of Texas’ largest cities enter their fourth day of protests spurred by the death of George Floyd, Gov. Greg Abbott and all four U.S. Attorneys for Texas announced Monday afternoon that out-of-state individuals who engage in looting or violence may be subject to federal prosecution.
Demonstrators who travel to Texas, engage in “looting, violence, or other destructive acts” and are arrested and charged with violating a federal law will be transferred to federal custody, according to a news release.
Abbott was joined by Texas’ four U.S. Attorneys — John F. Bash, Erin Nealy Cox, Stephen J. Cox and Ryan K. Patrick — in his announcement. The U.S. Attorneys will be working with local prosecutors and officials to identify crimes that violate federal law.
“Texans must be able to exercise their First Amendment rights without fear of having agitators, including those coming from out-of-state, hijack their peaceful protest,” Abbott and the U.S. Attorneys said in a statement Monday. “Today’s announcement will ensure there are harsh consequences for those breaking the law and that they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
On a call with the nation’s governors Monday morning, President Donald Trump had berated state leaders and urged them to take an aggressive approach to contain escalating protests, according to the Washington Post.
“But you’ve got to arrest people, you have to try people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years, then you’ll never see this stuff again,” Trump said according to audio of the call obtained by the Washington Post. “And you have to let them know that.”
When asked about Trump’s call with governors, Abbott told KEYE-TV in Austin Monday night that the president wanted to ensure innocent demonstrators are protected from violence.
“What he was talking about was the need to ensure that we don’t have a repeat of that horrific video of the man being beaten in Dallas, Texas that so many people have seen,” Abbott said, referring to a viral video of an attack that came amid Dallas protests Saturday night. “And that it’s necessary that all states use all law enforcement tools to make sure that more innocent people are not either killed or maimed or injured.”
The announcement comes after demonstrators across the state marched against police brutality throughout the weekend after a viral video depicted Floyd, a black man, dying after a white police officer in Minneapolis pressed a knee into his neck while his hands were handcuffed behind his back.
The video sparked outrage nationwide. Officer Derek Chauvin was arrested Friday and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin was fired along with three other officers who were at the scene.
Abbott told KEYE-TV that Floyd’s death was “a horrific act of police brutality.”
“George Floyd was held captive. He was begging for his life and he should never have been killed and there was no legitimate law enforcement purpose for what happened to George Floyd,” Abbott said. “But America must unite to use this tragic murder as a catalyst for change not as a catalyst for crime.”
Peaceful gatherings in Fort Worth Sunday ended with police using tear gas, smoke and flash bombs to disperse protesters from the 7th Street bridge. It was the first time in about 30 years that the Fort Worth Police Department used tear gas on a crowd.
Mostly peaceful demonstrations in Dallas, Austin and San Antonio over the weekend were punctuated by violence, fires, looting and police firing tear gas, pepper spray and sound grenades.
Of the 50 people arrested in Fort Worth on Sunday night, 25 did not live in the city and likely traveled to Fort Worth after Dallas and Denton enacted curfews, Police Chief Ed Kraus said during a press conference Monday.
Ahead of additional demonstrations scheduled for Monday night, Mayor Betsy Price enacted a curfew that will begin at 8 p.m. and last through 6 a.m. each day. The citywide curfew will last until 5 p.m. Thursday, unless extended by the City Council.
Abbott told KEYE-TV that he’s spoken with the mayors of Texas’ largest cities and that “everybody’s talking about the same thing: they need more resources because of the large numbers of the people who are involved in these protests.”
On Sunday, Abbott declared a state of disaster due to protests over Floyd’s death and over the weekend ordered thousands of state troopers and Texas National Guardsmen to assist local law enforcement in their response. Under the disaster declaration, Abbott suspended provisions of state law to give federal law enforcement officers the authority to act as Texas peace officers.
When asked how to move forward as a state, Abbott told KEYE-TV that after allowing peaceful protests to take place, “the next step is to seize upon this cause to make sure that we do instill justice for everybody in every community.”
Abbott is expected to discuss the state’s response at 1 p.m. Tuesday from Dallas City Hall. He will be joined by Price, Kraus, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, Dallas Police Chief U. Reneé Hall, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw and Texas National Guard Major General Tracy Norris, according to a news release.
This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 5:31 PM.
