Abbott’s move is the latest in a long clash between Texas Republicans and Austin-area officials over policing — and comes as the push for reform in the Texas capital enters a more complex and uncertain chapter.
Governor Greg Abbott on Wednesday blasted the indictment of 19 Austin police officers on assault charges stemming from a May 2020 racial justice protest — and jeopardized the prospect of a possible pardon for them.
"Those officers should be praised for their efforts, not for prosecuting them," Abbott said in a statement. "Time will tell whether the allegations against the courageous Austin police officers are a political sham. Time will also tell whether I, as governor, should take action to unjustly prosecute any police officers."
With Wednesday's announcement, Abbott threatened to once again lash out at Austin-area officials' efforts to reform policing in the Texas capital, indicating that he would make it difficult for other cities that would do so. Let's try — all while shunning their supporters, police made real connections with the state's Republican base ahead of Tuesday's primary.
"It's just a show that just doesn't make sense," said Cathy Mitchell, policy coordinator for criminal justice reform group Just Liberty. "He's displaying his 'I'm going to support blue, no matter what the color'."
Abbott's move also comes as the indictment of officers has pushed the rocky push for police reform in Austin, over the years, into a more complex and uncertain chapter.
Local control over policing
The indictments - including Texas House candidate Justin Berry - accused 19 officers of using lethal weapons to injure nearly a dozen demonstrators and serious physical protests against police brutality following the May 2020 deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Michael Accused of threatening harm. Ramos in Austin.
Each officer faces two counts of aggravated assault, a first-degree felony – up to 99 years in prison or a fine of up to $10,000 if committed by a law enforcement officer.
The office of Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza, which brought the indictment, defended the decision to pursue charges against the officers.
"Unlike the governor, we believe that no one is above the law, and when people look up and believe our communities are safe," the office said in a statement on Wednesday.
Abbott rarely forgives people and cannot. The governor would need a majority of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, a board appointed by Abbott, to approve any pardons issued by his office—and only after a sentence.
Abbott does not always agree with the pardon recommendations given to him by the board. For months, the governor did not act on the board's suggestion that he posthumously pardon Floyd for his 2004 drug conviction in Houston. The board withdrew the recommendation in December.
Criminal justice and political experts see Abbott's gesture on Wednesday as a way to use his pardoning powers for political posture and flagging a tack issue.
"It is rare that governors will use pardon power in an openly political way," said Brandon Rottinghaus, a professor of political science at the University of Houston. "It was never used as a kind of political wedge."
Abbott's move may also foreshadow why the state's pro-police GOP lawmakers haven't made it easy for the state's most liberal center to chart a largely uncharted path on police reform.
After Austin City Council voted to redirect part of its police budget to other city agencies in the wake of protests in 2020, Abbott and state Republican lawmakers passed a law that would penalize large cities that refuse to police them. Will cut expenses. Increase property tax. Austin City Council later reversed course.
Texas Republicans have historically clashed with the Travis County District Attorney's office, which for decades held a unit aimed at prosecuting lawmakers for public corruption until then-Govt. Rick Perry defended the agency.
Some Republican leaders and lawmakers have begun to bash Garza over the indictments.
Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote in a tweet: "I support the police that thunder wants to destroy." "They deserve the presumption of innocence until proven guilty."
US Representative Chip Roy, whose district includes Austin, said officers had been "politically targeted by a radical left-wing district attorney" and asked the Texas Legislature to "step up immediately and ensure that the state of Texas Its capital is safe and not a breeding ground for political corruption and targeting."
"Very difficult to convict police officers"
Austin officers and activists call for a redesign of the city's police department in the wake of the police killings of Ramos in Austin and Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. That November, Travis County voters elected a new district attorney—Garza, the former executive director of the Workers' Defense Project who vowed to use the office to advance greater police accountability.
Nearly two years later, Garza has taken what observers and police reform advocates have called an ambitious gamble: leading the indictment of 19 police officers in connection with alleged violent acts during the 2020 protests, which resulted in several serious injuries, including fractured skulls and jaws. was left with. as brain damage.
No other police force in the country has seen so many officers charged in connection with the 2020 protests. Two Dallas police officers face charges stemming from allegations of excessive use of force during demonstrations in that city. A former Philadelphia police officer was charged with beating a student with a baton. And a New York police officer was charged with slamming a woman to the ground.
The indictment is a welcome change for Austin activists.
"What's happening now is that we've hired a district attorney who's 'I'm going to prosecute cases,'" Mitchell told Just Liberty. "And he has done so."
Chris Harris, policy director for the criminal justice reform group Austin Justice Coalition, said Austin residents indicated they wanted to see more police accountability when Garza was elected. He said a Travis County jury awarded a $67 million settlement to the family of a 24-year-old man killed by Austin police in December.
"It's quite clear that Austinites have no appetite for police violence, and they want to see officers held accountable," Harris said.
Austinites believe that police officers are "not above the law, and cannot treat civilians any differently than they are a cop," said David Butts, a longtime political leader. Advisor who helped elect Austin Mayor Steve Adler and his predecessor Lee Leffingwell. But at the same time, they don't want to see the police become "punching bags", he said.
"I would say that the majority of Austin citizens recognize the need for police," Butts said. “They are not anti-police. They believe the idea that the police can't do wrong is not true - and if they do seriously wrong in any way, they should be held accountable for it."
Legal experts think it will be an uphill battle for Travis County prosecutors to get convictions for any of the 19 officers. It's not easy for prosecutors to convince a jury - usually sympathetic to the police - that an officer acted with criminal intent because they have a much wider latitude than civilians for using violent force, he said. .
"It's very difficult to convict the wrong police officers," said Howard Henderson, founding director of the Center for Justice Research at Texas Southern University. "It almost never happens. They are respected so much."
Prosecutors in most cities are wary of pursuing charges against police officers because they rely on those officers to carry out convictions against alleged criminals. It is likely that Garza's move will worsen the current tension between his office and the Austin Police Department.
Lauren Bonds, legal director of the National Police Accountability Project, said, "I think even a lot of progressive prosecutors know they have to have a really good working relationship with the police to do their job in almost every other context. " "I think there's a kind of disincentive for a lot of prosecutors to rock the boat like that.
Despite the desire for greater accountability, local police reform advocates have mixed feelings about the indictments.
"I just find myself having a hard time realizing that this is anything extraordinary. It's not," Mitchell said. "That's how the system is supposed to work. Just never did that. And so it seems extraordinary. ,