“Don’t mess with Texas — and don’t mess with Texas law enforcement,” Abbott said.
HOUSTON — State and local leaders as well as civil rights and activist groups are preparing for a weekend of protests across Texas with Governor Greg Abbott elaborating more on the deployment of National Guard and Department of Public Safety personnel.
“Peaceful protests are part of the fabric of our nation, but Texas will not tolerate the lawlessness we have seen in Los Angeles in response to President Donald Trump’s enforcement of immigration law,” Abbott said in a press release.
Abbott said more than 5,000 Texas National Guard soldiers are deployed across the state, along with more than 2,000 Texas DPS troopers — including Special Agents and Texas Rangers — to assist local law enforcement respond to criminal activity during protests.
“Anyone engaging in acts of violence or damaging property will be arrested and held accountable to the full extent of the law,” Abbott said. “Don’t mess with Texas — and don’t mess with Texas law enforcement.”
Protests took place Wednesday night in Austin and San Antonio. National Guard troops were seen arriving in San Antonio on Wednesday.
In Houston, a protest and rally against ICE action is set to take place Friday evening outside the CoreCivic Houston Processing Center. On Saturday, there are several protests scheduled throughout the area as part of the nationwide “No Kings” Day protests — an event organizers say is to voice disapproval of what they call excesses of authoritarianism by the Trump administration.
Local groups are bracing as they are concern the deployment of National Guard troops could escalate tensions.
“Let’s not act like this is this is any kind of normal, normality. It’s not, it’s not, it’s unacceptable,” Gabriel Rosales, the LULAC Texas State Director, told KHOU 11. “the problem is that the governor calls with the National Guard, Why would you put guns on the city that is well known not to be violent?”
Governor Abbott is set to be in Houston Friday night to speak at the Harris County Republican Party’s Lincoln Reagan Dinner, an event happening simultaneously as immigrant rights advocacy group FIEL holds its rally and protest in north Houston at the CoreCivic Processing Center.