What if the police officers had not stood their ground and stopped the violent rioters from destroying and burning downtown Austin in 2020?

Make no mistake, that was the plan. To destroy millions in property and send a strong political message to Texas that the world had changed. Future Congressman Greg Casar, Part-time Mayor Steve Adler, the rubber stamp city council, and anti-police activists of all stripes were giddy with anticipation.

Voting down the police union contract, cutting millions out of public safety, and inviting violent criminal drug dealers to take over the city. ‘Come on down to Austin, pitch a tent, heroin’s cheap, and the living is easy. Defecate on the street, rob the citizens, and assault anyone who makes eye contact with you’.

This was the beginning of a new America and it had finally reached Austin, Texas where the reimagining was in full bloom.

Then came the reality. The whimsical world of butterflies and unicorns was interrupted. Public buildings were under assault. The ‘Oh Shit’ moment when your glorious, soaring rhetoric meets the sweating, grunting destruction of those who have come to burn down your city.

Guess what? The professional bullshitters at City Hall called 911. That’s what happened. They messed their underwear and ran for their shrill, empty political lives. Then came the women and men in blue to save Austin.

If the officers had not stood strong, followed their oath, or done their duty, they could have saved themselves from serious physical injuries, public ridicule, and political indictment. If they had fallen back and allowed the police station and other city buildings to burn to the ground, it would have allowed the rioters to make a larger point. Do you think the rioters would have stopped at public buildings? Of course not. Billions of dollars in damage would have occurred over the next few days like it did in other cities.

There would have been no movement by the rioters to head out to Interstate 35. They would have been happily looting and costing Greg Casar his congressional election. In all the other Defund the Police cities there has since been an absolute political correction from the voters. Now, Democrats are claiming they never wanted to defund the police. The President had to include that disclaimer in his State of the Union Address. And the Mayor of San Francisco now terms defunding the police “Bullshit.”

But back in Austin the rioters gave up on downtown and in their frustration decided to stop interstate traffic connecting Canada and Mexico on I-35. And as any Texan will tell you it doesn’t take long before the traffic began to pile up within a very short time. The distance between DFW and Laredo closes very quickly. This was another ‘Oh No’ moment for the Mayor Pro-Tem and his crowd of Lemmings.

Then came the fateful orders to discharge the “less-than-lethal” ammunition. The orders came from the very top. The Mayor knew, the Mayor Pro-Tem knew.

Unbeknownst to officers on the ground was the condition of the less-than-lethal rounds. The officers didn’t know the date of their expiration. The officers did not know memos and e-mail chains existed that called into question the effectiveness of the ammo. The officers followed orders that caused avoidable injury. Not a single officer would have fired a damaged round at anyone. But they did not know.

Then, after the injuries to citizens occurred, the cover-up by city hall began. Since then, all the evidence (out-of-date ammunition) has been purposely destroyed by those who knew. City leaders knew and they began a cover-up that culminated in 19 officers being indicted by Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza who also knew the truth. Scapegoating the brave police officers is wrong. Turning the heroes into the villains with criminal charges fits neatly into the plan of those REIMAGINEERS.

Those who knew are now tearfully blaming the police and offering large cash settlements to those who were injured. Pontius Pilate never washed his hands as fast as this crowd of political liars and hypocrites.

18 of those fine officers are represented by CLEAT. You can trust us; you certainly can trust me to make sure they are taken care of. I believe they will ultimately be exonerated. But their lives and careers will never be the same. Their families are suffering.

On February 17^th at the Austin Police Association union hall, I participated in a press conference in support of the accused officers. I promised we were going to introduce legislation that would allow officers to testify to a Grand Jury if they are accused. It’s clear that anti-police activist District Attorneys like Jose Garza want to indict officers in secret and announce it in public.

Together, we are going to change the law and stop the political persecution and prosecution of Texas’ Finest!