Preaching It Round And Square

Despite University of Texas at Austin officials’ claims about weapons and assaults at the recent campus protests, Travis County Attorney Delia Garza says her office hasn't seen a single charge. https://t.co/wO7VRvYALm

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) May 2, 2024

UT-Austin said Tuesday night that pro-Palestinian groups with ties to "escalating protests" across the country brought weapons and assaulted people during the rallies.

Sounds ominous, doesn’t it? But there’s a problem:

There has been one assault charge filed — though not by UTPD. The Texas Department of Public Safety said it formally charged a FOX 7 photojournalist with two misdemeanors, alleging he assaulted a DPS trooper and interfered with public duties. Garza said the journalist was booked and processed Wednesday.

No other assault charge, by anyone, was filed. No, that’s not the problem; well, it is, but there’s another one.

People are legally allowed to carry a weapon on the UT-Austin campus. However, if they're committing a crime, like criminal trespassing, they could be arrested for unlawful carrying of a weapon, a misdemeanor.

The fear mongering was about people bringing guns to campus. Obviously people bringing guns anywhere is scary and must be met with extreme force. Except this is Texas; we let people take guns everywhere. (No, we’re not all happy with that.) So how is it people can take guns anywhere, but it’s scary when they do? Well, it’s scary when we say it’s scary.

The President of UT Austin is standing strong with Greg Abbott against protesters on campus. But there’s another problem: Travis County, not UT or the State of Texas, had to handle all those charges. (Austin is the Capitol and the county seat of Travis County.) To begin with:

Garza, whose office prosecutes misdemeanors, said she has called on UT Austin to reexamine its policy of arresting protesters for criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor similar to loitering — because it is currently "unsustainable." The protests have led to nearly 140 arrests for misdemeanors.

So Travis County has to deal with 140 loitering cases because Abbott wants headlines.

The county processed, and dismissed, 57 cases last week. They will largely do the same with 79 cases this week. Another proud success for getting tough on crime.

One wonders if it wouldn’t have been a more prudent use of government resources to just leave the protesters alone. But headlines are an important governing tool. Right?