AUSTIN \u2014 As word got out that pro-Palestinian protesters were planning to occupy a lawn on the University of Texas campus, Gov. Greg Abbott made a dramatic move: calling in more than 100 state troopers with orders to clear them out.<\/p>\n
With that decision, which led to dozens of arrests amid video of riot-clad troopers on campus, Abbott sought to reassure his party \u2014 and the rest of the country \u2014 that Texas would not countenance a replay of the extended protester camp at New York\u2019s Columbia University.<\/p>\n
It was the latest move by Abbott (R) to position himself as one of the most assertive red-state governors in America, eager for a fight with the political left under the national spotlight. But the aggressiveness of the response has alarmed students, faculty, Democrats and even some Republicans who have previously sided with Abbott in his crusades to protect free speech on college campuses.<\/p>\n
The third-term governor has already staked out a national reputation for his envelope-pushing policies to secure the Texas-Mexico border, including by busing migrants to Democratic-led cities. Former president Donald Trump has mentioned him as a possible running mate, though Abbott has denied interest. And Abbott has moved increasingly to the right in recent years, leading a charge this spring to purge the state house of fellow Republicans who have thwarted his agenda on school vouchers.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, however, Abbott found himself in a storm of broader scrutiny. Critics were quick to note, for example, that Abbott proudly signed a law in 2019 that aimed to protect free speech on college campuses by guaranteeing anyone can protest in common outdoor areas as long as they are not breaking the law or disrupting the regular functioning of the school. That is precisely what those arrested Wednesday were doing, they said.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors also dropped charges against 46 of the 57 protesters arrested Wednesday, citing \u201cdeficiencies\u201d their lawyers had challenged in the probable cause affidavits submitted as part of their arrests, according to Diana Melendez, a spokeswoman for Travis County Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will continue to individually review all cases presented to our office to determine whether prosecution is factually and legally appropriate,\u201d Melendez said.<\/p>\n
State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt (D), whose district includes the Austin campus, said the politics involved in the response \u201cis not going to let this go, and that\u2019s deeply, deeply troubling.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve not yet heard any evidence of property damage or personal injury, and so the response \u2014 the police response \u2014 seems to have been in anticipation of something that didn\u2019t happen, that ultimately didn\u2019t happen,\u201d Eckhardt said.<\/p>\n
Abbott\u2019s office did not respond to a request for comment on the rationale for his action nor criticism of it. But on social media, the governor responded approvingly to the law enforcement response, saying the protesters \u201cbelong in jail\u201d and that any students taking part in \u201chate-filled, antisemitic protests\u201d at public colleges should be expelled.<\/p>\n
The latter reflected Abbott\u2019s issuance last month of an executive order requiring public universities to revise their free speech policies to curb the \u201csharp rise in antisemitic speech and acts\u201d on campuses.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, protesters said the show of force ordered by Abbott was striking but not surprising.<\/p>\n
\u201cGov. Abbott is taking a very political opportunity to enforce his agenda, a very right-wing agenda focused on control, not on governance,\u201d said Chelsea Collier, a doctoral student at the school of information and a native Texan who spent her entire academic career at UT.<\/p>\n
Varun Jawarani, 21, a senior from Austin majoring in computer science, said the message he received was \u201cDon\u2019t have a dissenting opinion from state government or we\u2019ll send in the police.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not every student found the response unsettling.<\/p>\n
Lily Caplan, 19, a sophomore journalism major from Westport, Conn., joined fellow members of Longhorn Students for Israel at a counterprotest next to the pro-Palestinian gathering Thursday, waving Israeli flags and chanting \u201cBring them home now\u201d \u2014 a reference to Jewish hostages in Gaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday we saw a totally different response than other universities around the country and me, as a Jewish student, I was so grateful for that. Don\u2019t mess with Texas,\u201d she said, echoing a state slogan as she stood in a circle with other counterprotesters. Caplan said she was reassured by support from Abbott and university president Jay Hartzell.<\/p>\n
As governor, Abbott has aggressively wielded his executive power to address issues important to conservatives. The biggest example is Operation Lone Star, a vast border security mission that has cost Texas taxpayers billions of dollars and has involved border blockades and masses of state law enforcement in defiance of the federal government\u2019s immigration role.<\/p>\n
More broadly, Republicans in Texas have been targeting public colleges more than ever, portraying them as bastions of \u201cwokeness\u201d where conservative views are unwelcome. Last year, Abbott signed a bill into law to ban diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices at public colleges and universities in Texas \u2014 a law that has hit UT especially hard.<\/p>\n
Abbott and his GOP allies are unlikely to stop there. The governor said in an Austin speech last month that there are \u201csome scofflaws out there\u201d trying to circumvent the anti-DEI law and that lawmakers will work to crack down harder next legislative session.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust know this,\u201d Abbott said, \u201cwe\u2019re monitoring what our universities are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abbott is not the only red-state governor who is pushing a hard line against protests related to the war in Gaza. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday that if he were president, he would \u201csend the Justice Department after\u201d colleges where antisemitic protests are taking place and cancel visas for foreign students participating in the protests.<\/p>\n
In Texas, many Republican activists and lawmakers applauded Abbott\u2019s response Wednesday. But it was not universally embraced on the right.<\/p>\n
Mark Davis, a conservative radio host in Dallas who has interviewed Abbott multiple times, initially questioned why exactly protesters were being arrested. He later said he had received adequate answers.<\/p>\n
He later said he found the response justified after social media users noted UT leadership had told organizers not to proceed with the event, saying it would \u201cviolate our policies and rules, and disrupt our campus operations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Justin Amash, a former Michigan congressman now running for Senate there as a Republican, challenged Abbott to be more clear about the reason for the arrests.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he\u2019s arresting them for their speech, then he\u2019s violating the law, and his actions threaten everyone in the state, including everyone he claims to be protecting,\u201d Amash said on X.<\/p>\n
Abbott\u2019s confrontations with higher education are unfolding as the Republican majorities in the Texas legislature grow only more supportive \u2014 and combative toward those who do not share their views. The March primary was a triumph for insurgent Republicans, some with Abbott\u2019s backing, with 17 GOP incumbents in the House being defeated or forced to runoffs.<\/p>\n
One of the challengers who captured a seat, North Texas attorney Mitch Little, was unapologetic Wednesday about the response to the protests, saying free-speech rights in Texas \u201cdo not include an AstroTurfed campsite for terrorist advocacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you struggle to live within these simple boundaries, I encourage you to examine your other 49 options,\u201d Little said.<\/p>\n
Democrats, who have perennially failed to break the Republican lock on the state, said Abbott\u2019s response to the protest was all about politics. The chair of the Texas Democratic Party, Gilberto Hinojosa, said in a statement that it was \u201cyet another gross misuse of state-funds for campaign ads at the expense of UT students\u2019 safety.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Democrats\u2019 nominee for Senate this year, Rep. Colin Allred, suggested the state\u2019s response to the UT protests was \u201coverly aggressive.\u201d The GOP incumbent, Sen. Ted Cruz, cast Allred\u2019s comments as \u201cexplicitly attacking Tex. law enforcement for protecting Jewish students at UT.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
AUSTIN \u2014 As word got out that pro-Palestinian protesters were planning to occupy a lawn on the University of Texas campus, Gov. Greg Abbott made a dramatic move: calling in more than 100 state troopers with orders to clear them out. With that decision, which led to dozens of arrests amid video of riot-clad troopers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3590,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}