MRT: Floyd Viewing Held in Houston; 2019 Austin-Area Black Man’s Death in Deputies’ Custody Scrutinized; Abbott: More Testing in Minority Communities
Here's what you need to know in Texas today.
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TOP NEWS
"Anger, anguish and calls for change mark George Floyd’s memorial in Houston,"The Texas Tribune's Alex Samuels -- "Both somber and defiant, mourners from across the nation gathered in Houston for a public viewing to celebrate George Floyd, a friend, father and martyr to many in attendance, but also a victim of police brutality and racial injustice.
There were anger and anguish among the thousands who gathered and cries of “Black Lives Matter!” stirred by Floyd’s death in May. Strangers stood shoulder to shoulder despite a global health pandemic that has hit black communities particularly hard. Mourners were restless and anxious. Emotional, too.
“It’s amazing so many people stand for justice and peace,” Jenkins said. “When I pass through the church, I’m going to say a prayer for unity, for the family, for America and for the family of all of Jack Yates’ alumni.”
Attendees gathered at the FountainLife Center — some as early as 9 or 10 a.m. — and waited for a shuttle in a line that stretched in a semi-circle into a nearby field. After they made it on a bus and rode to the nearby Fountain of Praise Church, they then had to wait in another line to see Floyd’s open casket. Buses taking passengers to each destination had quotes from icons like Harriet Tubman and Mickey Leland. Most people wore masks out of concern for the new coronavirus." Texas Tribune
"'I can't breathe!' Video released from 2019 death of Austin-area black man in deputies' custody,"KVUE's Tony Plohetski -- "Javier Ambler was driving home from playing poker on March 28, 2019, when he failed to dim the headlights of his SUV to oncoming traffic.
A Williamson County sheriff’s deputy initiated a stop and began chasing him for the minor traffic violation, after Ambler apparently refused to pull over, a pursuit that lasted 22 minutes and ended when Ambler’s Honda Pilot crashed north of Downtown Austin.
Minutes later, Ambler, a 40-year-old father of two, was dying on a neighborhood street.
Records obtained by the KVUE Defenders and the Austin American-Statesman reveal that deputies used Taser stun guns on him at least three times, even as he told them multiple times that he had a heart condition and could not breathe.
The circumstances of Ambler’s March 28, 2019, death have never been revealed. The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office tried to shield information from release since receiving its first request in February.
Ambler’s death was ruled a homicide, which officials said include “justifiable homicide.” Medical examiners listed his cause of death as congestive heart failure and hypertensive cardiovascular disease associated with morbid obesity “in combination with forcible restraint,” according to an in-custody report filed with the Texas Attorney General's office. The report included no other details about Ambler's autopsy, which hasn't been released, but noted that he did not appear to be intoxicated by drugs or alcohol.
“What happened to my son?” Ambler’s mother, Maritza, asked in a recent interview with KVUE Senior Reporter Tony Plohetski. “He’s dead. How? I can’t have any closure because I need to know.”
“Dads should not have to bury their sons,” his father, Javier Ambler Sr., added.
Records give no indication about why Ambler fled. Documents show the most serious crime he would have faced before his death was for evading arrest, a low-level felony.
Because the chase ended in Austin, the Austin Police Department’s special investigations unit and the civil rights division of the Travis County District Attorney’s Office have been investigating.
District Attorney Margaret Moore said efforts to push the case forward have been hindered by a lack of cooperation by the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office. She said she also is troubled that the cable reality show, “Live PD,” which was riding with two deputies and appeared to have filmed what happened, has not provided any footage to investigators. Moore said that video could help reveal what happened that night. Live PD producers did not return a request for comment Monday. Austin police officials said they could not comment on their ongoing investigation.
Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody, whose agency has faced an array of criticism in the past year, much of it stemming from participation in the show, said that because of an ongoing criminal investigation into Ambler’s death, he was unable to comment. He added, however, that the department’s pursuit policy has changed since the incident to include more oversight." KVUE
"In rural Texas, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought more accessible mental health care,"The Texas Tribune's Raga Justin -- "The coronavirus pandemic has created widespread fear and economic anxiety across Texas, and mental health experts and advocates say rural areas — which already had fewer providers and higher rates of suicide and drug overdoses — could see more severe mental health impacts than the state’s urban areas. They are predicting a lingering wave of trauma and depression even after the pandemic’s immediate effects recede and lockdowns lift.
But it’s not all bad news. Although the pandemic has aggravated existing problems, the speedy rollout of telemedicine may prove to be a boon for rural residents who urgently need mental health care.
“There’s a lot of bad things happening right now because of COVID-19,” said Andy Keller, president and CEO of the Texas-based Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute. “But in some ways, people in rural Texas have better access to health care than they’d ever had before. All the barriers to them accessing physicians across the state have been lifted.”
In April, Gov. Greg Abbott temporarily waived restrictions on telehealth, allowing mental health care providers and local mental health authorities to broadly expand services and collect reimbursement for online appointments more easily. The state also implemented a mental health hotline in March that offers free over-the-phone support and provides resources and information to callers who need help." Texas Tribune
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
"Texas to push for more virus testing in minority communities," viaAP-- "Texas will push for increased coronavirus testing in minority communities that have been hit hard by cases by expanding walk-up and drive-through testing sites, Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday.
The Republican also said Texas will be poised to react to any surge in cases that may come from exposure in large public demonstrations that have been held since the death of former Houston resident George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd, who was black, died on Memorial Day after a white police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for several minutes even after the handcuffed man stopped moving and pleading for air.
“We must address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on underserved and minority communities and ensure that anyone who needs a test can get one,” the Republican Abbott said.
The move comes after several black lawmakers complained the state hasn’t adequately addressed their pleas for better racial data and efforts to decrease COVD-19′s decidedly deadly toll on black Americans.
Many of the more than 70,000 confirmed cases and 1,700 deaths on the state’s case dashboard do not have information on race and ethnicity.
The Texas Division of Emergency Management is working with local officials in Dallas, San Antonio, the Rio Grand Valley and several other areas to ramp up testings sites for each community, Abbott said.
While Texas is further easing its economic lockdown — restaurants will be allowed to operate at 75 percent capacity later this week, for example — the governor’s office is eyeing the protests as a potential cause of a possible surge in cases.
“We are ensuring that Texans can continue to safely exercise their First Amendment Rights while putting protocols in place to identify and mitigate any spread of COVID-19,” Abbott said.
Texas has seen a recent rise the number of daily cases, hospitalizations and the 7-day average positivity rate of testing. Saturday’s 1,940 new cases was the state’s second-highest single day total, and the positivity rate had surged to 7.6%, its highest mark since late April.
Texas reported 1,935 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 on Monday, setting a single-day high." AP
"Spending cuts, police reforms among budget amendments proposed by Houston city council members," The Houston Chronicle's Jasper Scherer -- "City council members have authored more than four dozen amendments to Mayor Sylvester Turner’s proposed budget to trim spending, create new sources of revenue and expand police accountability measures.
Council members will take up the proposals Wednesday when they consider the mayor’s $5.1 billion budget plan, which is coming forward at an especially fraught moment. The city’s usual budget challenges have been aggravated by the economic crisis tied to COVID-19, while activists are gaining traction around the country in their calls to defund or scale back police departments after the death of Houston native George Floyd.
Many of the 50 budget amendments are a direct response to those topics, including one from Councilwoman Amy Peck that would establish a group to audit all city departments and programs, then recommend whether they should be continued with certain changes, folded into another program or dissolved altogether.
The process would in some ways parallel the zero-based budgeting process used for Turner’s spending plan, which required department heads to analyze every function and justify each dollar spent rather than adding to existing budgets. Peck said Turner’s administration never showed council members the detailed results of zero-based budgeting — and her so-called sunset review commission has a broader scope." Houston Chronicle
2020
"Texas voters will decide for themselves if they need mail-in ballots for July runoffs,"The Houston Chronicle's Taylor Goldenstein -- "As Democrats and civil rights groups sue to expand mail-in voting during the pandemic, a recent decision by the Texas Supreme Court has left it up to voters to decide for themselves whether they qualify for vote-by-mail.
In its decision in late May, the highest civil court in the state ruled that lack of immunity to COVID-19 alone does not constitute a disability that would allow those under 65 years old to vote by mail rather than at the polls, under the Texas election codes.
But it added — which legal experts say is crucial — that a voter can take the possibility of being infected into consideration along with his or her “health” and “health history” to determine whether he or she needs to vote by mail under the ‘disability’ provisions in the law.
“I think really the story here is that it’s going to be up to individual voters to decide whether they fit this definition or not,” said Joseph Fishkin, a University of Texas professor who studies election law and has closely followed the cases.
So while the court battle continues with Democrats on one side, and on the other side Republican state leaders who argue that an expansion of mail-in voting would encourage more voter fraud, it will be up to elections officials across the state to set the tone for mail-in voting.
Early voting in congressional and statewide runoffs begins June 29. Election Day is July 14.
The law allows those with a “sickness or physical condition that prevents the voter from appearing at the polling place” to use mail-in ballots, in addition to people over 65, people traveling outside the county during the election and people confined to jail. In the 2018 elections, fewer than 7 percent of Texans voted by mail.
Texas counties have taken different approachesto explaining the decision to voters. Harris County has encouraged mail-in voting whenever possible. The county in April put $12 million toward sending mail ballots to any voter who requests one for the July or November elections. It also took the unusual step of sending a mail ballot to every voter age 65 and up.
Assistant County Attorney Douglas Ray has said Harris is relying on the Supreme Court decision to bolster its recommendation that voters request a ballot if they believe they are eligible.
“If it’s checked disabled, we’ll just send the ballot,” Ray said. “We don’t question that. We don’t have the authority or ability to investigate that.”
In Bexar County, the commissioners court last month passed a resolution supporting access to mail-in ballots for voters afraid of contracting COVID-19 at polling place, but the county has not made any recommendations to voters since.
Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said Monday that such a public notice is on the way." Houston Chronicle
"Texas Democrats break fundraising records at virtual convention,"Dallas Morning News' James Barragan -- "The Texas Democratic Party raised nearly $2 million during its week-long virtual convention, breaking the party’s digital daily and monthly fundraising record during the event.
About $1.5 million of that money came from grassroots donations, the party said. The remainder came in corporate sponsorships.
The haul has energized Democrats about their chances in the November elections. After COVID-19 forced the party into a virtual convention, some questioned whether a digital event could create the same energy as an in-person convention with thousands of supporters.
Luke Warford, the party’s voter expansion director who led the fundraising efforts, said the record numbers wiped away those concerns.
“Texas Democrats have known for a long time that Texas was the biggest battleground state in the country,” he said. “This was the week that everyone else woke up to that.”
For comparison, Warford said, the party netted only $18,000 off their fundraising efforts at the 2018 state convention. In that cycle — in which the Democrats picked up 12 seats in the Texas House and 2 in the Senate — the party raised $2 million for the entire cycle." Dallas Morning News
TEXANS IN DC
"Texas Democrats Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green champion sweeping police reform bill in Congress,"The Houston Chronicle's Benjamin Wermund -- "After a week of mass protests demanding action, House Democrats on Monday rolled out sweeping legislation aimed at curbing police violence that led to George Floyd's death — which they called a sacrifice that “has brought America to its knees.”
“He died a vicious death. If anything, he sacrificed his life — his life was sacrificed — for the nation to answer his call,” said U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat and senior member of the House Judiciary Committee overseeing the response, which includes legislation she filed. “This is a seismic and one-time opportunity to be able to deal with where we are today.”
The legislation would ban choke holds and no-knock search warrants in drug cases, bolster the Justice Department’s authority to crack down on misconduct and chip away at some of officers’ legal protections when they are sued in civil court, among other things. It comes as sustained protests have erupted in cities across the nation, from small towns such as Vidor, Texas, to Washington, D.C., in the weeks since Floyd died while a Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground with a knee to the neck.
Major provisions of the Justice in Policing Act
-Changes the federal threshold for prosecuting police misconduct from “willfulness” to a “recklessness” standard and bumps the standard for use of force from “reasonable” to “necessary.”
-Reforms qualified immunity, which shields police officers from legal liability.
-Gives the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division subpoena power and offers grants to states to create independent investigative panels.
-Creates a National Police Misconduct Registry and requires state and local law enforcement agencies to report use of force data broken down by race, sex, disability, religion and age.
-Bans no-knock warrants in drug cases, as well as chokeholds and carotid holds.
-Requires federal uniformed officers to wear body cameras and for state and local law enforcement to use federal funds to ensure the use of body cameras.
-Limits the transfer of military equipment to police departments.
Democrats say the Floyd slaying is a turning point, as polling indicates the majority of Americans now believe police are more likely to use force against African Americans — a viewpoint backed by statistics — and even voices once critical of the Black Lives Matter movement have joined it." Houston Chronicle
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
"In reversal, Pentagon open to stripping names of Confederate generals off Fort Hood, other posts,"The Dallas Morning News' Todd Gillman and Paul Cobler -- "Abandoning decades of resistance, the Pentagon signaled Monday that it is open to stripping the names of Confederate heroes off Fort Hood and nine other Army posts, including one named for the rebels’ top general, Robert E. Lee.
Civil rights advocates embraced the shift, which Defense Secretary Mark Esper added his voice to a few hours after Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy’s office said that he was open to the idea.
The announcement came two weeks into nationwide demonstrations against police brutality and racism, and backlash against President Donald Trump’s initial push for a military response to quash the protests.
“The Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Army are open to a bi-partisan discussion on the topic,” said Lt. Col. Emanuel L. Ortiz, an Army spokesman.
Three months ago, the Marine Corps banned Confederate symbols as part of an effort to root out white supremacy in the ranks and to end ongoing offense to black personnel. McCarthy said at the time that the Army would not reassess the use of Confederate names." Dallas Morning News
REMAINDERS
SPURS: "Spurs' Aldridge out for season after shoulder surgery" AP
'MACK ON POLITICS' PODCAST
LATEST "MACK ON POLITICS" PODCAST: The George Floyd killing and resulting protests are the subject of the 191st episode.
Our guest is social commentator and activist Toure, who hosts two podcasts, “The Toure Show” and “Democracyish”.
In this conversation we take stock of this national moment, examine real solutions to police brutality, consider whether police union contracts are part of the problem, and probe the concepts of systemic racism and white privilege. Finally, we discuss how the protests will end.
Available on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher and on the web at http://www.MackOnPoliticsPodcast.com.
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