Texas officials say they’re prepared to crack down on any civil unrest following days of protests in Los Angeles over immigration raids — demonstrations that have prompted President Donald Trump to deploy federal troops to the West Coast.
While protests in Houston, San Antonio and Dallas remained mostly peaceful, tensions escalated in Austin Monday evening as hundreds gathered at the Texas Capitol to protest the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts. State leaders say they won’t tolerate the kind of violence and property damage reported in California.
“The State of Texas stands ready to deploy all necessary personnel and resources, including Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, to uphold law and order across our state,” Gov. Greg Abbott’s press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, told The Texas Newsroom on Monday. “Peaceful protests are part of the fabric of our nation, but Texas will not tolerate the lawlessness we have seen in Los Angeles.”
Abbott, a vocal supporter of Trump’s immigration policies, called the federal deployment in Los Angeles “excellent” on social media over the weekend.
“An organized assault has been waged against federal law enforcement officials,” Abbott wrote on Sunday. “It's time to put an end to it, and allow fed officials to fully enforce the laws of the United States.”
In Los Angeles, federal immigration agents carried out a series of large-scale raids last week. Protests quickly erupted, with demonstrators clashing with law enforcement, blocking freeways and vandalizing public property. Dozens have been arrested and at least five police officers have been injured. While the number of injured protesters is unclear, videos show police firing gas canisters and other projectiles.
On Monday, Trump ordered 700 U.S. Marines to deploy to Los Angeles, joining 2,000 National Guard troops already stationed there. Protests have since spread nationwide, including multiple Texas cities, where demonstrators have voiced solidarity with those in Los Angeles and expressed concern about increased federal militarization and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Large crowds gathered in Houston and San Antonio over the weekend. In Austin on Monday, more than a dozen people were arrested after hundreds gathered at the Texas Capitol, chanting "no justice, no peace" as they marched through city streets. Protesters vandalized a federal building with anti-Trump graffiti and reportedly tore down construction barriers.
In Dallas, hundreds also protested Monday night. Police declared the demonstration an unlawful assembly around 10 p.m. An hour later, officers used pepper balls to disperse the crowd and push protesters back. Edith González was among the crowd in Dallas.
“The government's really not looking out for us,” González told KERA. “They're going to go way out of their way to silence whatever our people have to say, and just emphasizing oppression by any means necessary, which to them is violence."
