Being a Democrat in Texas Can Be a Life-Threatening Experience

Summary

The article discusses the escalation of political violence in Texas, particularly against Democrats, and the lack of condemnation from Republican leaders.

Abstract

The article highlights a series of politically motivated attacks in Texas, including an incident where a "Trump Train" of vehicles attempted to run a Biden campaign bus off the road, and the firebombing of the Travis County Democratic Party Headquarters. Despite clear evidence of these events, Texas GOP Chairman Allen West dismissed the bus incident as "fake news," and there was a notable absence of public denouncement from Texas Republican officials following the firebombing. The article also touches on the broader issue of the minimization of the January 6th U.S. Capitol attack by Texas Republicans, including Senator Ted Cruz, and concerns about the potential increase in violence due to Texas' new permitless gun carry law.

Opinions

Texas GOP Chairman Allen West and other Republican leaders have been accused of failing to condemn acts of political violence, with West specifically dismissing the confrontation involving the Biden campaign bus.
Senator Marco Rubio and former President Donald Trump have been criticized for praising the actions of the "Trump Train" participants.
The Travis County Republican Party's silence following the firebombing of the Democratic Party Headquarters is seen as a lack of condemnation for politically motivated violence.
Texas Republicans, including Representative Jody Arrington, have been perceived as downplaying the severity of the January 6th Capitol attack.
There is a concern that the new Texas gun law, which allows for permitless carry, could lead to an increase in political violence, a viewpoint shared by law enforcement officials.
The article suggests that the Republican party's stance on these issues is at odds with its traditional "law and order" platform.

Sadly, Republican leaders often refuse to condemn the violence

The “Trump Train” of nearly 100 trucks that surrounded a Biden campaign bus in Texas, tried to run it off the road, and caused a collision with another vehicle prior to the 2020 election made national news. Photos and videos of the incident provided indisputable evidence of the confrontation, and the Biden campaign canceled planned events in the area due to safety concerns.

Yet when asked to comment, Texas GOP Chairman Allen West called it “fake news and propaganda,” told the reporter to “stop bothering me,” and tried to change the subject, as Newsweek noted in this story.

At least West refrained from openly praising the “Trump Train” participants, unlike Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who had this to say during a Trump rally:

I saw yesterday a video of these people in Texas…All the cars on the road, we love what they did.

Trump himself tweeted “In my opinion, these patriots did nothing wrong.”

Rubio’s and Trump’s comments were cited in this Washington Post story, which also noted that another Texas GOP member bragged about sending the bus away and added “Your kind aren’t welcome here. This is Trump Country.”

Fast forward to September, 2021. The Travis County Democratic Party Headquarters in Austin were firebombed by a man who threw a rock at the window, then tossed a Molotov cocktail into the building. See this article for more details and video of that incident. Thankfully, no one was inside at the time, and neighbors quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher to put out the flames.

An arrest was made thanks in part to security camera footage; the Democrats had installed the cameras after a previous attack. A threatening note left by the firebomber indicated the attack was politically motivated.

The Travis County Republican Party did not condemn the attack, and to the best of my knowledge no Republican officials publicly denounced it.

Texas Republican officials also minimized the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. While Ted Cruz initially referred to it as a “violent terrorist attack” during a congressional hearing, criticism from his fellow conservatives quickly caused him to change his tune and say that his original words were “sloppy” and “frankly dumb,” according to The Texas Tribune.

KXAN News reported that the Republican U.S. Representative from Texas’ 19th District, Jody Arrington, responded to memories shared by her Democratic colleagues emphasizing the seriousness of the attack and that leaders feared for their lives, with this comment:

Their hysteria over Jan. 6, and the narrative to overblow it, exaggerate it, over-dramatize it as one of the worst events, and an insurrection is, to me, it’s absurd, and it’s divisive.

The reluctance of Texas’ Republican politicians and party officials to publicly and unequivocally condemn these acts of violence should concern everyone, regardless of their own political views. Tolerance and sometimes even praise of violent acts will almost certainly lead to such attacks becoming increasingly common. This is even more likely now that Texas’ new gun law, which went into effect September 1, 2021, allows most residents to carry handguns without getting a permit or receiving any training whatsoever. Law enforcement officials are understandably worried. (Source: Texas Tribune)

How ironic that the Republican party used to be known as the “law and order” party.