Texas reps. attending anti-Trump rally warned of 'credible threats'
The Texas Department of Public Safety has warned Saturday that 'credible threats' have been made to state legislators and their staff who plan to attend an anti-Trump rally at the Capitol in Austin. This comes hours after two Democratic Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses were shot by a former appointee of the state's governor , Tim Walz. The DPS alert was sent out just before 1pm on Saturday, according to emails obtained by The Texas Tribune .
Austin's 'No Kings Day' protest was scheduled to begin at 5pm, and roughly a half hour before, Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair and state Rep. Gene Wu confirmed it would commence as planned, despite the threats. 'We have every indication from the Austin No Kings organizers and Hands Off Central TX that our demonstration will continue,' Wu said in a statement. 'We are in active conversations with public safety officials, as well as state and local leaders to ensure have the opportunity to exercise their First Amendment rights without fear, intimidation, or violence,' he added.
And ten minutes before 5pm, a man was arrested in connection to the threats made this afternoon, a spokesperson with Texas DPS told DailyMail.com. A state trooper with DPS arrested the man in La Grange, a city 65 miles southeast of Austin. The spokesperson said there is no longer an active threat against the Austin protest, which is one of more than 2,000 'No King Day' events across the country on Saturday meant to protest President Donald Trump's actions in his second term.
Officials scheduled to speak at the Capitol protest include Democratic US Reps. Greg Casar and Lloyd Dogfgett; Democratic state Reps. Lulu Flores and John Bucy III; and Democratic state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt.
Organizations involved with coordinating this large-scale resistance are strongly pushing back against what they describe as Trump's march toward authoritarianism on issues such as immigration enforcement, civil rights and cuts to the federal government through DOGE. The simple message people involved want to get across is that 'we don't do kings in America,' said Ezra Levin, the co-executive director of progressive organizing group Indivisible.
The protests were also meant to counter Trump's military parade in Washington, D.C. , which began at 6:30pm ET. The threat against Austin's 'No Kings Day' protest came at a particularly sensitive moment. Early on Saturday morning, a gunman entered the residence of Minnesota state Senator John Hoffman and his wife early Saturday, shooting both and leaving them critically injured. He then proceeded to the home of former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman, where she and her husband were fatally shot.
Both lawmakers who were shot were Democrats. Vance Luther Boelter, 57, who was appointed by Walz in 2019 to serve a four-year stint on the Governor's Workforce Development Board, has been identified as the suspect in the quadruple shooting. The first shooting occurred just after 2am at Hoffman's home in Champlin, about 20 miles from Minneapolis. Hoffman and his wife were shot multiple times, KSTP reported.
The second attack took place at around 4am at Hortman's Brooklyn Park residence, eight miles south. After that shooting, police engaged the suspect in a gunfight on the street, officials said. Drew Evans, head of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, confirmed that the suspect escaped during the exchange and remains at large. According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Boelter stands at 6-foot-1, weighs roughly 220 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes.
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