Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) has activated the state’s National Guard soldiers ahead of a “No Kings” protest in San Antonio on Wednesday evening following days of protests and riots against federal immigration efforts in Los Angeles.
The third-term governor announced early Wednesday that state military forces had been sent to various locations across the state, getting into place in case they are needed to quell mass, and potentially fiery, demonstrations against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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“Texas National Guard will be deployed to locations across the state to ensure peace & order. Peaceful protest is legal. Harming a person or property is illegal & will lead to arrest,” Abbott wrote in a post to X early Wednesday. “@TexasGuard will use every tool & strategy to help law enforcement maintain order.”
Abbott press secretary Andrew Mahaleris said soldiers “are on standby in areas where mass demonstrations are planned.”
“Peaceful protests are part of the fabric of our nation, but Texas will not tolerate the lawlessness we have seen in Los Angeles,” Mahaleris wrote in an email Wednesday. “Anyone engaging in acts of violence or damaging property will be swiftly held accountable to the full extent of the law.”
A national, multi-city rally and protest for “No Kings Day” has been planned for Saturday, June 14, but one related event will take place Wednesday evening at Travis Park in San Antonio, the seventh-largest city in the United States. Two groups, the Women’s March and 50501, are the organizers behind the march in San Antonio and have described it as a protest of the “absurdity of the MAGA regime.”
Protests have taken place across Texas since last weekend, including in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, according to local media.
Abbott’s decision to proactively green-light the deployment of troops stands in contrast with the situation in California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) did not call in military support as rioting began in Los Angeles last weekend.
Instead, President Donald Trump activated National Guard soldiers and Marines to the streets of Los Angeles. Newsom has sued Trump, saying that it was an overreach because Trump did not consult with Newsom before doing so.
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Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX), whose district includes part of San Antonio, said on Sunday that the Trump administration was not only focusing efforts to arrest illegal immigrants in Democrat-run states as much as it was looking nationwide.
“They’re trying to deport people as fast as they possibly can. What’s going to happen is it’s going to be across the country,” Gonzales told CBS News’s Face the Nation.