by: Joshua Fechter, Texas Tribune, Emily Foxhall, Texas Tribune

Posted: Jun 27, 2024 / 10:57 AM CDT

Updated: Jun 27, 2024 / 01:11 PM CDT

AUSTIN (Texas Tribune) — Richard “Kinky” Friedman — the provocative and flamboyant Texas satirist who mounted a spirited campaign for governor in 2006 — has died. He was 79.

Friedman died at his longtime home at Echo Hill Ranch in Medina, his friends Cleve Hattersley said in an interview and Kent Perkins said on social media. He had Parkinson’s disease, Hattersley said.

Friedman ran for governor against Republican incumbent Rick Perry in 2006. Despite a colorful campaign and heavy media attention, Friedman finished fourth in the race. He also ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for agriculture commissioner in 2010 and in 2014.

Friedman was known for his outsized persona, pithy one-liners and signature look: curly hair poking out from beneath a black cowboy hat, cigar in hand.

“He was a communicator. An unusual, but very pointed and poignant communicator,” Hattersley said. “He could bring you to tears on stage. He could make you roll on the floor in laughter.”

Friedman gained a reputation as a provocateur. In the early 1970s, he formed the satirical country band Kinky Friedman and The Texas Jewboys — which penned songs like “They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore” and “Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in the Bed.” Later, he published novels that often featured a fictionalized version of himself, including “Elvis, Jesus and Coca-Cola” and “Armadillos and Old Lace.”

In politics, Friedman staked out unusual positions at the time for someone seeking statewide office in Texas, like legalization of marijuana and casino gambling. He supported same-sex marriage in 2006, long before the Supreme Court legalized it nationally, quipping, “I support gay marriage because I believe they have right to be just as miserable as the rest of us.”

Hattersley said Friedman’s irreverence gave voice to more ideas.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/27/kinky-friedman-dies-texas-governor-race-musician/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

June 26 (UPI) — Charges filed against 79 pro-Palestinian protesters, who were arrested in April at the University of Texas at Austin campus, will be dismissed, according to prosecutors who attracted praise from Muslim and free speech advocates.

Travis County Attorney Delia Garza made the announcement Wednesday during a press conference explaining the decision was based on a number of factors, including whether they would be able to obtain a conviction by a jury.

“After weighing all the evidence, we cannot meet our legal burden to prove these 79 criminal trespass cases beyond a reasonable doubt and they will be dismissed,” she said.

The protest erupted at the school as many had at universities across the United States and Canada in support of Palestinians and in criticism of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The protesters were generally demanding that their schools divest from Israel and companies that support its military.

On April 29, law enforcement officers rounded up protesters who were demonstrating on the South Lawn of the UT-Austin campus in a police action directed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and at the request for assistance by the school. The school said some were arrested for criminal trespass while other were arrested for disorderly conduct.

Abbott has been a vocal critic of the protesters, calling for demonstrators to be arrested and describing their demonstration as “hate-filled” and “anti-Semitic.”

The arrests on April 29 came days after more than two dozen protesting on campus were arrested.

The local Palestine Solidarity Committee behind the protest accused Abbott and the police of violating their First Amendment rights. Garza on Wednesday seemingly chastised the Republican governor for his actions that day.

“The decisions that were made in response to these protests continue to show, as I’ve said before, the severe lack of leadership we expect from our leaders, as they continue to prioritize extreme government overreach over actual public safety,” she said.

This is the second time Garza has dismissed charges filed against protesters arrested that day, with the first batch being thrown out shortly after the police action on the grounds of lacking probable cause.

She told reporters that the charges dismissed Wednesday were all for criminal trespass and that some cases resulting from April’s arrest are still under review.

“The decision is a relief for the students, their families and civil rights and free speech organizations,” Shaimaa Zayan, Austin operations manager for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement.

“We hope that the dismissal of these charges will prompt the UT Austin administration to reconsider any disciplinary actions against the students. Attorney Garza’s statement highlighted the undue influence of the governor and the UT Austin administration in the arrests. We share her wish that the situation had been handled differently.”

UPI has contacted both UT-Austin and Austin’s branch of the Palestine Solidarity Committee for comment.

Late last week, Manhattan District Attorney’s Office dismissed charges laid against 31 of 46 pro-Palestinians charged with trespassing in connection to last month’s demonstrations inside Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall.

The office said 14 of the defendants were offered to have their charges dismissed if they avoided arrest over the next six months, an offer the demonstrators rejected.

Jim Schlossnagle left Texas A&M for the Texas head coach job immediately after the Aggies’ College World Series run fell short, which created a firestorm of controversy in Aggieland.

Here are five things to know about Schlossnagle:

1. Aggie turned Longhorn

Schlossnagle’s previously mentioned move from College Station to Austin was one of the most shocking coaching moves both in state history and in recent college sports history. Not only did he leave the Aggies to become the Longhorns’ head coach, but he did so less than 24 hours after Texas A&M lost the College World Series final to Tennessee.

The next day, he was officially named Texas’ next head coach and took the entire coaching staff with him. The day after he took the Texas job, 11 Aggie players (including six starters from the College World Series) entered the transfer portal. It’s safe to say that as Texas joins the SEC next season, Schlossnagle’s first trip back to College Station as Texas’ head coach will be a series to keep an eye on.

According to D1Baseball.com’s Kendall Rogers, the deal with Texas was done before the Aggies’ postseason even started.

“One interesting note is that I was told by multiple sources today that this deal — at least at the highest level — was done between A&M’s series with Georgia and before the Regional round,” Rogers tweeted.

Longhorns columnist Kirk Bohls put it bluntly: “Texas just stole A&M’s soul.”

2. His tense moment with a reporter before taking the Texas job

In the postgame press conference after the Aggies lost the CWS final to Tennessee, a reporter asked him about his future with Texas A&M since Texas had just fired head coach David Pierce.

He snapped back at the reporter.

“I think it’s pretty selfish of you you to ask me that question, to be honest with you,” he said. “But I left my family to be the coach at Texas A&M. I took the job at Texas A&M to never take another job again. And that hasn’t changed in my mind. That’s unfair to talk about something like that.”

At his introductory press conference, Schlossnagle explained and apologized for his comments.

“I wish I could have answered that better,” Schlossnagle said. “I didn’t intend to mislead (Texas A&M fans). In that moment, that’s exactly how I felt.”

“If I had left Texas A&M for some other school, in a different part of the country, the interesting text messages and messages that I got yesterday probably wouldn’t have happened. But I get it,” he later said.

3. The UT-A&M jump wasn’t his first in-state coaching move

Schlossnagle spent nearly two decades as TCU’s head coach, starting in 2004 until he left the Texas A&M in 2021. Just before that year’s Big 12 tournament, Schlossnagle told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he “had no interest in any other job.”

He had a terrific run in Fort Worth, as he became the winningest coach in TCU history and led the Frogs to Omaha five times (including a stretch of four straight seasons). TCU had been to NCAA Tournament just twice before Schlossnagle arrived and took the Frogs to the tournament 15 times.

4. He is one of the most decorated coaches in college baseball

Over his tenures as head coach of UNLV, TCU, and Texas A&M, he has accumulated a 945-452 record and plenty of awards along the way.

He has won eight conference Coach of the Year honors, is a two-time National Coach of the Year, and has gone to the College World Series seven times. He is also one of 11 coaches to win games in the CWS with multiple programs.

5. Unique relationship with Texas AD Chris Del Conte and waiting at a cemetery

Schlossnagle’s relationship with Texas AD Chris Del Conte dates back to Schlossnagle’s TCU days. Del Conte was TCU’s AD from 2009-2017 before becoming the Longhorns’ AD. At his introductory press conference with Texas, they cited their friendship as a reason for the move.

“For 10 years I’ve had a front row seat to watch the man lead a [TCU] from the ashes to five times in Omaha,” Del Conte said.

Later in the presser, Del Conte said he hid in a cemetery outside of College Station waiting for Schlossnagle to get home so we wouldn’t be seen in Aggieland.

“When I was in the cemetery, [then on the way] to their house, it’s just as crazy as it sounds. I played every scenario in my mind. I drove to his house, had a long, long discussion, put him in the car, and we drove off,” he said.

After the press conference, he proved his story was real with a picture of his hiding spot:

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