Austin, TX
Texas Republicans ramp up anti-trans ads ahead of Election Day
WASHINGTON — Texas Republicans up and down the ballot are airing campaign ads criticizing transgender rights. It is a trend that’s being seen in other states, too. Republican leaders defend the ads, saying the issue resonates with voters. LGBTQ+ advocates denounce the tactic and question its effectiveness.
An ad called “Boys and Girls,” paid for by the Cruz campaign, says “Somehow it’s become controversial to say boys and girls are different, but they are. Colin Allred supports boys playing in girls’ sports.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee’s first TV ad this cycle for former Rep. Mayra Flores’ new bid for Congress was about gender transition treatment. It targets Flores’ opponent, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen.
“When you work your butt off, family-owned business, times are tough, and then you see Vicente Gonzalez push sex changes for kids,” the ad says.
Democrats say the ads are misleading or false and a distraction from the issues voters really care about. Republicans defend the approach.
“It shouldn’t be a partisan issue, but somehow elected Democrats have tried to make it one, and I think it’s to their detriment,” said Bo French, chair of the Tarrant County GOP.
“This crosses party lines. Most people don’t think that men should be allowed to compete in women’s sports,” French continued. “These are just things that are common sense. I think most people agree with those, certainly the majority of Republicans.”
On the campaign trail, former President Donald Trump often criticizes transgender participation in organized sports, as well as certain gender transition care.
Some LGBTQ+ advocates in Texas say they do not believe Republicans can win on this issue and that it is a fear-mongering tactic.
“These are real human beings, real Texans, who deserve respect and deserve to not be used as political pawns by elected officials who are just desperate because their poll numbers aren’t reflecting what they want them to see,” said Brad Pritchett, the interim chief executive officer for the group Equality Texas.
“It’s campaigns who don’t have a record to run on, or don’t want their record reflected, so they’re trying to distract voters by something that doesn’t really have an impact on your daily life as a voter or as a Texan,” Pritchett continued.
The Republican-led state Legislature already requires student athletes to play on sports teams that reflect the sex listed on their birth certificates and restricts transgender youth from accessing puberty blockers and hormone therapy.
Spectrum News 1 recently asked Allred about Cruz’s strategy to focus on transgender issues.
“What I’ve supported is basic protections for folks on the basis of their sexual identity or who they love or how they identify and trying to make sure that they’re not discriminated against,” Allred said.
Meanwhile, in response to the National Republican Congressional Committee’s ad, Gonzalez referred to Flores as “Mayra Mentiras,” or “Mayra the liar” in Spanish.
“Mayra Mentiras strikes again. I have never supported tax dollars paying for gender transition surgeries and never will,” Gonzalez said.
“Voters won’t fall for baseless and desperate lies about Vicente Gonzalez’s record. While Mayra Flores voted against lowering health care and drug costs and would jeopardize Social Security and Medicare, Vicente Gonzalez is working every day to lower costs for Valley families,” said Lauryn Fanguen, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Department of Public Safety has issued a Silver Alert for an elderly man who has been missing since Friday afternoon in Austin.
The Austin Police Department is looking for Charles Evans, a 73-year-old man diagnosed with a cognitive impairment. Evans was last seen at 5:37 p.m. on Jan. 9 in Austin.
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Police describe him as a 6’3″ tall white male, weighing 225 pounds, has gray hair, hazel eyes, and who uses a walker.
Law enforcement officials believe his disappearance poses a credible threat to his health and safety.
Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is urged to contact the Austin Police Department at 512-974-5000.
AUSTIN, Texas – A 20-year-old was arrested and charged with murder for a deadly shooting at the Cambria Hotel in downtown Austin, police said.
What we know:
Police said on Monday, Jan. 5, around 6:55 a.m., officers responded to a report of a gunshot at the Cambria Hotel at 68 East Avenue #824. The caller said a person had been shot.
When officers arrived, they found a man with injuries. He later died at the scene. He was identified as Luke Bradburn.
The investigation revealed that Bradburn drove and crashed a car that belonged to 20-year-old Maximillian Salinas. After the crash, Bradburn and the other people in the car left and went to the Cambria Hotel.
Salinas went to the hotel and shot Bradburn.
On Jan. 6, Salinas was arrested and charged with murder.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Austin Police at 512-974-TIPS. You may submit your tip anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-472-8477.
The Source: Information from the Austin Police Department
Chants of “shame” and “ICE out of Texas” rang through the street as Austin-area activists joined thousands across the nation in protesting the killing of Renee Nicole Good, who was fatally shot Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis.
The protest was held in front of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security building in Pflugerville.
Good, 37, was shot in her SUV while attempting to drive away from several ICE officers who ordered her to exit her vehicle.
Scarleth Lopez with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the organization that led the protest, said the videos of the shooting in Minneapolis were “sickening.”
“Trump has lied and and said that Renee was a terrorist. She was a mother. She was an innocent bystander,” Lopez said. “We must organize to stop these people from kidnapping and murdering.”
Lorianne Willett
/
KUT News
Elizabeth Bope, a retired Pflugerville ISD teacher, said the claims from federal and state lawmakers that Good was attempting to strike the ICE agent with her vehicle inspired her to attend the protest.
Such claims were posted online by Vice President J.D. Vance and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Attorney General Ken Paxton reposted a statement from DHS on X, formerly known as Twitter, that said the ICE agent “relied on his training and saved his own life.”
“It’s beyond really any words that they killed this woman for no reason, but also that they’re lying about it,” Bope said. “I’m not even a radical left person, I’m just a regular old Democrat.”
Other key Texas leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, have not commented on the shooting.
Lorianne Willett
/
KUT News
Doug Tickner, who said he works for a home building company in Austin, said he felt it was important to show up in person for Good.
“I don’t really think of Minneapolis as being that far from here, and it’s not like what happened in Minneapolis was some sort of one off unique event,” Tickner said. “This is part of a pattern, and I feel folks better wake up and realize that this is becoming more and more serious.”
The news that federal immigration officers shot and wounded two people in Portland, Oregon, broke hours before the protest.
The gathering in Pflugerville is among the first of four anti-ICE demonstrations planned across the Austin area over the next few days.
Earlier on Thursday, protesters gathered at the intersection of 45th Street and Lamar Boulevard during rush hour. A protest on Friday will be held at the Capitol and another will be held Saturday at City Hall.
Lorianne Willett
/
KUT News
State and federal leaders are now sparring over who should conduct an investigation into the Minneapolis shooting, according to NPR.
Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which was originally asked to conduct a joint investigation with the FBI, said in a statement it was later told the investigation would be led solely by federal authorities.
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