Austin, TX
Travis County Attorney drops charges against 79 more UT-Austin protesters
![Travis County Attorney drops charges against 79 more UT-Austin protesters](https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/BiW4FAwI7EV3u9VHS4CjaQwpLA0=/1200x630/filters:quality(95):focal(0x0:3000x2000)/static.texastribune.org/media/files/ac9c35a1d8bb26cb58aa84ed1d380d30/0429%20UT%20Protest%20LS%20TT%2001.jpg)
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Criminal charges were dropped against 79 people arrested at a pro-Palestinian demonstration at the University of Texas at Austin on April 29. Travis County Attorney Delia Garza announced the charges would be dismissed at a press conference on Wednesday.
The protesters were charged with criminal trespass, a Class B misdemeanor. Although the arrests met the initial requirements for probable cause, the County Attorney’s Office could not meet their legal burden to prove these charges beyond a reasonable doubt, Garza said.
There are still a number of other cases with more serious charges related to the April 29 arrests which are still under review, Garza said.
The April 29 arrests were the result of the second police crackdown on pro-Palestine demonstrations at UT-Austin. The first protest, on April 24, resulted in 57 arrests, most of whom were also charged with criminal trespass. Those charges, however, were quickly dismissed because law enforcement lacked probable cause, Garza said.
The police crackdowns on pro-Palestinian protests on April 24 and April 29 at the University of Texas at Austin are part of a larger wave of law enforcement and university administrators responding to pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses across the country.
Just in: Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming; U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania; and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt will take the stage at The Texas Tribune Festival, Sept. 5–7 in downtown Austin. Buy tickets today!
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Austin, TX
Fourth of July celebrations in Texas
TEXAS — Looking for a way to celebrate the Fourth of July?
Here is a list of events happening across Texas on July 4:
Central Texas
Hill Country Galleria Independence Day Festival
On the streets of the Hill Country Galleria, this event will take place from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
There will be shopping, live music and a firework show after dark.
Austin Symphony H-E-B July 4th Concert & Fireworks
This event will take place at the Auditorium Shores and the Long Center. Enjoy music and food starting at 4 p.m. and a firework show to finish off the night at 9:30 p.m.
Hutto Fourth of July Celebration
This event will take place at the Brushy Creek Amphitheater from 5 p.m. to 9:15 p.m.
The celebration will feature live music, kids entertainment, local food vendors and fireworks.
San Marcos’ Fireworks Show
This event will be visible throughout San Marcos with the city encouraging residents to enjoy the fireworks starting at 9:30 p.m. The best visible places for the show are San Marcos Activity Center, San Marcos Public Library, City Park or Bobcat Stadium.
Round Rock Fourth of July Parade & Frontier Days
This event will take place at the Round Rock Mays Street and Old Settlers Park, with a parade at 8:30 a.m. and celebrations at the park starting at noon.
After the parade, families can enjoy carnival rides, pig racing, live music and a pepper-eating contest.
Marble Falls Fourth of July Fireworks
The celebration at Lakeside Park starts at 5 p.m., followed by fireworks at 9:15 p.m. Live music and food will be there for attendees to enjoy.
Kerrville’s 4th on the River
Come and enjoy a concert, vendors and fireworks during this celebration. The event will take place at Louise Hays Park. With the fireworks celebration kicking off at 9:30 p.m.
Floresville Fourth of July Festival
Floresville is hosting its Fourth of July Festival, which takes place from 3 to 11 p.m. The event will feature fun activities, live music and food and craft vendors. The fireworks show begins at 9 p.m.
North Texas
Denton Fourth of July Jubilee
Don’t miss out on a free family-friendly event from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Denton Downtown Square. Experience live music, food from local vendors, games, inflatables, rock climbing, face painting, photo opportunities, a hot dog eating contest, and an unforgettable drone show to end the night!
Frisco’s Party in the Plaza
Following the FC Dallas match, Frisco is hosting a firework show at around 9:45 p.m. Enjoy live music, a car show and food throughout the day, leading up to the fireworks.
Fair Park Fourth
From 4:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., enjoy local vendors, live music, entertainment, food trucks and a firework show to end the night. The firework show will begin close to 9:40 p.m.
Fort Worth’s Fourth
At Panther Island Pavilion, you’ll be able to enjoy food, kids’ activities and live music from Trey and the Tritones and Coffey Anderson. The event will run from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and attendees are invited to bring your own tube and float in the roped area until 8 p.m. The night will be topped off with a firework show at 9:30 p.m.
McKinney’s Red, White and Boom
This festival will take place at Gabe Nesbitt Community Park from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. There will be music, food, activities, a concert and fireworks to finish off the festival.
Grapevine July 4th Fireworks Extravaganza
The event will start at 9:30 p.m. They will also have a playlist to listen to while watching the fireworks show. You can find the playlist on their website.
Austin, TX
Charges against 2 Uvalde school officers are still leaving families frustrated
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Two indictments against former Uvalde, Texas, schools police officers are the first charges brought against law enforcement for the botched response that saw hundreds of officers wait more than an hour to confront an 18-year-old gunman who killed 19 fourth-grade students and two teachers at Robb Elementary.
For some Uvalde families, who have spent the last two years demanding police accountability, the indictments brought a mix of relief and frustration. Several wonder why more officers have not been charged for waiting to go into the classroom, where some victims lay dying or begging for assistance, to help bring a quicker end to one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history.
Former Uvalde schools police Chief Pete Arredondo and former Officer Adrian Gonzales were indicted on June 26 by a Uvalde County grand jury on multiple counts of child endangerment and abandonment over their actions and failure to immediately confront the shooter. They were among the first of nearly 400 federal, state and local officers who converged on the school that day.
“I want every single person who was in the hallway charged for failure to protect the most innocent,” said Velma Duran, whose sister Irma Garcia was one of the teachers killed. “My sister put her body in front of those children to protect them, something they could have done. They had the means and the tools to do it. My sister had her body.”
Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell has not said if any other officers will be charged or if the grand jury’s work is done.
Here are some things to know about the criminal investigation into the police response:
The shooting
The gunman stormed into the school on May 24, 2022, and killed his victims in two classrooms.
More than 370 officers responded but waited more than 70 minutes to confront the shooter, even as he could be heard firing an AR-15-style rifle.
Terrified students inside the classrooms called 911 as agonized parents begged for intervention by officers, some of whom could hear shots being fired while they stood in a hallway. A tactical team of officers eventually went into the classroom and killed the shooter.
Scathing state and federal investigative reports on the police response have catalogued “cascading failures” in training, communication, leadership and technology problems.
The charges
The indictment against Arredondo, who was the on-site commander at the shooting, accused the chief of delaying the police response despite hearing shots fired and being notified that injured children were in the classrooms and a teacher had been shot.
Arredondo called for a SWAT team, ordered the initial responding officers to leave the building and attempted to negotiate with the 18-year-old gunman, the indictment said. The grand jury said it considered his actions criminal negligence.
Gonzales was accused of abandoning his training and not confronting the shooter, even after hearing gunshots as he stood in a hallway.
All the charges are state jail felonies that carry up to two years in jail if convicted.
Arredondo said in a 2022 interview with the Texas Tribune that he tried to “eliminate any threats, and protect the students and staff.” Gonzalez’s lawyer on Friday called the charges “unprecedented in the state of Texas” and said the officer believes he did not break any laws or school district policy.
The first U.S. law enforcement officer ever tried for allegedly failing to act during an on-campus shooting was a campus sheriff’s deputy in Florida who didn’t go into the classroom building and confront the perpetrator of the 2018 Parkland massacre. The deputy, who was fired, was acquitted of felony neglect last year. A lawsuit by the victims’ families and survivors is pending.
The lawsuits
The families are pursing accountability from authorities in other state and federal courts. Several have filed multiple civil lawsuits.
Two days before the two-year anniversary of the shooting, the families of 19 victims filed a $500 million lawsuit against nearly 100 state police officers who were part of the botched response. The lawsuit accuses the troopers of not following their active shooter training and not confronting the shooter. The highest ranking Department of Public Safety official named as a defendant is South Texas Regional Director Victor Escalon.
The same families also reached a $2 million settlement with the city under which city leaders promised higher standards for hiring and training local police.
On May 24, a group of families sued Meta Platforms, which owns Instagram, and the maker of the video game Call of Duty over claims the companies bear responsibility for the weapons used by the teenage gunman.
They also filed another lawsuit against gun maker Daniel Defense, which made the AR-style rifle used by the gunman.
Austin, TX
Texas Longhorns Miss Out On 4-Star IDL Josiah Sharma: What’s Next?
![Texas Longhorns Miss Out On 4-Star IDL Josiah Sharma: What’s Next?](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_3000,h_1687,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/longhorns_country/01j1g5bszextf80v7h79.jpg)
Four-star defensive lineman Josiah Sharma has committed to Oregon over the likes of Washington, Alabama and Texas.
The 6’4, 320-pound defensive tackle had been a target of the Longhorns, as new defensive line coach Kenny Baker looked to add to his class of 2025 defensive line. Sharma has varying degrees of ratings across many sites, with composites rating him as a three-star, while places like On3 have him as high as the 83rd-rated player, and a top-seven defensive lineman in the class of 2025.
Sharma had been crystal-balled to Oregon three times today before his announcement, and it had looked to be in the Ducks’ favor after his official visit two weeks prior.
The Sacramento product is one of the many players both the Longhorns and Ducks are fighting over in the class of 2025, as three five-stars in receiver Dakorien Moore, athlete Michael Terry III, and linebacker Jonah Williams all have the two schools as their top options.
The Longhorns were hoping to add to an already successful start to the class of 2025 on the defensive line after securing commitments from defensive end Lance Jackson and defensive lineman Brandon Brown. Sharma would’ve been just the second four-star defensive line recruit, alongside Jackson, to commit to Texas in the last three classes after a successful class of 2022 that featured three separate four-stars on the defensive line.
Texas has struggled to recruit the position in the past despite the level of coaching now-LSU defensive line coach Bo Davis brought, but there is still hope for Baker to turn that around. Texas has received interest from four-star talents DJ Sanders and Smith Orogbo and is still in the running for edge rushers like Florida State commit Javion Hilson, Marco Jones, and Kamauryn Morgan.
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