By Steve Pomper
On the heels of a recent NPA story regarding the cop-hating, Soros-funded Travis County prosecutor José Garza comes yet another allegation of corruption. This isn’t piling on; it’s just following up—but not without a bit of schadenfreude.
While DA Garza is no stranger to accusations of rule-breaking, as you can read here about his reportedly doing just that to prosecute cops. He seems to have had plenty of practice. After all, he prosecuted (or tried to) some 19 Austin PD officers, including Sgt. Josh Blake, for doing their jobs to quell the 2020 rioting BLM/Antifa thugs—whom, by contrast, Garza did not prosecute for actual crimes.
Happily, at least 17 of the officers have had their charges dropped, including Sgt. Blake. Happily, yes, but that doesn’t erase the agony these officers and their colleagues, friends, and families have gone through to varying degrees. Or the continuing healing from the emotional wounds inflicted by an unfair, politically biased indictment.
Reportedly, an assistant DA resigned after she said DA Garza asked “her to delete evidence to benefit a defendant in a child sexual assault case.” So, he’ll prosecute cadres of cops, but he lets violent rioters and sex offenders off the hook. That’s an interesting protocol for a prosecutor’s office. Continuing this trend, Garza similarly allowed pro-Gaza rioters to skate. I wrote, “If you’re keeping score, that’s more than 24 cops indicted to 136 rioters charges dismissed.”
But it’s not just cops. Take this obvious case of self-defense against an “armed Black Lives Matter protester,” which I also wrote about. Garza convicted former U.S. Army Sgt. Daniel Perry for murder. This conviction was “despite the lead detective on the case claiming Perry’s actions were justifiably self-defense — and despite accusations against District Attorney José Garza of witness tampering and withholding evidence.”
Perry was convicted in 2023 for the 2020 shooting of an armed BLM rioter who, reportedly from 18” away from Perry’s car door, had pointed an AR15-styled rifle at him. Perry used his handgun to defend himself.
Fortunately, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott reversed DA Garza’s malfeasance and pardoned the former soldier after his dubious conviction. The governor even requested an expedited review by the Board of Pardons and Paroles to get it done as quickly as possible.
I picture Garza gazing at corruption with goo-goo eyes and lamenting, “I wish I knew how to quit you.” He’s on the skids once again. As we’ve previously noted, he’s made ironic requests for increased security from an already depleted pool of cops. The thin ranks are evidence of his devastation of Travis County’s criminal justice system, which includes police staffing.
According to KVUE TV News, Garza’s alleged misbehavior has now provoked the ire of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. AG Paxton filed a lawsuit against Travis County for holding an “‘unlawful secret meeting’ to approve a taxpayer-funded special security for Travis County District Attorney José Garza.”
KVUE reported, “The lawsuit comes following reporting by the KVUE Defenders in August that Travis County commissioners quietly moved $115,000 to Garza’s office for home security. In the lawsuit, Paxton claims the county’s actions violated the Texas Open Meetings Act.” [link added]
AG Paxton is accusing Travis County of illegally misusing government procedures to hide actions from the public to benefit Garza. Paxton noted the irony in Garza’s seeking police protection at his home after his “pro-crime policies…” have put Travis County’s residents at higher risk of crime.
Though not a part of the lawsuit, the timing and similarity of another action is suspect. A KVUE investigation revealed that the county has also allotted $1.8 million to create a new law enforcement agency dedicated to county official protection. KVUE conducted research and found no other urban county in Texas that has a similar separate agency. They also found that other Texas counties assign sheriff’s deputies to protection details based on specific threats.
The most infuriating part of this story is that Garza is someone who’s exhibited such animosity toward cops that he tried to rip officers’ profession from them, tear them from friends and families, and send them to prison for doing their jobs. Were his nefarious efforts because the officers had acted illegally or because Garza personally doesn’t like how proper law enforcement is performed? I choose the latter.
This man’s calling for people he loathes to protect him is the epitome of hypocrisy. I make no secret that I hope DA Garza loses this lawsuit and later loses any official position where he can continue to target cops, show contempt for public safety, and demonstrate his affection for criminals.
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