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Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a conservative convention in 2022.
This text was initially printed by the Texas Observer, a nonprofit investigative information outlet. Join their weekly e-newsletter, or comply with them on Fb and Twitter.
In a speech Tuesday to attendees on the Sheriffs’ Affiliation of Texas’ 146th annual coaching convention and expo in Fort Price, Gov. Greg Abbott in contrast assaults on Israel by Hamas — the militant group that killed round 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7 — to crime and immigration in Texas.
“Lengthy earlier than even the battle started, Israel was struggling challenges from every day missile launches by Hamas, by Hezbollah, by some others, and now you may add the Houthis to the combination, and it’s the sort of factor the place we see,” Abbott mentioned, pivoting to attach the difficulty to his Texas legislation enforcement viewers. “You need to use my analogy, to not the identical magnitude after all, however you should use my analogy, one thing that Texas legislation enforcement offers with. You’re not coping with a battle, however you’re coping with ongoing assaults in your neighborhood. A special supply: It might be gangs, it might be legal organizations, it might be one rogue legal by themself. Or it might be what I’ll be speaking about later, and that’s an invasion that’s come throughout the border.”
Abbott’s speech got here after a consultant from the Israeli navy confirmed the sheriffs’ convention attendees a compilation of uncooked footage of Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault in Israel, together with a clip which appeared to point out a militant utilizing a knife to behead an Israeli grownup. The movie included footage of intercepted radio communications, social media posts, dashcam and telephone video from victims, and CCTV movies, amongst different sources. Earlier than viewing the movie, all attendees have been required to signal non-disclosure agreements and hand of their cell telephones and good watches. The non-disclosure settlement described the video as “compiled of the atrocities dedicated by Hamas terrorists with out censorship or pixilation,” a few of which was “attained by the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] beneath confidentiality restrictions,” and prohibited recording of the movie.
Neither the video nor Abbott’s speech addressed the Israeli navy’s response after Oct. 7, which has killed some 40,000 Gazans, displaced round 2 million, and been criticized as an act of ethnic cleaning or genocide.
In his speech, Abbott additionally invoked founding mythology concerning the American West. “Return in time to the very starting of sheriffs within the state of Texas,” he mentioned. “You have been a part of the women and men who helped to tame the West.”
The Fort Price sheriffs’ conference, held between July 20 and July 23, supplied a sequence of coaching periods accredited by the Texas Fee on Legislation Enforcement, together with seminars on election legislation, fixing chilly circumstances, and officer-involved shootings.
In Abbott’s speech, he additionally bragged about constructing a navy base in Eagle Move and actions which have led to the shutting down of the town’s main park and recreation web site as a part of Operation Lone Star. “There’s a 50-acre park in Eagle Move that was getting used not just for these crossings, however for illegally processing these unlawful immigrants,” he mentioned. “And I advised the Nationwide Guard to take again our land.”
In his speech, Abbott summarized: “Folks on the tip of the spear of making certain that we stay a legislation and order state are our sheriffs.”
Abbott didn’t point out that lately, some sheriffs have both emboldened or overtly labored with vigilante teams, together with vigilantes with a number of earlier legal convictions, in border counties.
The governor additionally instructed that Transportation Safety Administration brokers ought to be on the border.
“Each single day, in each single public airport with industrial transportation in america, there are lots of of TSA brokers looking your physique, looking your luggage to be sure that no terrorist is gonna get onto a airplane to commit against the law,” he mentioned. “Why can we not have TSA brokers by the hundreds on the border, doing the identical factor to all these folks coming throughout the border?”
On the conclusion of his speech, Abbott obtained a standing ovation.
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