Name: Abbott unveils proposals to strengthen penalties for rioting
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Abbott unveils proposals to strengthen penalties for rioting

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&nbsp;In a Dallas news conference Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott announced several legislative proposals that would stiffen penalties for people participating in riots.Abbott invoked protests that turned violent in Dallas and elsewhere in Texas over the summer, and a move last month by the Austin City Council to reduce police funding, although unlike other recent proposals unveiled by Abbott, his ideas Thursday did not address the funding issue.The anti-rioting proposals are:Felony charges and mandatory jail time for causing injury or destroying property in a riot.A felony and mandatory minimum jail sentence of at least six months for striking a law enforcement officer.A felony and mandatory jail time for using lasers to target law enforcement.A felony for rioters blocking hospital entrances and exits.Jail time for using fireworks at protests and riots.A felony for aiding riots with money or organizational assistance.Power for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to pursue civil penalties against "people in organizations that assist in riots."All the proposals unveiled Thursday would need the approval of the Legislature, which convenes in January."The Constitution does not provide the right to riot, to rob, to loot, to set fires, to physically harm anyone or anything," Abbott said. "Texas is not going to tolerate violence, vandalism or rioting."There have been mostly peaceful demonstrations in Texas cities, including Austin, since the May death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.Police arrested at least three protesters Wednesday night as more than 100 people marched through downtown Austin after a grand jury declined to indict Louisville, Ky., police officers on criminal charges over the death of Breonna Taylor. Taylor, 26, was killed March 13 by Louisville police who had burst into her home during a botched drug raid.In Louisville on Wednesday night, protests turned violent when two police officers were shot. Abbott did not mention the Louisville protest.Abbott was joined by Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, R-Lake Jackson, several Republican state lawmakers, political candidates and officials from the Dallas Police Association.There are laws in place against rioting and harming a law enforcement officer, but Abbott said many of the proposals announced Thursday were "enhancements of penalties over existing laws.""Several of these are increasing penalties from being misdemeanors to being felonies," he noted.Two weeks ago, Abbott and other state leaders unveiled a proposal that would strip cities of annexation powers if local officials cut police department budgets.Last month, Abbott proposed to withhold property tax revenue growth from local governments that reduced police spending. Both ideas would need legislative approval.Abbott and other state Republicans have criticized the Austin City Council after cutting $21.5 million from the Police Department, largely by canceling three cadet classes, with the potential to shift $129 million in police funding toward social service programs and other city departments to take over mental health, addiction and other responses that typically fall to police.Abbott isn’t on the ballot this year and Bonnen isn’t seeking reelection after a political scandal last year, but they have pounced on the City Council vote ahead of the November election. Central Texas GOP lawmakers also have held multiple campaign events on police funding.Earlier this month, Abbott called on political candidates and ordinary Texans to sign his "Back the Blue" pledge against cities working "to defund and dismantle police departments."He and Bonnen signed the pledge again Thursday, saying that more than 90,000 Texans have signed it.Manny Garcia, executive director of the Texas Democratic Party, called Thursday’s press conference a distraction from the state’s response to the coronavirus, which has killed more than 15,000 Texans."Our democracy is at stake," Garcia said in a statement. "Abbott can continue to parade around hosting these press conferences but Texans know the real issues keeping their families up at night."

&nbsp;In a Dallas news conference Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott announced several legislative proposals that would stiffen penalties for people participating in riots.Abbott invoked protests that turned violent in Dallas and elsewhere in Texas over the summer, and a move last month by the Austin City Council to reduce police funding, although unlike other recent proposals unveiled by Abbott, his ideas Thursday did not address the funding issue.The anti-rioting proposals are:Felony charges and mandatory jail time for causing injury or destroying property in a riot.A felony and mandatory minimum...

Abbott unveils proposals to strengthen penalties for rioting

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