Republicans applaud strong police action at UT Austin protest, advocating “Don’t mess with Texas.
Republicans from Texas, led by Gov. Greg Abbott and University of Texas at Austin, swiftly stopped a pro-Palestinian protest. Rep. Beth Van Duyne expressed, “Don’t Mess with Texas.” State Rep. Craig Goldman supported the action, contrasting it with delays at Columbia University protests. UT Austin’s President Hartzell received praise for the handling. Arrests were made among the protesters. The swift halting of a pro-Palestinian protest by Texas Republicans, with Gov. Greg Abbott and University of Texas at Austin taking the lead, garnered attention. Rep. Beth Van Duyne’s “Don’t Mess with Texas” statement resonated. State Rep. Craig Goldman commended the contrast with delays at Columbia University. UT Austin’s President Hartzell was praised for his handling, with arrests made among the protesters.
AUSTIN — Republicans from Texas praised the success that Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) and the University of Texas at Austin had shutting down a pro-Palestinian protest on campus just hours after it got underway.
“Take your intifada and shove it! Don’t Mess with Texas,” said Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) in a post Thursday on X.
State Rep. Craig Goldman applauded the Austin effort and said authorities in New York, who have taken a delayed approach to protests on campus at Columbia University, ought to take note.
“This is how it is done @Columbia. Thank you @JCHartzell,” Goldman wrote in a post, tagging the president of UT Austin.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), whose district includes the outskirts of Austin, also cheered on UT Austin for how it handled the situation.
“UT President Hartzell got this right. Thank you,” Roy said in a post to X.
Brendan Steinhauser, a leading GOP political consultant in Texas and partner with Steinhauser Strategies, said, “Time will tell whether [Hartzell] will be rewarded” or punished for “standing up to the antisemitic radical left.”
WATCH: here’s a 90-second look at yesterday’s Palestine protest at the University of Texas at Austin, where university officials used emergency alert loudspeakers to tell student protesters to leave the grounds and police enforced that order
— Anna Giaritelli (@Anna_Giaritelli) April 25, 2024
Fifty people were arrested out of the hundreds of protesters who participated, the Texas Department of Public Safety told the Washington Examiner on Thursday. The department had hundreds of state troopers on campus Wednesday afternoon into the evening until the officers successfully pushed the group away from academic buildings on campus and toward a commercial street.
Other state officials touted that the police’s swift movement onto the scene prevented the situation from getting out of control on a campus with 51,000 undergraduate students and mere blocks from downtown Austin.
Now at UT Austin:
Protester walked up to Austin Police and starts yelling “fuck you,” to which one officer responded, “thank you for your support.” pic.twitter.com/kSVm8fbyyB
— Anna Giaritelli (@Anna_Giaritelli) April 24, 2024
“Thank you to @TxDPS and @Austin_Police for their quick response and commitment to keeping our city safe during the ongoing protest at @UTAustin,” Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Police were back on site Thursday as protesters regrouped for the second day. State and local police were also on campus with campus police taking the lead in enforcement.
“Today, at the request of the University of Texas (UT) and at the direction of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) personnel remain on standby in order to support UT Police in maintaining the peace on the University campus,” a DPS spokesperson wrote in an email to the Washington Examiner Thursday evening. “While we do not discuss operational specifics, DPS is continuously monitoring events and their impact on public safety and will adjust operations as needed in order to assist our law enforcement partners.”
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