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1/ Yesterday, a mob of pro-Trump extremists pushed past police barricades and breached the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Lawmakers, including those from Texas, were evacuated. Four people are dead.
2/ Ted Cruz was one of two Senate ringleaders to challenge electoral votes. In 2018, @by_jmiller wrote about Cruz’s strategy of stoking fear around Democratic control. “The hard left is filled with anger and rage,” @SenTedCruz said. https://www.texasobserver.org/ted-cruzs-fear-factory/
3/ In December, @replouiegohmert suggested that “violence in the streets” could be the only remaining option to stop Joe Biden from becoming president. https://www.chicagotribune.com/election-2020/ct-louie-gohmert-violence-20210102-yozij4rzhffkhn3e4epyrrsa7m-story.html
4/ The attack stemmed from disinformation and baseless claims of voter fraud by President Trump. Texas officials supported those claims, stoking the insurrection. In Texas, these sorts of disinformation efforts are all too common. https://www.texasobserver.org/pink-slime-journalism-finds-a-home-in-texas-news-deserts/
5/ Last year, @HoustonChron reported that the Texas Republican Party planned to buy up website domains and load them with disinformation to protect House seats in the 2020 election. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/Texas-Republican-Party-plans-to-build-phony-14863988.php
6/ Texas Attorney General @KenPaxtonTX, who spoke at Trump’s rally in DC, has been a key figure in spreading election misinformation. In December, the indicted AG led a lawsuit against four states in a failed attempt to overturn Biden’s win. https://apnews.com/article/texas-led-election-lawsuit-litmus-test-e813a3380bd142d8d0a0a3e648363d27
7/ Some of the terrorists flew Confederate flags as they stormed the Capitol. With roots in the racist & xenophobic messages spewed by Trump, the insurrection has a home in Texas, where BIPOC communities struggle to topple racist Confederate monuments. https://www.texasobserver.org/monuments-texas-racist-confederate-marshall/
8/ Texas has a history of voter suppression & violence. "While the methods of suppression have changed, the motivation today seems to be the same as it was during Reconstruction: a changing electorate that challenges white power," wrote @michaelsbarajas. https://www.texasobserver.org/the-long-tail-of-voter-suppression/
9/ In 1910, East Texas saw one of America’s deadliest post-Reconstruction racial purges. One survivor’s descendants have waged an uphill battle for generations to unearth that violent past. https://www.texasobserver.org/where-the-bodies-are-buried/
10/ Last spring, @DaLyahJ wrote about Black Lives Matter protests in East Texas, a region long plagued by racial terror. https://www.texasobserver.org/east-texas-black-lives-matter
11/ In Texas and across the nation, police disproportionately target people of color. In Austin and other major Texas cities, police departments have responded violently to Black Lives Matter protestors. https://www.texasobserver.org/mike-ramos-austin-police/
12/ Years of activism and a legacy of police violence have fueled demands to reimagine public safety in Texas. https://www.texasobserver.org/defund-reform-rebuild-police/
13/ Yesterday, with the Capitol occupied, Cruz called for an end to the “shocking assault” on the democratic process. “We must come together and put this anger and division behind us.” Asked if he felt responsible for the violence, Cruz didn’t respond. https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2021/01/06/ted-cruz-accused-of-abetting-sedition-and-inspiring-pro-trump-riot-by-resisting-bidens-victory/
14/ After the pro-Trump attack on the U.S. Capitol, Congress overwhelmingly rejected Cruz's objections to certifying the election results. But a majority of the Texas GOP congressional delegation still voted to object to Biden's win. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/01/07/texans-congress-vote-electoral-college-certification/
