Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ripped Plano’s black police chief in response to an incident that occurred in the city on May 2, where a group of Black Lives Matter protesters shut down an intersection while a police officer impotently looked on.
“We must not let lawlessness take root in Texas!” Paxton said in a statement posted on social media. “Unfortunately, it looks like it already has in Plano, thanks to a group of radical left armed agitators and a police chief unwilling to enforce the law.”
As seen in a video that went viral, a frustrated motorist got out of his vehicle to angrily confront the mob, with a protester appearing to pull a gun on the man — police later claimed it was not a firearm.
“Last week a group of militant BLM protestors illegally shut down traffic underneath a major highway. When one man got out of his car to demand the mob clear the area, an Antifa-like character pulled what appears to be a gun and pointed it at the man,” wrote Paxton. “Meanwhile, rather than disperse the crowd or arrest the lawbreakers, the lone police officer told the man to go away.”
Paxton explained that he had a deputy contact Plano Police Chief Ed Drain, saying what was then heard “paints an even worse picture than the video alone depicts.”
He said Drain claimed the weapon pulled was not a gun, but a “pepper ball gun,” only to say in a separate conversation that it was a “Taser.” The attorney general noted that the Plano Police Department later called it an “electronic control device.”
— Plano Police (Texas) (@PlanoPoliceDept) May 10, 2021
“Whatever it was, the police declined to pursue the leftist who brandished the weapon, and no charges are being pressed against him,” Paxton said.
Drain said the device was “purchased without a permit or license and the person who pointed the device did not commit a criminal offense by doing so,” reported WFAA.
Read my statement regarding a recent episode of mob rule in Plano, TX. And be sure to watch the full 2 min video and see the critical screenshot below. Thank you @JackPosobiec for exposing this! pic.twitter.com/EaYU11Jjsg
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) May 10, 2021
As for the angry white motorist, he was pursued for his actions, according to the Dallas Morning News, and now faces a misdemeanor assault charge — Paxton took offense to this, stating that the man only “slapped a person’s hand out of his face.”
“No one else is being charged with anything. None of the lawbreaking traffic-blockers, not the guy who pulled a weapon – no one!” Paxton emphasized, before closing out his statement.
“I will never allow our beautiful Texas cities and neighborhoods to become Portland or Seattle or San Francisco because of the unchecked left,” Paxton continued. “I call upon my friends and allies across the state to crack down on this lawlessness immediately. No excuses!”
The statement released by the Plano Police Department said only one officer could respond to the scene “due to heavy call volume,” only to later say that “detectives” — plural — followed up on the incident and charged the motorist.
Quoting the police chief, Paxton said Drain was “anxious to excuse the rioters.”
“You have to understand the situation,” urged the chief, he recounted. “We have to negotiate with these people. Do you expect us to mass arrest those protesters? You know that’s not going to happen.”
Chief Drain marched alongside racial justice protesters in Plano last June, as the protests over the death of George Floyd were taking root, as reported by NBC5.
A video purporting to capture Drain marching in the street with Black Lives Matter protesters is seen below:
Here’s Plano’s Chief of Police Ed Drain marching with BLM on roads he shut down for them last year pic.twitter.com/MYGAvQk6Vz
— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) May 8, 2021
“Most law enforcement officers are ready and willing to uphold law and order. We need them to do that,” Paxton continued. “But too many are held back by politically motivated leaders, crippled by the woke agitators, now aiders and abettors to liberal lunacy.”
In stating that he will always support the right to peacefully protest, he concluded, “I will never allow our beautiful Texas cities and neighborhoods to become Portland or Seattle or San Francisco because of the unchecked left.”
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Tom@bizpacreview.com
The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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