Texas legislature descends into chaos after GOP lawmaker sics immigration officers on protesters

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Protesters swarmed the Texas legislature and lawmakers shoved each other on the final day of the legislative session Monday, as tensions flared over a bill signed this week requiring local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal immigration officers.

The mass of chanting, sign-waving voters forced legislative proceedings to a halt late Monday morning before state troopers cleared the gallery. The protesters occupied all four floors of the state capitol rotunda as lawmakers resumed last-day business.

The disruption so frustrated one Republican member, state Rep. Matt Rinaldi, that he decided to call in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

When Rinaldi told a group of Democratic colleagues what he’d done, a shoving match broke out between lawmakers on the floor. Local reporters said the capitol’s parliamentarian stepped in to separate the politicians before the situation escalated further.

https://thinkprogress.org/texas-legislature-descends-into-chaos-after-gop-lawmaker-sics-immigration-officers-on-protesters-5840d2be46e2

[workinclasszero]

1. Republicans are leading us into a police state

and chaos.

MAGA baby!

[Blue_true]

2. Behavior like this is what killed republicans in California.

They targeted Mexican descent Californians, but all immigrants saw red flags in Pete Wilson's actions and actions in the California legislature. Now republicans are hanging on only in the very reddest parts of California and are losing ground even those areas.

If Texas republicans activate the very large immigrant population there, they will start the process that California started on in the eighties.

[annabanana]

3. I'm sure all Texans are very proud of this!. . .n/t

[Thomas Hurt]

4. Christofascist theocracy in all its glory

but of course it is not the authoritarian thugs fault it is the liberals...well in this case I am guessing the racists thought they were all illegals.

Poor form for a christofascist to call for the feds to save his states righter ass though. Wuss.

[MedusaX]

5. What a dickhead... it figures he is from Irving/Dallas..Austin is probably as far south as he would

Dare go ....

Remember when politicians used to legitimately cite a lack of constituent involvement as a concern?

Well, perhaps they got a little too comfortable with all that apathy and thought that was how it was supposed to be no matter how hard they decided to screw the people...

Now that they have effectively taken a baseball bat to the hornets nest ...
they want to cry & whine about potentially getting stung
by the swarm of angry hornets buzzing about
and then want to
have someone come and haul away the hornets...

[Eugene]

6. Texas Republican 'threatens to shoot Democrat' over immigration protest

Source: Associated Press

Texas Republican 'threatens to shoot Democrat' over immigration protest

Associated Press in Austin, Texas
Monday 29 May 2017 19.15 BST

A group of Democratic state representatives on Monday accused a Republican of threatening to “put a bullet in the head” of a fellow lawmaker on the Texas House floor, as a raucous protest against a new state immigration law unfolded in a public gallery and legislators confronted each other.

The protest was against the recently approved bill SB4, an anti-“sanctuary cities” measure that compels local police – under the threat of jail and removal from office – to enforce federal immigration law. Opponents of SB4 have filed lawsuits against the bill, which Governor Greg Abbott signed earlier this month in a ceremony held without notice and broadcast only by Facebook Live.

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At an afternoon news conference, the Democrats said Republican Matt Rinaldi, from suburban Dallas, made the shooting threat towards Poncho Nevarez, a Democrat from the border town of Eagle Pass. Several Democrats said Rinaldi also bragged about “calling Ice” on protesters who interrupted a floor session, leading to a near-scuffle between Rinaldi and Democrat Cesar Blanco. The Democrats said Rinaldi’s comments about shooting came during a second altercation, moments later.

In a statement posted on Facebook on Monday afternoon, Rinaldi said Nevarez had “threatened my life on the House floor after I called Ice on several illegal immigrants who held signs in the gallery which said ‘I am illegal and here to stay’.”

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/29/hundreds-pro-sanctuary-cities-protesters-texas-house