Texas authorities have arrested a man in connection with the ‘credible threat’ against lawmakers attending Austin’s ‘No Kings’ protest.
By: Casey He
Staff Writer
The Texas Capitol has reopened after a trooper with the state’s Department of Public Safety arrested a man in connection with a threat, the DPS said in a statement posted on X.
In an email alert sent just before 1 p.m. Saturday to lawmakers and Capitol staffers, DPS said it had identified a threat against lawmakers planning to attend Austin’s “No Kings” protest at the Capitol at 5 p.m. DPS evacuated and closed the Capitol and its grounds at around 1 p.m.
There is no additional active threat following the arrest, DPS said in the statement.
In an interview with the Austin American-Statesman, Paul Vonder Haar, treasurer of Hands off Central Texas, said organizers are in active communication with law enforcement and planning to have the Austin protest “accelerated” to end before 8 p.m.
The announcement came as two Minnesota Democratic lawmakers and their spouses were shot on Saturday. Melissa Hortman, a former Minnesota House Speaker, and her spouse were shot and killed early Saturday in their home in Brooklyn Park, Minn.
A second state lawmaker, Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife were shot multiple times in Champlin and were wounded. Officials said the shootings were politically motivated.
Following the shootings, organizers canceled all the “No Kings” rallies across Minnesota. State Patrol Col. Christina Bogojevic said authorities didn’t have any direct evidence the protests would be targeted but said the suspect had some “No Kings” flyers in their car.
Elected officials in Texas have spoken out against political violence in response to the Minnesota shootings. In a statement, state Rep. Rhetta Andrews Bowers said she is praying for Hoffman’s recovery and called for law enforcement to “swiftly bring the perpetrator to justice.”
“We can disagree, we can debate, and we can even stand passionately on opposite sides of an issue — but violence must never be the answer,” Bowers said in the statement. ”Public service should never come at the cost of our safety or our lives.”
The ‘No Kings” protest in Austin, as well as in Dallas, Fort Worth and cities across Texas, is part of a nationwide mobilization against the policies of President Donald Trump. In Dallas, up to 10,000 people gathered for the demonstration at its peak, according to a Dallas police spokesperson.
By Casey He
Casey He is a Local Government intern at The Dallas Morning News. He is a rising senior at Northwestern University studying journalism and political science. Casey has previously written for Midstory, Medill News Service and The Daily Northwestern.
