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Several arrested, video streamer attacked during downtown Austin protest for Breonna Taylor

Hiram Garcia, on the right with a white mask, talks to a protester after he is shoved to the ground for live streaming.
After a Kentucky grand jury ruled not to charge two of the three police officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor, protesters across the country took to the streets, including at the Texas Capitol and Austin City Hall to stand against the decision.
The protest, titled "Justice for Breonna Taylor—Solidarity with Louisville," started at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The protest was not organized by a specific group or person, though groups like the Mike Ramos Brigade, a local anti-police organization with ties to antifa, and Back the Blue, a pro-police organization, were present.
Protester Ellie A., who was not affiliated with any group, said she was there to protest for what matters.
"Black lives matter," Ellie said. "That is not apparent from the things that happen in our world."
Shortly after the protest began, a group of protesters attacked Hiram Garcia, an independent streamer who often films protests and "history in the making," by shoving Garcia and his camera to the floor. Some protesters yelled and suggested he leave the protest.
A fight has broken out against Hiram Garcia, an independent streamer. Protesters became physical and tried to knock… https://t.co/MSCmkMy0Ay— Laura Figi (@Laura Figi) 1600908523.0
Garcia, who streams on Facebook Live, said he has been attending protests since May 30 and said people are quick to recognize him.
"They just don't want me here, that's it," Garcia said. "The problem is I'm an unbiased host."
Protest attendee, who goes by the name Shera, has been protesting for racial justice since May and said she has faced dangerous situations, such as being pepper sprayed. Shera said Garcia was generally accepted at first, but while he elects to remain neutral, he has gained a right-wing audience he has yet to denounce.
"(Garcia has) talked to the cops in a way that a lot of the protesters don't like, or just giving them airtime (on the livestream) and loving them—pretty much speaking propaganda," Shera said. "It's okay if they don't want him here but getting physical like that … is just completely uncalled for."
About 45 minutes into the protest, protesters took to West Cesar Chavez Street and blocked traffic. Shortly after, they were followed by multiple police cars, who ordered them to clear out the roads under threat of arrest.
Groups of protesters continued to march through the streets, as several people were arrested. One protester was arrested on 3rd Street and San Jacinto, seen being patted down with zip-tied wrists.
Here on 2nd Street and San Jacinto, a protester is being arrested. An officer said she was being arrested for “thro… https://t.co/xKcMdeYi60— Laura Figi (@Laura Figi) 1600910873.0
Several protesters were arrested for class B and C misdemeanors, according to the Austin Police Department.
Shera said the protests were meant to show solidarity with Louisville and Breonna Taylor, and the ruling was disappointing.
"We are not done," Shera said. "We are still waiting for a lot of justice to be served for the police that have hurt all of the protesters that are out here."
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Popular
(Bob Daemmrich)
Hours following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion, on Friday, about 1,000 people gathered in Republic Square with signs calling for change.
The rally, organized by the group Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights Texas, started at the federal courthouse on Republic Square on Friday at 5 p.m. before the crowd marched to the Texas Capitol. More protests are expected to ensue over the weekend.
People showed up with all types of signs like Mindy Moffa holding up, "Keep your filthy laws off my silky drawers."
Austin joined cities across the country that saw protests for a women's right to an abortion after the ruling.
According to a recent UT poll, 78% of Texas voters support abortion access in most cases.
Sabrina Talghade and Sofia Pellegrini held up signs directed at Texas laws. A Texas trigger law will ban all abortions from the moment of fertilization, starting 30 days after the ruling. When state legislators passed the trigger law last summer, it also passed laws for more protection of firearms, including the right to open carry without a permit.
Lili Enthal of Austin yells as around 1,000 Texans marched to the Texas Capitol.
From the Texas Capitol, Zoe Webb lets her voice be heard against the Supreme Court ruling.
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(Paxton Smith/Instagram)
Paxton Smith’s 2021 valedictory speech at Lake Highlands High School in Dallas wasn’t the same speech she had previously shared with school administrators. She dropped the approved speech and made a case for women’s reproductive rights after lawmakers passed the Texas "Heartbeat Bill.”
Her advocacy made news on NPR, YouTubeTV and in The Guardian. Just over a year later, the “war on (women’s) rights” she forewarned has come to a head as the U.S. Supreme Court voted Friday morning to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending constitutional protection for abortion access.
“It is up to the people to show up and show the courts and the politicians that we won’t sit back and let this happen,” Smith told Austonia Friday morning. “We will show up, we will fight back. Before, we were scared of them, now they should be scared of us.”
Now a University of Texas sophomore and abortion rights activist, 19-year-old Smith said she wanted to give the same speech in the “the most public way possible” to reach “as many people as possible who don't agree that I deserve this right.”
However, she says the response was “actually overwhelmingly positive” and supportive of her cause. According to a recent UT poll, 78% of Texas voters support abortion access in most cases.
The speech opened up further opportunities for activism: she advocated for reproductive rights at the International Forum on Human Rights in Geneva, interviewed with Variety magazine and spoke to tens of thousands at Austin’s Bans Off Our Bodies protest at the Texas Capitol in May.
Smith also serves on the board of directors for the Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project, a national nonprofit organization that helps fund abortions or medication abortion—like Plan C pills—in all 50 states. Most recently, Smith has been attending protests in Washington, D.C. leading up to the ruling.
“This is land of the free. This is where you get to choose how you live your life,” Smith said. “Overturning Roe v. Wade violates everything that we have come to believe about what it means to live in this country. I think a lot of people aren't willing to accept that this is a human right that is most likely just going to be gone for over half of the country within the next couple of weeks.”
Bracing for the next steps, Smith gave some tips for supporters:
- Find a protest to attend.
- “I would say invite somebody to go to those protests with you, invite a couple of friends, invite people into the movement,” Smith said.
- Talk about the issue on social media—use the platform you have.
- “Have these kinds of conversations where people can just talk about their fears and then find ways to go and advocate for yourself,” Smith said.
- Volunteer at a nonprofit near you.
“I feel like a lot of the reason things have gotten as bad as they have within the abortion rights world is that people are not making a scene, not protesting, not putting the effort into ensuring that the government doesn't take away this right,” Smith said. “I want to emphasize that if you're not doing anything, don't expect the best scenario, expect the worst because that's the direction that we're going in.”
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