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Several groups in Texas have recently sued to expand access to mail-in voting, arguing that a pandemic might keep people away from the polls.
But the state is pushing back with the stance that fear of contracting coronavirus should not qualify voters to request mail-in ballots.
We want to know what you think.
(Austonia staff)
Several Austin City Council members either called for Austin Police Chief Brian Manley to step down or suggested that he should during a special City Council meeting today.
<p><br></p><p>Greg Casar explicitly asked the chief to step down, while, the Texas Tribune reports:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Council member Jimmy Flannigan was more subtle, suggesting Manley could better work to reform police policy and culture as a private citizen, and Council member Sabino Renteria said he will join Casar in calling for a resignation if he doesn't see a commitment to change."</p><p>Delia Garza also <a href="https://www.statesman.com/news/20200605/four-austin-city-council-members-say-theyrsquove-lost-faith-in-police-chief-brian-manley" target="_blank">suggested asking for Manley's "honorable resignation</a>."</p><p>"You see why people are so frustrated," Garza said. "You see why we got thousands of emails and thousands of calls asking for change. And it is because of that, I have to join my colleagues who have asked the chief to reconsider your role in this organization, including asking for your honorable resignation. I don't know how we show the community that we're listening. I don't know how we move past this. I don't know how we retain faith in our community after this weekend."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM3NTYyOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMjEwMzUwN30.ZwFfoK0kHCR9ig_V-l94avEef2EYIuv7ettH1Dqs40Y/img.jpg?width=980" id="92eb1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a8ef3b1c8a51baf38110e48653992562" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p><em>This story is developing and will be updated.</em></p>(Austin Police Department)
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Austin residents who have been participating in protests and other gatherings, or have been unable to socially distance during the pandemic, will be allowed to sign up for a free COVID-19 test starting Friday at the city's drive-thru testing site, according to a notice by Austin Public Health.
<p>People will not have to show symptoms for the test to be performed—a departure from the city's previous guidelines.</p><p>The new rule comes at the end of a week of protests that have seen hundreds of people crowded in downtown Austin—some with face coverings, some without—to demonstrate against the police killings of Michael Ramos of Austin and former Houston resident George Floyd in Minneapolis.</p><p>As of Thursday, nearly 14,600 people have been assessed for testing through the testing enrollment form since it was launched in early April. Some 8,500 individuals have been scheduled for and/or completed a test.</p><p><a href="https://austonia.com/r/entryeditor/austintexas.gov/COVID19" target="_self">Sign up with the Public Enrollment Testing Form here.</a></p>
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As local activists groups see a chance to gain support for defunding the Austin Police Department, we wanted to know where Austonia readers stood on the issue. Yesterday, we asked, "What should the City Council do about the APD budget?" and the results show 53% voted to add funding to APD.
<p><br/></p><p>Comments for the "add funding" majority were concerned about the lack of resources the police department would face if funding was cut. Some wrote that APD needs more funding for the city to be safe.</p><p>The 17% of "leave as is" voters had similar comments, saying APD needs adequate funding to protect citizens. One person said the police force needs to change and that can only happen with sufficient funds. </p><p>The 29% who voted to defund APD left comments about APD being violent and said the funds should be redirected elsewhere. </p><p>The Austin City Council discussed APD conduct and funding today at a "<a href="https://austonia.com/city/austin-police-chief-manley-resign" target="_blank">special session</a>" meeting. Planning for the city budget is still in the early phases. </p>
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(Roschetzky Photography/Shutterstock)
"We have been listening and learning," reads a message on the Cedar Park Police Department's Facebook page.
It would be easy for Cedar Park Mayor Corbin Van Arsdale, whose community is more than 80% white, to look at the unrest happening in larger metro areas like Austin and decide it's not his problem.
<p>The large protests and, in some cases, violent rioting during the past week over police brutality, touched off by the killing of George Floyd by four white Minneapolis officers, have been largely confined to diverse metropolitan population centers. </p><p>Austin, where some <a href="https://austonia.com/city/austin-protesters-injured-police" target="_blank">demonstrators were hospitalized</a> after weekend clashes with police, <a href="https://austonia.com/weekend-protest-austin-police-killings" target="_blank">is no exception</a>. </p><p>But Van Arsdale and other city officials and police chiefs in Austin's overwhelmingly white and affluent suburbs see signs that the Black Lives Matter movement and its attendant demands for change are <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/BlackPfamiliesPflugerville/permalink/1981395198659281/" target="_blank">reaching into </a>these communities—most of which have never before had to openly grapple with the issue of police brutality.</p><p>In Georgetown on Wednesday, Police Chief Wayne Nero greeted a crowd of about 200 mostly white residents carrying signs in front of the courthouse supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.</p><p>In Lakeway, more than 90% of residents are white, while nearly 30% of the police officers are people of color. Local residents staged a peaceful demonstration outside the police department on Saturday and another one in the city on Tuesday night, said city spokesperson Jarrod Wise. </p><p>In Leander, residents are asking police how they can protect citizens from racial violence, opening conversations about the department's policies on body cameras, complaints and racial profiling, said Assistant Police Chief Billy Fletcher.</p><p>Police in Bee Cave are helping a group of teens from Lake Travis High School stage a Black Lives Matter rally in front of City Hall on June 13. </p><p>"We have been listening and learning," reads a message on the Cedar Park Police Department's Facebook page. </p><p>Bee Cave Police Chief Gary Miller said while he disagrees with violence, he believes most protesters are trying to peacefully find a way to express their anger, and rightfully so. </p><p>"I don't know any officer who believes the actions by any of the four officers in Minneapolis [are] anything other than criminal," he said.</p><p>Asked if the suburbs have a responsibility to engage in the conversation about race and police, Van Arsdale and Fletcher had the same answer: "Absolutely."</p><p>"Dr. King said, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' This includes our suburbs," said Van Arsdale, a white former Republican Texas state lawmaker. "We need to speak clearly and with one voice: This is not 1862. This is not 1962. We don't want any of that part of that America again."</p><p>Suburban police say they are prepared for outside agitators disrupting their mostly quiet communities. </p><p>Miller, for example, has extra officers near the Galleria in the evenings to protect against potential looters.</p><p>West Lake Hills Police Chief Scott Gerdes said his department hadn't gotten any specific threats, but he has put extra officers on call. </p><p>"I certainly can't predict where these things may go," Gerdes said Tuesday, as chatter about suburban protests ramped up on social media.</p><p>The violence didn't come. Instead, there is conversation—with the potential for action.</p><p>Leander business owner Gus Gordon on Monday organized a meeting between local police and black business and civic leaders, which he saw as a good "first step" toward sowing support and empathy in a community that may not fully understand the recent anger on the streets. He's planning a more public and social community event later in the month, he said.</p>"For a lot of people in these majority white or affluent communities, this is not an issue that directly affects them, so it can be overlooked and seem exaggerated," said Gordon, who is black, and who owns Cappelliera's Barber Salon. "This is a national issue. Even if it doesn't directly touch Leander, Georgetown, Cedar Park, we should still have the support of people that are for justice—for all people."
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Yesterday's protests in Austin brought out University of Texas football players. Players marched arm-in-arm with others from Royal-Memorial Stadium to the State Capitol to demonstrate against police brutality in the seventh day of Austin protests.
<p>The players wore all black with face coverings and had nine minutes of silence in commemoration of George Floyd, the black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nine minutes. The players were accompanied by UT Police. </p><iframe class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1268710681655873536" data-rm-shortcode-id="bd53dd74cb31ea102b0c0ddce7b255a6" frameborder="0" height="150" id="twitter-embed-1268710681655873536" type="lazy-iframe" scrolling="no" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1268710681655873536&created_ts=1591319172.0&screen_name=UTAustinPolice&text=Thank+you+%40TexasLonghorns+for+inviting+us+to+take+the+walk+with+you.+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FC9FOf4lP4E&id=1268710681655873536&name=UT+Austin+Police" width="100%"></iframe><p>Since the death of George Floyd, the official UT football Twitter and Instagram accounts have posted support for the black community, including <a href="https://twitter.com/TexasFootball/status/1267863630642642945?s=20" target="_blank">participating</a> in #BlackOutTuesday, an initiative to pause business this past week to recognize those affected by police brutality.</p>
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(Austonia staff)
Protesters shut down I-35 in Austin.
The Austin Police Department will no longer use the lead-filled fabric pillows known as bean bag rounds—a form of "less lethal" ammunition that was used against protesters last weekend and seriously injured several—in crowd situations, Chief Brian Manley told the City Council yesterday.
<p>Manley's statements came during a <a href="https://austonia.com/city/watch-live-as-hundreds-speak-to-austin-city-council-on-police-violence" target="_blank">marathon</a> virtual council meeting that started with hundreds of citizens signed up to speak on the<a href="https://austonia.com/city/austin-protests-city-council-response" target="_blank"> use of force</a> and <a href="https://austonia.com/city/austin-protests-defunding-police" target="_blank">defunding the department</a>, <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/04/austin-police-protesters-use-of-force-injured-demonstrators/" target="_blank">the Texas Tribune reports</a>:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Hundreds of residents called in to the virtual meeting, many demanding that Austin police Chief Brian Manley be fired and the police department's budget be reallocated to benefit black and brown communities. Others recounted firsthand how officers tear-gassed, pepper-sprayed, and shot at them with rubber bullets and bean bag rounds, even as they were protesting peacefully."</p><p>"It is still an appropriate tool in other circumstances so it is still approved for use, however, not in crowd situations," <a href="https://www.kxan.com/austin-george-floyd-mike-ramos-protests/bean-bag-rounds-wont-be-used-by-austin-police-starting-this-week-apd-chief-says/" target="_blank">Manley said</a>.</p>
<p>Protests over police violence<a href="https://www.statesman.com/news/20200604/state-troopers-block-protesters-from-i-35-in-seventh-day-of-demonstrations" target="_blank"> continued last night</a> and are planned again for this weekend.</p><iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1268385925387767809" id="twitter-embed-1268385925387767809" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1268385925387767809&created_ts=1591241744.0&screen_name=AtxJustice&text=%23JusticeForThemAll%0AWe+heard+OUR+community%21+We+refuse+to+let+distractors+take+this+moment%2F+movement+from+US%21%0AThis+Su%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FXo9Pv0hvvv&id=1268385925387767809&name=ATXJusticeCoalition" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="b581e64f160db5a708d8a6c7dc7d57a6"></iframe>
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