In Cooperation With

Coming soon: Look out for an important

climate announcement from the Texas Drought Project

More police presence does NOT prevent crime

Statement on mass shooting in downtown Austin

Please read our statement on the mass shooting in downtown Austin. Before we are even given space to understand the still unfolding details of the shooting, the PAC responsible for Prop B, Save Austin Now, has descended to rally an outcry from their supporters in favor of their ballot measure for 500 new police offers and to refund the police.

In Solidarity,

Chas Moore (he/him)

Executive Director, Austin Justice Coalition

Statement from Austin Justice Coalition

Regarding mass shooting downtown

Austin Justice Coalition stands in solidarity and sympathy with all those who were harmed by the mass shooting on 6th Street last night. We’re grateful for the officers who used tourniquets and chest pads to provide first aid to the victims. We stand in solidarity with all the Black men, women and mothers who tremble when the news reports the shooter description. Unfortunately, the white led political action committee Save Austin Now (SAN), has already politicized the incident in favor of their ballot initiative to expand Austin PD by more than 500 additional officers.

We wish SAN supporters would wait until we knew if all the victims would live before politicizing the incident, but in 2021, apparently this is the world we live in. So in that light, it’s important to provide a bit of context in case some reporters take the bait. With early reports already describing the shooter as a Black male with locks, this kind of politics is salt in a wound our community is trying to heal. SAN’s aggressive and right wing approach to this moment is a demonstration of how those purporting to ‘save austin’ are assuming a MAGAesque platform and causing further division in a city that is poised to stand out nationally as progressive, racially conscious city with equitable and accessible resources for all.

Although the Governor and Save Austin Now would like to pretend hiring more police would prevent crime, Sixth Street on a Saturday night is easily the most heavily policed area of Austin.The reason all those officers didn’t deter or capture the shooter wasn’t because there weren’t plenty of them on the scene, it’s because police presence can’t prevent a determined person with a gun from causing harm.

We saw Austin PD implementing a strong duty to render aid for officers. Chief Brian Manley’s refusal to do so was one of the reasons dozens of community groups called for his ouster last year. Both Austin’s prior chief and the law enforcement lobby at the legislature opposed this change which substantially weakened the “duty to render aid” language passed this session to provide exceptions in cases like this where the shooter is at large.

We’re glad they made this change. More police will not prevent mass shootings but we might save more lives if all police prioritized the sanctity of human life the way Austin officers did last night.