Tag: texas

District attorney strips police department of prosecution power after cops arrest citizen journalists for exercising their 1st Amendment rights

The Henderson County District Attorney and County Attorney have informed the Trinidad, Texas Police Department that they will no longer accept ANY cases for prosecution solely investigated or filed by the department until further notice.

The letter, obtained by local media, effectively neuters the Trinidad PD’s ability to bring meaningful criminal cases. The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office will now handle crimes inside city limits.

Pending cases will be reviewed one by one. The prosecutors themselves requested the ongoing Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) audit of the department, FOX 4 reported.

This is the direct fallout from Trinidad’s heavy-handed war on free speech.

Trinidad, a town of fewer than 1,000 people about an hour southeast of Dallas, has struggled for years with serious water problems, discolored water, sediment, strong odors, and chemical readings far above legal limits.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality later confirmed major deficiencies, including chemicals more than 300% above federal limits and a failing distribution system.

Citizen journalist Jennifer Combs, who runs the Southern Belle Watch Facebook page, posted that she had received reports of residents being hospitalized due to bacteria in the water. She asked people to share what they were seeing so the information could be passed to state regulators.

Then-Police Chief Charles Gregory responded by having her arrested on a state jail felony charge of false alarm or report. Gregory claimed the post “creates fear, panic, or unnecessary emergency response within a community.”

Combs, a mother with a clean record, was taken from her home, handcuffed, and spent 23 hours in jail.

A Henderson County grand jury quickly no-billed the case, declining to indict her. Combs then filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit in the Eastern District of Texas against the city and several officials, alleging First Amendment retaliation, malicious prosecution, and a deliberate effort to punish her reporting.

Those allegations remain pending and have not been adjudicated. The federal case is Combs v. Gregory et al.

The warrant process came under its own devastating scrutiny. Henderson County Judge R. Scott McKee later wrote that two Trinidad officers omitted material information about citizen complaints, water concerns, and the context of Combs’ statements when seeking a Facebook search warrant.

McKee ordered the officers to appear personally for future warrant applications so that the court could question them under oath if necessary. KLTV reported that the judge said omissions can mislead a probable-cause determination just as affirmative misrepresentations can.

One day after FOX 4 aired its first report on Combs, YouTube journalist Winston Noles — known online as Otto the Watchdog — traveled to Trinidad to protest. He stood outside city hall with a profane sign condemning “bad cops” and livestreamed the encounter to his audience.

Eighteen minutes into the livestream, police arrested him for misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

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Judge John Roach Recused from Karmelo Anthony Murder Appeal After Defense Challenged His Post-Trial Comments About the Verdict

A Texas judge has granted a motion to recuse Collin County District Judge John Roach Jr. from presiding over the appeal proceedings for Karmelo Anthony, the 19-year-old who was found guilty of murder in the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a high school track meet and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

This development comes as Anthony’s new legal team continues its aggressive push for a new trial, citing alleged “irregularities” while the underlying facts of the killing remain undisputed.

Anthony, who is black, was convicted in June after a nearly weeklong trial for the April 2, 2025, stabbing of Metcalf, who was white, during a rainy track meet at David Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco.

Witnesses testified that Anthony was in the tent belonging to Metcalf’s Memorial High School team, refused repeated requests to leave, reached into his bag, and warned “Touch me and see what happens” before pulling out a pocketknife and stabbing Metcalf in the chest.

Metcalf died while being held by his twin brother.

The jury deliberated for less than three hours before rejecting Anthony’s “self-defense” claims and handing down the 35-year sentence.

Following the conviction, Anthony’s trial team was replaced by a pro bono appellate group led by attorney Russell Wilson.

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YIKES: Progressive Event Featuring James Talarico and Kamala Harris in Texas is Virtually EMPTY

A progressive event called ‘Democracy Summit 2026’ took place in Austin, Texas this week, but apparently, everyone on the left forgot to show up.

The day featured Zoom remarks from James Talarico, Kamala Harris, Mark Kelly and a host of other heavy hitter Democrats, but for some reason there was no audience for the show.

The media keeps repeating polling that shows James Talarico ahead in the Texas Senate race. Is it possible that the polling is just fake? He certainly can’t draw a crowd.

Townhall reported:

This Star-Studded Progressive Event Featuring James Talarico and Kamala Harris Was a Complete Flop

The Democrat Party’s youth movement appears to be in complete shambles as the DemocracySummit 2026, what was slated to be a “a powerful day of organizing, learning, and civic renewal,” had absolutely abysmal attendance in Austin, Texas.

Despite boasting a star-studded slate of progressive speakers like former Vice President Kamala Harris, Sens. Mark Kelly and Chris Murphy, Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, and Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, the venue appeared to be completely empty.

Footage uploaded to social media by Turning Point executive Tyler Bowyer showed a near-empty room during remarks delivered by Democrat Mark Kelly, who many have pushed as a potential dark horse in the 2028 presidential primaries.

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Battle Over Ten Commandments Arrives At Supreme Court

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Aug. 17 to review a federal appeals court decision that upheld a Texas law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit cleared the way in April for the Texas law to take effect.

The state law known as Senate Bill 10, or SB 10, requires that public elementary and secondary schools conspicuously display in classrooms an easily readable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments with no additional commentary.

The Fifth Circuit’s 9–8 ruling in Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District raised questions about freedom of religion and how the Supreme Court had ruled on these issues in the past. If the justices agree to hear the case, their potentially landmark ruling could change the legal landscape for how governments deal with religion.

The Fifth Circuit said that the law complied with the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.

The Texas law “looks nothing like a historical religious establishment,” because it does not tell houses of worship what to believe, how to worship, or whom to employ, the appeals court said. It does not punish people who reject the Ten Commandments, impose taxes to support the clergy, or require churches to carry out civic functions, the court said.

“These are the kinds of things ‘establishments of religion’ did at the founding. [The Texas law] does none of them,” it said.

The Fifth Circuit also held that a 1980 precedent, Stone v. Graham, which struck down a nearly identical classroom display law, is no longer binding.

The circuit court ruling upholding the Texas statute came after a federal district court preliminarily blocked it, finding the law likely violates both the Constitution’s establishment clause, which forbids the government from favoring one religion over another, and the free exercise clause, which prohibits the government from infringing on worship and other activities. The district judge also found the displays would coerce students and interfere with parents’ rights to direct their children’s religious upbringing.

The challenge in the district court was brought by a group of Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Baha’i, Unitarian Universalist, and nonreligious families. The families argue in the petition that the Texas law violates the Constitution by forcing religion on students, and that the Fifth Circuit misinterpreted Supreme Court precedent.

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Dallas Airport Cancels Plans to Install Islamic Foot Washing Stations After Governor Abbott Intervenes

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Friday evening canceled plans to install Islamic “Wudu” foot-washing stations.

As TGP reported this week, according to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the project “consists of adding Ablution stations to existing concourse level restrooms in Terminal D, one Men’s ablution station in existing men’s restroom and one Women’s ablution station in the existing women’s restroom,” and is privately funded.

The construction was set to begin in about a week and would have cost $300,000.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) earlier Friday evening announced he was working to block Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) from installing Islamic wudu washing stations.

Governor Abbott ordered a review of all state grants to DFW and George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) for possible revocation.

“These ablution facilities appear designed to single out one subset of the population for special treatment based on religion. That is illegal,” said Governor Abbott in a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

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Five Current and Former Texas City Officials – Including the Mayor – Arrested For Fraud

Five current and former Refugio, Texas, city officials were arrested on Wednesday for fraud after they allegedly mishandled hundreds of thousands of dollars that spanned 19 transactions.

Refugio Mayor Wanda Dukes was charged with misapplication of fiduciary property, a first-degree felony, for misusing funds from the Refugio Economic Development Corporation between October 2023 and October 2025.

City Secretary Callie Shreckengost was also charged with misapplication of fiduciary property.

Current City Council Ixtlazihuatl Vasquez, former City Council Frank Hosey, and former City Council Michael Rocha were all hit with third-degree felony charges of abuse of official capacity.

According to the indictment, the state claimed that more than $1 million was misapplied to payments, audit services, garbage collection, and festivals.

KRIS TV reported:

Five current and former Refugio town officials face felony charges after a Refugio County grand jury returned indictments this week following a Texas Rangers investigation.

Mayor Wanda Huff Dukes and Town Secretary Callie Gray Shreckengost turned themselves in at the Refugio County Jail on Wednesday and were later released. Both are charged with misapplication of fiduciary property, a first-degree felony. Bond for each was set at $25,000.

The indictments accuse both officials of misusing funds from the Refugio Economic Development Corporation between Oct. 3, 2023, and Oct. 29, 2025. According to the charging documents, Dukes exercised control over EDC funds as mayor, while Shreckengost had authority to authorize and sign disbursements as town secretary.

The indictments list 19 transactions totaling more than $1 million that the state says were misapplied, including payments for windstorm insurance, garbage collection, water main maintenance, audit services, a police department holiday event and Fourth of July festivals.

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BUSTED: Turns Out Group Called ‘Republicans for Talarico’ Was a Completely FAKE SCAM

The Gateway Pundit recently reported on a group of supposedly ‘Republican Moms’ who claimed they were crossing over to vote for far left Texas senate candidate James Talarico. It looked very suspect.

Now we are learning that a group called ‘Republicans for Talarico’ is a completely fake scam.

Who could have predicted such a thing?

The Daily Wire reports:

‘Republicans For Talarico’ Exposed As Complete Scam

Leftist outlet MS NOW aired a segment featuring three Texas women who identified themselves as Republicans and vowed to cross over for James Talarico — but records show at least some of them have voted in Democratic primaries and donated to liberal candidates and causes.

Talarico, who has sparked backlash for his fringe views on Christianity, affection for transgender children, and disdain for the American flag, is banking on Republican crossover support to become the first Texas Democrat elected statewide in decades.

“Republicans for Talarico is as real as the six genders that Talarico claims exist, but has yet to explain what they are. This lame rebrand of White Dudes for Kamala is full of lifelong Democrat donors, activists, and other losers,” RNC spokesman Zach Kraft said in a statement to The Daily Wire.

That “rebrand” was put on display earlier this month when MS NOW aired a segment from the political show “Long Play,” featuring three white women from Tarrant County who portrayed themselves as disgruntled conservatives eager to vote for one of the most liberal candidates in Texas to run for federal office. The exchange went viral after Talarico’s campaign seized on the segment, dubbing the women “Republican Moms.”

During the segment, former school board candidate Mindy McClure described herself as a “moderate Republican,” but as the saying goes, follow the money. Federal Election Commission filings show McClure has repeatedly given through ActBlue to Democratic candidates and anti-Trump groups dating back to 2018, including the Lincoln Project and Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign.

Polls promoted by the liberal media continue to show Talarico ahead in this race, despite the fact that he is an absolute train wreck of a candidate.

The polling for Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, which showed him winning by double digits was completely wrong. Same goes for Francesca Hong in Wisconsin.

It’s almost like the media and the pollsters are trying to influence races in favor of the far left. Almost.

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Texas Locked a Foreign Company’s Domain Over Missing Digital ID Checks

In Travis County, Texas, a judge has frozen motherless.com, the .com domain of a foreign pornography operator, taking it down worldwide until it posts a $9.14 million bond and builds an age verification digital ID system to the state’s own specification.

Kick Online Entertainment is a foreign corporation, and the order admits so, which is the reason the writ went somewhere else. A state court cannot summon a company overseas, but it can order the American firm that keeps the registry of every .com name, and that registry is what makes a domain resolve at all.

We obtained a copy of the order for you here.

The case turns on HB 1181, Texas’s age-verification law for adult sites. That firm is Verisign, a nonparty to it, and Judge Maya Guerra Gamble signed the writ of attachment on June 4, 2026, filed four days later in State of Texas v Kick Online Entertainment.

The order directs Verisign to place motherless.com on “a registry lock, hold, or similar status until replevied by Defendant,” the legal term for the operator posting a bond to get its domain back.

The domain is frozen rather than taken, though the difference means little here. What Verisign actually applied on was serverHold plus server-level prohibitions on deleting, transferring and updating the name. A hold pulls motherless.com out of the .com zone file, so it resolves for nobody.

Kick must post a bond of $9,140,000, and that bond is “conditioned on Defendant’s implementation of age verification that conforms with Texas Civil Practice and Remedies code chapter 129B,” together with an affirmation that it will satisfy the civil penalties entered against it on September 30, 2024. A company outside the state’s reach is being made to both pay and obey a Texas statute before its property comes back. This is specific performance of a state law, pulled from a foreign operator by holding an asset hostage at the registry.

Among the court’s stated reasons the writ is “appropriate and justified” is the finding that “Defendant is not a resident of this state and is a foreign corporation,” which turns the state’s inability to reach a company into a ground for taking its property.

The order then pre-authorizes more of the same, closing with the line that “as many writs as the State deems necessary shall issue,” so the count of future seizures is set by the attorney general and not by a judge weighing each one. And Texas was excused from the security these writs normally demand, because the order says “the State of Texas is not required to post a bond prior to the issuance of the Writ of Attachment.”

The party taking the asset posts nothing. The party losing it posts $9.14 million.

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Outrage Ensues as McKinney, Texas City Council DEFIES Residents and Approves Absolutely Massive New Islamic Center in UNANIMOUS Vote

The elites who run a large northern Dallas suburb have provoked national anger after ignoring the will of the people and submitting to political Islam.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, a brave Christian migrant who survived Sharia law in Iran walked straight up to the McKinney City Council and delivered a blistering, unfiltered warning that had the chamber erupting.

Eddie Isa (also referred to as Eri Issa / Edwin Isagholi), an Iranian-born Christian and self-described “Sharia law survivor,” stood before the packed August 4, 2026, meeting and told the council exactly what soft Westerners refuse to hear.

“I’m a Sharia law survivor from Iran,” he declared. “I’m TELLING YOU, this is a BAD idea, and you’re going to REGRET not listening to people like us who lived under Sharia law!”

Other brave McKinney residents spoke up as well, including this woman, who brought the house down with this epic speech that would make our Founding Fathers proud.

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Talarico caught on tape giggling about his church housing illegal immigrants set for deportation

Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico bragged in a resurfaced interview that his church had stirred controversy by housing a family of illegal immigrants who were set to be deported by ICE, laughing as he said that “Christianity is just another word for causing trouble.”

Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian who serves as a Democratic state representative, is running against Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for a Senate seat that is critical to both parties.

In a resurfaced clip of Talarico speaking on Texas Impact’s “Weekly Witness” show in June 2023, he credited his faith for “why I am in politics.” Asked how his faith influences his politics, Talarico pointed to examples of his church advancing progressive causes, saying, “Justice is just love out in public.”

“Our church was really active in LGBTQ rights in the ’90s. We caught some attention by letting an atheist join our church in the 2000s, and then in the 2010s, again stirred some controversy by housing an undocumented family, a mother and son, who were close to being deported by ICE,” he said. “That was the tradition that I was brought up in. It’s what led me to teach public school students on the west side of San Antonio, led me to run an education nonprofit and then led me to run for office.”

“And so, again,” he continued, “this idea that Christianity is just another word for causing trouble.”

During the same interview, Talarico decried what he referred to as “Christo-fascism” and the religious right, which he accused of seeking to subvert democracy by forcing a “certain type of Christianity.”

Asked for specific examples of Christo-fascism in Texas, he pointed to a law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments, another allowing schools to replace guidance counselors with chaplains, and the state’s school voucher program. He also pointed to laws banning sex-change surgeries and treatments for children and Texas’ abortion ban.

“All these ideologies stem from this Christo-fascism movement, which, essentially, like I said, is just using faith to exercise raw political, social and economic power,” said Talarico. “I think it’s dangerous to all of us, but particularly to those who are marginalized and oppressed in our state.”

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