Tag: texas

‘Din’t get cracked’: Watch female police officer threaten to ticket ‘everyone’ because she didn’t have sex last night

A female police officer in the Houston area is now under investigation after posting a video on TikTok in which she threatened to give everyone a ticket because she did not have sex the previous night.

Harris County Constable Precinct 5 Deputy Jennifer Escalera was in uniform as she recorded herself writing on a notepad.

“Din’t get cracked last night so everyone is getting a ticket…” Escalera indicated in her now-deleted video.

Although she blurred portions of her uniform, the officer left her name tag visible.

“Our administration is aware and internal affairs has opened an investigation. We have no other comment at this time,” the constable’s office said.

The New York Post reported: “The female cop’s TikTok account features several posts showing her in uniform. She also posts about being a mom.

“One of the posts shows Escalera getting ready ‘to work as a female Police Officer’ as the text across the screen reads, ‘contemplating if I really need this job, knowing that I do.'”

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Federal Appeals Court Rules Texas Can Enforce Law Requiring ID For Mail-In Ballots

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday ruled Texas can enforce a law requiring ID numbers for mail-in ballots.

A three-judge panel unanimously overturned a lower court’s block on the state’s mail-in ballot requirements.

The three judges included: Judge James Ho (Trump), Judge Don Willett (Trump), and Judge Patrick Higginbotham (Reagan).

“We have no difficulty concluding that this ID number requirement fully complies with a provision of federal law known by the parties as the materiality provision of the 1964 Civil Rights Act,” the judges ruled.

“The ID number requirement is obviously designed to confirm that each mail-in ballot voter is precisely who he claims he is. And that is plainly “material” to “determining whether such individual is qualified under State law to vote,”” the judges worote.

“The district court reached the opposite conclusion. So we reverse and render judgment for Defendants,” they said.

Politico reported:

A federal appeals court has ruled that Texas may enforce a state law that invalidates mail-in ballots submitted without a voter’s state identification number or partial Social Security number.

A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the requirement the Texas Legislature enacted in 2021 as part of an election-integrity bill known as SB1 did not violate a federal law preventing states from imposing voting requirements “not material” to the validity of ballots.

In a brusque, nine-page opinion, Judge James Ho twice said the appeals panel had “little difficulty” concluding that Texas’ law was valid.

“The number-matching requirements are obviously designed to confirm that every mail-in voter is who he claims he is,” Ho wrote for the panel. “And that is plainly material to determining whether an individual is qualified to vote.”

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Texas Dems ripped for ‘cartoonishly dumb’ strategy to flee to blue state notorious for gerrymandering

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is rolling out the red carpet for Democratic state lawmakers who fled Texas as they push back against a move by President Donald Trump to add five Republican-controlled congressional seats in their state.

“I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that they’re welcome here, that they have the ability to stay as long as they need to and want to,” Pritzker, a Democrat, said on Sunday evening as the lawmakers arrived in Illinois.

The lawmakers fled Texas in order to prevent the quorum needed in the Republican-dominated state legislature to vote on Monday on the new redistricting maps, which passed a committee vote this past weekend along party lines.

The redistricting push in Texas is part of a broader effort by the GOP across the country to keep control of the House and cushion losses elsewhere in the country, as the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats in midterm elections.

But veteran Republican strategist Matt Whitlock argued that the decision by most of the Democratic lawmakers to head to Illinois – with a few others decamping in two other blue states, New York and Massachusetts – was “cartoonishly dumb.”

Tom Bevan, the RealClearPolitics co-founder and president, wrote on X, “The idea that Texas Democrats would flee to Illinois, a state where Dems have abused gerrymandering to comical levels, is perfection.”

“To protest ‘partisan gerrymandering’ Texas Democrats are fleeing to…Illinois,” Republican Missouri Senator Eric Scmitt wrote on X. “You can’t make this up.”

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Abbott Orders Arrest of Fleeing Democrats After House Fails to Reach Quorum

Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered the arrest of Texas House Democrats who fled the state to block a Republican redistricting plan, calling their absence a “dereliction of duty.”

On Monday afternoon, the Texas House officially failed to reach the 100-member quorum required to conduct business, with only 90 members present. Members present quickly approved a “call of the House,” a procedural maneuver that authorizes the speaker to compel absent lawmakers to return, by civil arrest if necessary.

“Speaker Dustin Burrows just issued a call of the Texas House and issued warrants to compel members to return to the chamber,” Abbott said. “To ensure compliance, I ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to locate, arrest, and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans.”

The call of the House allows the chamber to lock doors, restrict exits, and dispatch law enforcement to retrieve absent members—an escalation used when lawmakers intentionally break quorum. The House is expected to reconvene at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, August 5.

While arrests of members out of state are unlikely, Capitol sources indicate that several quorum-busting Democrats may be hiding in Texas. 

In a floor speech Monday, Speaker Burrows condemned the quorum break, accusing Democrats of abandoning their posts under pressure from out-of-state activists. 

“Leaving the state does not stop this House from doing its work—it only delays it,” said Burrows. 

“I will do everything in my power to establish a quorum and move this body forward by any and all means available.”

Attorney General Ken Paxton also weighed in, releasing a statement calling the Democrats’ walkout a “cowardly desertion.” He warned that they must be “swiftly arrested, punished, and face the full force of the law.”

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Kathy Hochul says NY ‘exploring every option to redraw our state congressional lines’ to counteract Texas’ new map

New York Governor Kathy Hochul hosted Texas Democrat lawmakers at the State Capitol on Wednesday, after the lawmakers fled their state in order to deny Republican lawmakers the quorum needed to pass a redistricting proposal. During her speech, Hochul said that she and other New York lawmakers were exploring options to conduct redistricting in the state to counteract redistricting in Texas.

“I have a news flash for Republicans in Texas. This is no longer the Wild West. We’re not going to tolerate our democracy being stolen in a modern-day stagecoach heist by a bunch of law-breaking cowboys. Americans don’t want a system that’s stacked against them. They believe in fairness; it’s fundamental. And I’ll tell you this: they’re done with the chaos, they’re done with the cruelty, and I would say they’re ready to vote Republicans out of power in Washington, certainly in the upcoming 2026 elections.”

“Republicans know this. They’ve seen the polls. They know they’re sliding downhill because Americans are rejecting their policies, so this is why they’re fighting. They know they’ll lose the elections, but to subvert the will of the people, they’re hell bent on rigging the system.”

She said that “rigging the system is un-American,” and Congressional districts “are never redrawn mid-decade,” but “here they are flagrantly breaking the rules so they can hold onto power, and with that power they’re going to inflict even more pain, and they’d rather eliminate fairness in the system than to proceed knowing they’re going to lose. They’d rather silence voters than serve them.”

Hochul later added, “what Texas and Republican states are doing at the direction of Donald Trump, I say, is nothing short of a legal insurrection against our Capital—legal meaning they’re using the legal process, does not mean it’s legal, and it must be stopped. If Republicans are willing to rewrite these rules to give themselves an advantage, then they’re leaving us no choice, we must do the same. There’s a phrase, ‘you have to fight fire with fire.’ That is a true statement of how we’re feeling right now.

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Texas Democrats’ Walkout Over Redistricting Endangers Hemp Ban Legislation

Texas Democratic House lawmakers are leaving the state to prevent a vote on redrawing the state’s congressional district map in Republicans’ favor—a move that could lead to a stalemate on a Senate-passed bill to ban hemp products containing any THC.

The cannabis legislation moved through the Senate on Friday and is now in the House’s court. But without a quorum, the chamber won’t be able to conduct legislative business as Democratic lawmakers flock to other states such as Illinois and New York—a strategy that’s produced mixed results in the past.

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has threatened to remove those legislators from the House if they fail to show back up, and he also said members who received any financial support to leave the state could be subject to prosecution for felony bribery violations.

But in any case, time is running short in the special session the governor convened to address a series of outstanding issues, including legislation related to hemp cannabinoid products. Abbott vetoed an earlier version of the controversial ban, and he recently outlined what he’d like to see in a revised version of the bill.

The special session started on July 21. Under the state constitution, special sessions cannot last longer than 30 days, meaning a quorum would need to be reestablished before August 20 if any bills are to move. Of course, nothing prevents the governor from calling another special session once that deadline passes.

“The path forward for legislation during this special session is unclear, including whether or not a THC ban could advance,” Heather Fazio, director of the advocacy group Texas Cannabis Policy Center, told Marijuana Moment on Monday.

“The status quo is certainly better than THC being banned outright, but we hope the legislature can sort through their differences and find a way to pass common sense regulations that restrict youth access, at minimum,” she said. “We are continuing our advocacy and working with those remain in the building to ensure they understand, the issue can make good decisions when the time comes. That could be later during this first special session or during the next one.”

Austin Zamhariri, executive director of Texas Cannabis Collective (TCC) said that “Texans have been fighting a total hemp consumable ban since it was announced by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) in December of last year.”

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Several Texas school staff members, including superintendent, charged after video captures horrific abuse of special needs children

Earlier this year, Millsap Independent School District in Parker County, Texas, faced a federal lawsuit after allegations surfaced that two staff members — special education teacher Jennifer Dale and paraprofessional Paxton Bean — abused special needs students. The pair have been charged with official oppression; Bean was also hit with an additional felony charge of injury to a child. Millsap ISD Superintendent Mari “Edie” Martin was charged with failure to report and intent to conceal the abuse allegations.

The lawsuit alleges that Dale and Bean physically abused special needs students, particularly a 10-year-old nonverbal autistic boy named Alex Cornelius. Video evidence shows Dale striking at Alex and Bean throwing an object at him, with additional claims of verbal and psychological abuse.

Martin is accused of attempting to cover up the abuse by failing to report it to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services or local law enforcement, as required by law. Martin also reportedly instructed a witness to destroy evidence.

Dale, Bean, and Martin were arrested, indicted, and fired from Millsap ISD. Three other educators, Jami Riggs, Jeannie Bottorff, and Shannon Krause, were also indicted on misdemeanor charges for failure to report child abuse by a professional.

When Sara Gonzales, BlazeTV host of “Come and Take It,” heard the story, all she could think was, “If this had happened to my kid, I would be in jail right now.”

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Gov Abbott Says He Will REMOVE FROM OFFICE Democrat Lawmakers Who Fled Texas to Block GOP Congressional Redistricting

Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) threatened to remove from office Democrat lawmakers who fled to Illinois to block GOP Congressional redistricting.

Texas Democrats fled the state to block the Republicans in the legislature from holding a special session and to block a redistricting vote on Sunday.

The Texas Democrats reportedly fled to Illinois to break quorum to block the Texas House from holding a vote in a special session.

The new congressional map will add five GOP House seats.

The Texas Democrats pulled a similar stunt back in 2021.

Governor Abbott is not messing around.

“Democrats hatched a deliberate plan not to show up for work, for the specific purpose of abdicating the duties of their office and thwarting the chamber’s business. That amounts to an abandonment or forfeiture of an elected state office,” Abbot said.

Full statement from Governor Abbott:

Governor Greg Abbott today released the following statement outlining the legal consequences that House Democrat members face for breaking quorum, including the potential loss of their seats and felony violations. This letter is also being sent directly to the individual members who have fled Texas. The Governor’s full statement is as follows:

Real Texans do not run from a fight. But that’s exactly what most of the Texas House Democrats just did. Rather than doing their job and voting on urgent legislation affecting the lives of all Texans, they have fled Texas to deprive the House of the quorum necessary to meet and conduct business.

These absences are not merely unintended and unavoidable interruptions in public service, like a sudden illness or a family emergency. Instead, these absences were premeditated for an illegitimate purpose—what one representative called “breaking quorum.” Another previously signaled that Democrats “would have to go by an extreme measure” of a quorum break “to stop these bills from happening.” In other words, Democrats hatched a deliberate plan not to show up for work, for the specific purpose of abdicating the duties of their office and thwarting the chamber’s business.

That amounts to an abandonment or forfeiture of an elected state office. When the Governor calls a Special Session, our Constitution provides that the “Legislature shall meet.” TEX. CONST. art. III, § 5 (emphasis added). It’s not optional. It’s a duty. The absconded Democrat House members were elected to meet and vote on legislation—not to prevent votes that may not go their way. Every session, legislators on both sides of the aisle find themselves on the losing side of a legislative vote. And every session, most of those legislators find a way to disagree agreeably and behave like adults, rather than going AWOL.

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Democracy Dies in a Charter Jet: The Great Texas Walkout

Democracy Dies in a Motel 6: Texas Democrats Flee the Floor Again

Modern politics shares a particular irony that only it can deliver. In case Dems have forgotten how our system of government works, here’s a reminder. There are things called “elections,” where U.S. citizens vote for people to serve as their lawmakers, who then represent the people.

I know, it’s Civics 101, but it’s becoming a nasty habit for Democrats when they decide against serving democracy by fleeing—not rhetorically, but in a physical sense, packing their bags and crossing state lines to break a quorum.

Once again, Democrats in the great state of Texas are refusing to play a game they’ve lost at the ballot box. Rather than demonstrating integrity and character by accepting the election results, they are revealing their true colors by fleeing to prevent Republicans from passing a redrawn congressional map backed by President Donald Trump, which was expected to favor GOP candidates in at least five seats.

What the Democrats are doing isn’t new, bold, and it sure as hell isn’t noble. It’s political cowardice wrapped in just enough self-righteousness to impress only news readers and party donors.

Running From Responsibility, Again

In the state where this expression fits wonderfully, this ain’t their first rodeo. In 2003, redistricting. 2021, voting integrity. Now in 2025, the charter buses are fired up (EV buses?) and loaded as though they’re some sad cover band stuck on their only remotely famous song, “We Ran So We Wouldn’t Lose. Again.”

Their problem this time is a congressional map backed by Trump’s post-reelection push to solidify Republican control of the House ahead of the 2026 mid-term elections. 

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Police: Texas Mom Armed 13-Year-Old Son, Helped Him Plot Attack on School

Purple haired Texas mom Ashley Pardo faces charges for allegedly helping her son plan a mass shooting on Rhodes Middle School as way of rewarding him for babysitting, according to the Daily Mail.

The school is located in San Antonio, Texas.

The 33-year-old mom allegedly “purchased ammunition, tactical gear, and loaded magazines for her [13-year-old] son.”

Law enforcement indicated the son “drew chilling maps of his school marked ‘suicide route,’ idolized white supremacist mass shooters, and planned to carry out a massacre.”

The Daily Mail pointed to an affidavit showing Pardo allegedly helped prepare her son for the attack “in exchange for babysitting his siblings.” She was charged with “aiding in the commission of terrorism.”

KENS5 noted that Pardo also faces charges of child endangerment-criminal negligence over an incident that occurred on March 3, 2023.

While executing a search warrant on Pardo’s resident, police found photos from 2023 showing her allegedly pointing a shotgun at an 11-month-old girl. She allegedly texted the photos to the girl’s biological father along with text saying the victim was “being a brat.”

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