Posts Tagged ‘Austin Justice Coalition’

5 Indicted APD Officers Sue City, DA Garza, SJW Groups

Thursday, June 2nd, 2022

The kangaroo court proceedings against 19 APD officers for daring to enforce the law and keep order rather than letting the hard left’s pet Antifa/BlackLivesMatter rioters go on a spree of destruction continues to grind away, but five of the indicted officers are fighting back.

Five of the 19 police officers indicted on aggravated assault charges stemming from the May 2020 protests have filed a lawsuit against the City of Austin, the Travis County District Attorney’s Office and various social justice groups [Austin Justice Coalition and the Mike Ramos Brigade].

The officers filing suit are Joshua Jackson, Rolan Rast, Todd Gilbertson, Derrick Lehman and Alexander Lomovstev. They’re all on administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal charges.

At least 19 APD officers face indictments linked to May 2020 protests.

They misspelled “attempted riots.”

The lawsuit states “plaintiffs were ordered to respond and were given less than lethal beanbag rounds, for which they were provided no training and some of which proved to be defective or expired[.]

Adam Muery, the attorney representing the five officers, says they filed now because the statute of limitations for certain legal action stemming from the May 2020 protests expired last night.

“We brought this suit now because it’s only been three months since their indictments and that’s when the fullest extent of damages became known to my clients. Because before that their damages were different,” said Muery.

Snip.

The lawsuit also alleges numerous times the crowds were “riotous” and the officers followed orders to keep the crowds safe. Causes of action in suit claim, intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, malicious prosecution, negligence and negligent hiring/supervision/training and retention, among other things.

“None of them had training on using these types of weapons while wearing gas masks,” said Muery. “Which is obviously difficult because, in this situation, they made the decision to put the CS gas out onto the interstate. And these officers are now having to use these weapons with these masks that block their field of vision and make it more difficult. Some of these officers were also not specialty officers and were not part of this special response team. So some of these officers had no training on how to use these less-than-lethal rounds.”

I hope not only that the lawsuit is successful, but that discovery for it also reveals all sorts of criminal collusion between Travis County DA Jose Garza, the Austin Justice Coalition and various George Soros front groups to deprive American citizens equal protection under the rule of law in the name of radical social justice.

Did Austin Justice Coalition Break Federal Law?

Monday, November 8th, 2021

With plenty of out-of-state money (including half a million from George Soros), Austin Justice Coalition and their allies managed to deliver a resounding defeat to Proposition A. There was a lot of signage against Prop A, and readers in Austin say they received anti-Prop A flyers. Here’s an example:

And here’s a closeup of who funded it:

There’s two places on the flyer it says it was partially funded by the Austin Justice Coalition.

Tiny problem: The Austin Justice Coalition is a 501(c)(3) organization last time I checked, and 501(c)(3) have very specific prohibitions against engaging in certain types of political activity and advertising.

(You might be wondering: Is that’s the case, how could SaveAustinNow legally campaign for Proposition A? Easy: They’re a 501(c)(4) organization, the rules for which are different.)

Did Austin Justice Coalition violate federal law? Maybe. Austin Justice Coalition briefly lost their tax exempt for failing to proper documentation. (It’s easier to search for information on them when you have their tax ID number: EIN 81-3138826.) But I’m not a lawyer, and the IRS statute language specifically mentions that 501(c)(3) organizations can’t campaign for or against candidates. I am unsure whether this prohibition extends to campaigning for or against ballot propositions.

Perhaps an expert in campaign finance law can shed some light on the issue…

(Hat tip: Blog commenter Clinton.)

Election Day! Go Vote!

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2021

Today’s Election Day in Texas, Virginia, and several other states! If you haven’t already voted early, find your voter registration card, grab your ID and head off to the polls!

  • Travis County polling locations.
  • Williamson County polling locations.
  • Now a few election roundup bits:

  • Tons of out-of-state money is flowing in to defeat Pro A.

    Among several reforms, the proposition would enact the nationally recognized “Safe City Standard” in Austin to require two police officers per 1,000 citizens.

    Texas Scorecard previously reported that New York billionaire George Soros recently intruded into Austin and gave $500,000 to oppose Proposition A. Now, other big players are joining him. Washington, D.C.-based labor union The Fairness Project and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (the largest trade union of government employees in the nation) are also pumping money to defeat the citizen-led effort.

    The Fairness Project, which has previously supported harmful employer mandates in Texas, poured in $200,000 to kill the police campaign, while the big-government union tossed in $25,000.

  • More background on the Austin Justice Coalition, the main local anti Prop A group:

    Founded by Chas Moore, the AJC has reached new heights of influence within the City of Austin. Before launching the coalition, Moore “served as a student activist fighting many social issues at The University of Texas at Austin and in the broader Austin Community.”

    Snip.

    Moore describes himself ideologically as a “liberal, radical, abolitionist, [and] afrofuturist.” He founded AJC in 2015.

    According to the Internal Revenue Service, AJC had its tax exempt status revoked in August of 2019 for failing to file a Form-990 return for three consecutive years.

    Moore said that there was a misunderstanding between himself and the organization financing AJC at the time, the Texas Fair Defense Project, as to who was responsible for the tax filings. He said that the misstep was rectified by filing backdated 990s and their status was reinstated in 2020.

    Under Moore’s tutelage, AJC has prodded the progressive-dominated city council to adopt a sea change in policies.

    One of AJC’s biggest triumphs includes its successful effort lobbying council to scrap a 2017 APD labor agreement and the eventual final product that included the creation of the city’s Office of Police Oversight — which expanded on the responsibilities of its predecessor, the Office of the Police Monitor. Another more recent and monumental gain is the 2020 cut and redirection of $150 million from the Austin Police Department (APD) budget.

    Other big issues AJC and its sister organizations, such as Texas Appleseed, the Texas Fair Defense Project, and Just Liberty, pushed for include a 2017 ordinance mandating the municipal court prioritize personal recognizance (PR) bonds for defendants classified as indigent, the subsequent ousting of five judges who did not abide the policy change, and the 2019 recission of the citywide prohibition on camping and laying.

  • In Virginia, more gaslighting by the same people who hired the fake “white supremacists”:

  • Man, Terry McAuliffe sure likes to hire jerks:

    What’s wrong with not just saying “Sorry, he’s not taking questions” rather than yelling “THANK YOU FOR COMING” over and over again?