Grits for Breakfast @Grits4Breakfast Twitter profile

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Grits for Breakfast

5 months

Y'all, please pre-order Grits' next East Austin micro-history zine. This one is a noir murder-mystery thriller from the 1940s: a true-crime drama guest edited by @jduffyrice . RT widely, I've got artist and printer's bills to pay! :)

Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

5 months

If it were a movie, this would be the logline:

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

2 years

And, power at my house is G-O-N-E. TX can't keep the lights on 1.25 miles from the capitol. We're fast approaching failed state status.

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@Grits4Breakfast

6 months

Yes, Texans actually pay more in taxes than Californians do

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@Grits4Breakfast

2 years

@ASFleischman It was so much more chill back then. Even the street gangs were all trained musicians and dancers who would break into song at any moment.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

2 years

I don't know which is more infuriating: The bad-faith decision to charge this guy w/ capital murder, or the cowardice of the "good guys w/ guns" crowd who abandon all the "castle doctrine" stuff when it's a black man defending his home.

Maurice Chammah🍹🎻

@MauriceChammah

2 years

#BREAKING : Marvin Guy is no longer facing the death penalty, for shooting a cop during a no-knock raid. He claims he didn’t know it was a cop—and had a right to defend himself from intruders. But he’s facing life w/o parole. So it’ll still be a fight.

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@Grits4Breakfast

6 months

@DannyElPaso The income tax, of course, is *why* the rich pay more in CA. Reliance on regressive taxes like sales, and property taxes, which disproportionately extract revenue from the middle class, is why this is true, whether or not you personally understand it.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

2 years

And half an hour later, power back on. Could have been worse, I guess.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

2 years

To pay for his Operation Lone Star boondoggle, @GregAbbott_TX defunded both youth and adult prisons and bled hundreds of millions from mental health care. Now, adult prisons can't staff prison transports and youth prisons can't take new inmates. Chickens coming home to roost.

TDCAA

@TDCAA

2 years

Last week @TexasJJD announced it would no longer accept offenders sentenced to #TJJD by local juvenile courts due to lack of adequate staffing at the state agency. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #txlege

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

1 year

Texas abortion laws working exactly as intended

Mark Joseph Stern

@mjs_DC

1 year

Remember the Texas man who sued his wife's friends after they helped her get abortion pills? He found the pill in his wife's purse while secretly searching it, then put it back—he wanted her to take it so he could then blackmail her into staying with him.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

7 months

@Fainora @Culture_Crit @AlejNavia This is a much better answer than the one that got the bullseye.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

3 months

@TxDOT Your highways are the main cause of pedestrian deaths in Austin. You guys are the last ppl who should be giving safety lectures at the same time you're pushing to expand I-35.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

Health update: On Friday I got my feeding tube removed, 6 months after radiation treatment ended. It took that long to return to solid foods fully. Down 95 lbs. None of my clothes fit. Eating still slow and difficult. But, knock wood, cancer so far appears to be gone. Onward.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

2 years

No one besides a cop would ever receive this sort of special treatment. The guy was doing 90 in a 35 (w/o lights or sirens) and killed somebody. If you or I did that, it'd be criminally negligent homicide. But the judge wouldn't even let the jury consider it.

Nicole Hensley 📰

@nkhensley

2 years

A judge granting a directed verdict, effectively acquitting a defendant, is a rare move. But it happened yesterday during a trial involving an ex-HPD officer charged with criminally negligent homicide.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

Deaths at this rate for less than one week would result in more dead people than all murders statewide in the whole of 2020 (1,927 out of a state of 30 million).

KXAN News

@KXAN_News

3 years

Texas reports 463 new COVID-19 deaths today, the third highest total ever reported

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

1 month

There's no policy reason for most of what Texas state government does these days. They identify ppl they don't like, concoct ways to harm them, and call it "policy." But that's an excuse, not a reason. The reason is simply to cause harm.

HoustonCVPE

@HoustonCVPE

1 month

Miles just told Houston ISD custodians they are terminated effective June 28. They can re-apply for an hourly position with no benefits, no sick leave, no vacation. Dishonorable Unconscionable @USDOL - there’s more.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

6 months

@APTeacher1754 No, you're either misreading the article, simply misunderstanding basic economics, or spreading disinformation. Regressive taxes don't have "brackets." Texas doesn't have an income tax.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

1 year

The fact that leadership didn't prioritize these people coming to Austin to tell their stories is an abomination. Nearly 400 cops stood around dawdling while their kids were murdered. One would think they'd be owed the tiniest bit of courtesy, but not at the #txlege in 2023.

Maria Hinojosa 🥑

@Maria_Hinojosa

1 year

I came to Austin expecting to hear historic testimony frm Uvalde families in the state Capitol. Flew down from NYC last night. Here bf 9a. It’s been almost 12 HOURS. The families are STILL here. And they have still not been called. And yet. They wait. Patiently. W hope & tears.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

Garbage collectors die on the job at significantly greater rates than cops, but don't go around saying they "put their lives on the line every day." That mentality creates a toxic culture. If it's that damn dangerous, maybe we ought to be doing traffic enforcement differently.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

Back the blue, till it happens to you ...

Bob Garrett

@RobertTGarrett

3 years

‘I support the thin blue line, but this is insidious,' Texas GOP gubernatorial hopeful Allen West says after wife arrested on DWI charge in Dallas. 'I am beyond livid,' @West4Texas says. Via @catherinemarfin #TxGov #2022Elections #txlege

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@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

I wept watching this man sing. Exoneree stories are moving beyond words. And what a perfect song choice!

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

1 year

Prop B drove homeless ppl from the roadsides where ppl could see them to beyond the tree line where they were concealed. This is 100% an unintended consequence of that ballot measure.

DASH

@DocumentingATX

1 year

HOW is this allowed to happen to Austin. This creek will never be the same. Austin is known for its green spaces and its environmentalism. This has to stop!!!

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

2 years

@tswebber "Some folk" = ppl who like AC in 110° heat and children in their schools un-murdered.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

4 months

If we ever get around to replacing the Confederate statuary at the Texas capitol, this gentleman should get one instead.

Traces of Texas

@TracesofTexas

4 months

In 1971, Mariano Martinez, Jr. adapted a Slurpee machine to create the world's first frozen margarita machine at Mariano's Hacienda restaurant in East Dallas. So it's true that not all heroes wear capes. 😀 Photo courtesy Mariano Martinez Jr. via @DMagazine .

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

1 year

Pull on the wrong car-door handle, 18yo black cheerleader gets shot. This "everybody has a gun for protection" thing is turning into a friggin' nightmare.

Cheerleaders shot after one allegedly mistook suspect’s car for her own

The shooting in Elgin, Texas happened in a parking lot that serves as a carpool pickup spot for members of the Woodlands Elite Cheer Company, team owner Lynne Shearer said.

www.kltv.com

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

Consider these Texas death totals: 2019 murders: 1,403 2019 traffic deaths: 3,610 That's 5,013 deaths statewide from murder and traffic last year. By contrast, as of 9/15, COVID has killed 14,458 in Texas in 2020, and counting. So what is the bigger public-safety threat?

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

Racial profiling doesn't pause for cold weather. The Plano chief's comments that race wasn't a factor here are frankly absurd. No way they arrest a white kid in that situation. Hell, if he were white, the cops would never have been called.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

When you see police chiefs and cop unions condemning the killing of George Floyd, remember that it's a calculated PR move. Their goal is to let things blow over and go back to the status quo. Don't fall for it.

Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

@JasonVaughn @Rojanofkevlar @cjblain10 There's literally a playbook. They know this will get them favorable press and help things blow over. The police unions train each other on it. See:

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

6 months

@DannyElPaso Sales/VAT taxes are by definition regressive. That's a bizarre statement. See: .

What Is a Regressive Tax?

A regressive tax is one where the average tax burden decreases with income. Low-income taxpayers pay a disproportionate share of the tax burden, while middle- and high-income taxpayers shoulder a...

taxfoundation.org

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

5 years

. @wfaa in Dallas has quite a scoop cued up: Turns out, #SandraBland was filming the @TxDPS trooper with her phone when she was arrested, a never-before-revealed fact. And they got the video. Here's the teaser: (via @BarefootEmprss )

WFAA Investigates Sandra Bland DIGITAL FOR REVIEW

#Sandystillspeaks isn't just a hashtag but a reality. Almost four years after being found dead in a Waller County Jail there's more information surfacing fro...

www.youtube.com

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

1 year

If there'd been a "panic button" in the classroom in Uvalde, what would it matter? They stood outside an unlocked door for an hour while kids were killed. What problem are we solving for here? Apparently the financial problems of whoever makes panic buttons.

Shannon Watts

@shannonrwatts

1 year

School safety is a billion dollar industry enriching special interests: "The change would raise the cost of the bill from $300 million to about $1.6 billion." It's the guns.

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@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

@GregAbbott_TX @The87thTxlege The City Council first created Austin's police department in 1865 because “a large number of Negroes turned loose by their owners are congregating in and about Austin ... making it necessary to organize a police force to deal with them.” So there's that.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

1 year

It cost the Austin Police Association ~$288k to put Prop B on the ballot and it got spanked by a 4-1 margin. I've rarely seen so much resources and political capital put into a campaign botched so egregiously right out of the gate.

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@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

The accidental semi-decriminalization of pot remains my favorite Texas #cjreform story of 2019. Given the happy effects of ↓ crime-lab caseloads, ↓ indigent-defense and jail costs, and relief for overworked prosecutors, the #txlege shouldn't go back:

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

The TX Department of Housing and Community Affairs has proposed a rule (comments due Friday) that would ↑ homelessness by forbidding supportive housing to felons - for some, a lifetime ban. Where are they supposed to live, @GovAbbott , under a bridge?

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

2 years

As near as I can tell, Rule #1 in criminology is, if the data don't say what you want (usually, hire more cops), narrow the geographic and temporal parameters until you find a positive correlation, then publish, rinse, and repeat.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

2 years

Last week, Austin Police Officer Lawrence McInosh was suspended for using lights and sirens to blow through a red light when there was no emergency. He hit an oncoming car and totaled both vehicles: Got a 2-day suspension.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

1 year

Turns out, the fake police accountability petition in Austin was funded by the local police union to the tune of $287,030. There were $125 in individual donations from 2 people. Another $1.5k from the Corpus Christi police union. So now we know who the scammers are.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

1 year

The fact that Texas has no functional passenger rail btwn its major cities is a massive failure of vision and governance.

Brian Nunnery

@briannunnery

1 year

Ban short flights. Invest in high speed rail. Return to greatness Not pictured: Atlanta-DC Piedmont rail and Front Range corridor

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

After getting all my nourishment for months through a stomach tube, I just ate my first breakfast taco of 2020. What a weird thing to say in September! ~90 pounds down from New Years. Crazy, crappy year but as always, better with tacos.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

Off-duty Austin cop in his personal vehicle gets cut off by another driver. Claiming the man had a gun (did they find it?) the cop shot at the car, chased it down, then on-duty cops shot the man and a passenger, w/ a child in the back seat the whole time.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

9 months

"embarrassed that I thought the evidence mattered." My position was always that NOTHING happens in the TX senate that Dan Patrick doesn't want to happen. This verdict confirms that. Buy the judge, get the outcome you want. That's the Texan way.

ChrisTomlinson

@cltomlinson

9 months

We've said all along that Paxton's impeachment was a political trial, not a criminal one. I am embarrassed that I thought the evidence mattered. The extreme right wing of the Republican party has won. I expect to see a lot of moderates decide not to run.

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Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

6 months

The cases are being dismissed in large part bc the cops destroyed much of the evidence, hence the request for investigation of their "patterns and practice."

Tony Plohetski

@tplohetski

6 months

BREAKING: Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza will dismiss charges against 17 of 21 Austin police officers for their force during the May 2020 protests, a reversal from his pursuit of the cases launched nearly two years ago, we have confirmed. 1/2

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@Grits4Breakfast

2 years

They don't fix the goddamn grid then tell US to prepare. Infuriating.🖕🏽🤡🤬

Texas Division of Emergency Management

@TDEM

2 years

Texas: Prepare NOW for sub-freezing conditions expected to begin impacting much of the state during the middle of this week. ❄️ Visit for winter weather resources. #txwx

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

This is pretty much how I feel about it. If cops are going to approach every traffic stop as though they might leave in a body bag, maybe they just shouldn't be doing it. Either it really is that dangerous so should cease, or their misperceptions are resulting in innocent deaths.

Rebecca McCray

@rebeccakmccray

3 years

Decades of jurisprudence and police training grounded in bad data is costing people their lives, writes @mjs_DC . Get cops out of traffic enforcement now.

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@Grits4Breakfast

7 months

This case is one the best examples in any argument for eliminating no-knock warrants: A decade-long travesty of justice. Texas tells ppl to "stand your ground," then prosecutes them when they do. I hope the jury does the right thing here.

Billy Binion

@billybinion

7 months

This is Marvin Guy. He's been in jail almost 10 years waiting for trial. He's facing life in prison—for killing someone who was breaking into his house before sunrise. The kicker: That person was a cop conducting a no-knock raid. His trial ended today. A thread.

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@Grits4Breakfast

7 months

One of the weirdest things to me about the anti-immigration hysteria is that it comes in a time when Texas is facing major labor shortages in industries where immigrants historically have dominated the work force. (SHORT THREAD)

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

Over marijuana. This is perhaps the strongest argument for decrim/legalization: Every arrest risks this outcome and it's just not worth it. If weed were legal, Marvin Scott would still be alive.

Texas Tribune

@TexasTribune

3 years

1/ Marvin Scott III died in Texas police custody. His family says they will protest until the officers involved are arrested. Photos by @shelbytauber .

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@Grits4Breakfast

1 year

Abbott really picked a winner. I'm enjoying this more the longer it goes on. Not only has the governor all but ensured Garza's reelection, I can't imagine the Board of Pardons and Paroles recommending clemency. Abbott walked to the end of a tree limb then sawed it off behind him.

Sawyer Hackett

@SawyerHackett

1 year

Holy shit. This is the guy who Greg Abbott has promised to pardon for murder. This is ONE PAGE of the 76 just released. Here, Daniel Perry says “I will only shoot the [protestors] in front and push the pedal to the metal.”

911

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@Grits4Breakfast

1 year

The police-union bill to roll back Austin's Prop A died yesterday evening in the House Urban Affairs Committee on a 2-7 vote. Rumor has it the Governor is mad about it and may demand a re-vote, but that's a decent margin to overcome, and time in session is growing short.

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@Grits4Breakfast

9 months

If you haven't seen the 3-part HBO documentary "Telemarketers," parts 2 and 3 are mainly about corrupt, mendacious fundraising schemes by the FOP and other police unions and how they use lies and demagoguery to rip off the gullible and the elderly.

Telemarketers | Official Website for the HBO Original | HBO.com

The official website for Telemarketers on HBO, featuring interviews, schedule information, behind the scenes exclusives, and more.

www.hbo.com

National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP)

@GLFOP

9 months

“We have seen politicians, some in media, activists, and grifters attempt to garner power and influence by demonizing and denigrating the noble profession of law enforcement.” @JoeGamaldi : You combine that with the revolving door criminal justice system brought on by rogue DA’s,

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@Grits4Breakfast

9 months

“The inescapable conclusion is that today’s outcome appears to have been orchestrated from the start, cheating the people of Texas of justice,” Phelan said. $3 million pays for a lot of orchestration

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton beats impeachment, returns to office

The Texas Senate voted to acquit Attorney General Ken Paxton of articles of impeachment related to accusations of abuse of office, bribery and obstruction of...

www.dallasnews.com

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@Grits4Breakfast

1 year

Reporters can just tee up this same story every summer now.

Texas inmates ‘being cooked alive’ in heatwave with no air conditioning

Current and former inmates describe dangerous conditions inside Texas prisons as they bear an intense heatwave with no air conditioning.

www.kxan.com

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@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

Fiscal conservatism is officially dead in Texas. Here's the governor-backed bill to require that local governments' public-safety budgets only ever increase. So higher taxes in perpetuity, by law, w/o even a prospect of relief. Wow. Ronald Reagan must be spinning in his grave.

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@Grits4Breakfast

7 months

@north0fnorth @TakumaKitsune Just decrim, though, not full-blown legalization. E.g., no dispensaries yet. I'm in MX rn. Still sold via the black market so far, just no criminal penalties for use. Lots of CBD businesses, though. And you smell it on the street pretty frequently.

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@Grits4Breakfast

1 year

He's accusing a jury that convicted someone of murder of "nullification" of the killer's 2nd Amendment rights. 🤦‍♂️ What about the murder victim's rights? And until 5 minutes ago, he was criticizing the DA for NOT getting more murder convictions. How can it all be THIS stupid?

Greg Abbott

@GregAbbott_TX

1 year

I am working as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sgt. Perry.

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

. @AmysIceCreams FTW. @NoWayPropA

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

My marriage to a brilliant, beautiful woman (31 yrs and counting) is the source of virtually all joy in my life. My job is the source of nearly all the anxiety and aggravation. Life choices have been a mixed bag.

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@Grits4Breakfast

5 months

When Acevedo was Austin's chief, he had the head of the sex-crime unit removed from her job bc she refused to falsify clearance-rate numbers in rape cases. Now, he's the interim chief's interim boss. via @statesman

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

Probably a coincidence that 60 years ago Austin's population was <200k and ~1 million rn. Not the highest homicide RATE in 60 yrs, by a country mile.

Austin shatters all-time high number of homicides in 60 years of record keeping

The 60th case marks a 25% increase in homicides so far in 2021 compared with all of 2020, when the Police Department logged 48 homicides.

www.statesman.com

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

Study: Cops more likely to beat your ass if you make them run.

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@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

@nhannahjones Mencken: “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”

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@Grits4Breakfast

1 year

Math isn't my strong suit, but wouldn't that still be 0 poets?

Forrest Wilder

@Forrest4Trees

1 year

imagining a state legislature that has half as many lawyers and twice as many poets

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

Kim Ogg attributed the murder spike in Houston to bail reform. But murder is up everywhere, including jurisdictions that DIDN'T have bail reform (e.g., the more than doubled in Lubbock last year). Not credible that misdemeanor bail reform in HTX caused it.

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@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

“ ‘Police said’ is not a shorthand for truth,” said @susanchira . “You don’t give up your obligation to verify and corroborate” just because the source wears a badge and a gun.

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

Several ppl at the #atxcouncil meeting started out w/ "I've lived here 30 years and crime is worse than ever." Except, that's not remotely true. Crime was FAR higher 30 years ago. Not even close, really, from a crime-data perspective. Just disconnected from reality.

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@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

Nations whose military budgets are smaller than the Austin PD ...

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

TV reporters are STILL treating misinformation about crime as news. Then they treat contradictory, reality-based analysis as opinion and equate them. Over and over. It's infuriating. To quote from The Wire, "A lie ain't a side of the story. It's just a lie."

FOX SA

@KABBFOX29

3 years

Rep. Roy alluded to the rise in crime as a “direct consequence of the direction and decision making of Austin City Council.”

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@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

Guy standing 6 feet away with his arms to his side getting pepper sprayed gratuitously. This @Austin_Police officer (Lester, #8558 ) should be fired. So should every cop who saw him do it and failed to report him. #Enough #MadAsHell #FedUp #FireManley Src:

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@Grits4Breakfast

1 year

One of the most baffling things to me about 21st century American politics is the extent to which ppl think immigration is a problem instead of a solution. Especially in Texas, it's *always* been an economic-growth driver.

Opinion | One reason for the surprise jobs boom? Immigrants are back.

Foreign-born workers and women are punching above their weight in the labor market.

www.washingtonpost.com

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

Uh, Abbott forbade mask mandates but ordered state troopers to pull to over possible illegal immigrants near the border *suspected* of having COVID? Wow. Glad the feds are stepping in, this is beginning to enter the realm of totalitarianism.

Justice Department sues Texas over Gov. Greg Abbott's order for law e…

On Wednesday, Abbott issued the order, allowing Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to reroute civilian vehicles back to their origin point or a port of entry, or seize the vehicles, if police…

www.texastribune.org

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

About 1/5 of arrests at Texas traffic stops in 2019 - 64,100 statewide - were ppl taken to jail for "Class C" misdemeanors, for which the maximum punishment supposedly is a fine, not jail time. That's more people than were arrested statewide for marijuana possession that year.

Prison_Health 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

@Prison_Health

3 years

Deep in the Weeds: Sandra-Bland data provides first-ever detail on scope of arrests, searches at Texas traffic stops MT @Grits4Breakfast

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@Grits4Breakfast

2 years

Reporter couldn't find one person who'd actually been victimized by crime, nor any data, apparently, about crimes in the area, but we still get a "be afraid of crime" story.

‘I have to be very careful’: How Deep Ellum restaurant and bar workers deal with crime and safety

Every night after her shift as a manager at Deep Sushi, Seryna Fagan, 18, makes sure to lock the restaurant’s doors and that she has her pink can of pepper...

www.dallasnews.com

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@Grits4Breakfast

2 years

@CabbagesHusband No, ERCOT announced they're rationing to protect the grid. Just like in the Snowpocalypse, ATX has to comply.

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@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

@ClintSmithIII You're not alone!

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@Grits4Breakfast

1 year

When Justice Kavanaugh is more sympathetic an actual-innocence claim than the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, we've fully jumped the shark. It's an embarrassment it's taken this long: They just want the DNA tested! Could've been done years ago, but they fought it every step.

Douglas A. Berman

@SLandP

1 year

In 6-3 ruling, SCOTUS rules for Texas capital defendant concerning statute of limitation for seeking DNA t...

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

Does ↑ the size of a police force reduce crime? A metastudy of "62 studies and 229 findings of police force size and crime, from 1971 through 2013" found no statistically significant effect, concluding:

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@Grits4Breakfast

2 years

According to a consultant hired by the city, comparing 2020 to 2017, @Austin_Police arrests declined by 51%, while use of force incidents increased by 58%.🧵

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

Rule of thumb: Do not order corn tortillas in Austin unless the place you're in makes them on site. Corollary: If they're making corn tortillas on site (increasingly rare), ALWAYS order them. Who's still serving hand-made corn tortillas in ATX? Lemme know your favorites.

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

The "No Way on Prop A" campaign is arguably the largest, most diverse political coalition ever assembled in Austin on any topic, but you'd never know it from the MSM coverage.

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@Grits4Breakfast

6 months

Narrator: No one defunded the police and Austin's police budget is higher than at any time in the city's history. Also, traffic enforcement has declined by >50% statewide from its 2006 peak, not just in Austin.

Jennifer Hackney-Szimanski

@Jennifer_cleat

7 months

Defunding the police has consequences @CLEAT @ATXPOA full report

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@Grits4Breakfast

7 months

Texas has never even been able to get a hearing on reducing marijuana penalties in the Texas Senate bc Houston mayoral candidate John Whitmire has chaired the Criminal Justice Committee since 1993 and he refused to allow it.

Udi Ofer

@udiofer_

7 months

Support for marijuana legalization reaches record high, at 70%. Importantly, this overwhelming support for legalization is the same in states where pot is still illegal, and where tens of thousands of people continue to be arrested for marijuana possession

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@Grits4Breakfast

2 months

Would like to see a breakdown of which agencies are making all these no-probable-cause arrests. Will officers/troopers be held accountable for violating people's 1A rights/freedom w/o cause?

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@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

Friggin' Alpine! For a town of about 6k, this is damn impressive.

Carlos E. Morales

@celizario

4 years

This may be the largest protest I’ve seen in Alpine in my three years in Far West Texas. One organizer tells me they think is the first Black Lives Matter rally here.

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@Grits4Breakfast

7 months

Texas has completely mismanaged the Gulf Coast oyster industry, allowing overharvesting for so long that now they're closing most beds bc of a lack of legal-sized oysters. It's a really big deal, but few state leaders seem to notice or care. via @chron

Galveston Bay oyster season jolted by low numbers

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has closed two key harvesting areas.

www.chron.com

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@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

Feeling hopeless: Is there room for moderation on police reform?

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

Glad this travesty of justice is getting broader attention, it's a case study in the drug war eroding both the Fourth and Second Amendments and American civil liberties in general.

Grassroots Law Project

@grassroots_law

3 years

7 years ago, police in #KilleenTx poorly executed a no-knock raid that violated countless department policies, ultimately left an officer dead, and has an innocent Black man facing the death penalty for a crime he didn't commit. #FreeMarvinGuy

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

Helping out the missus today, I reverse Google-searched a graphic being used to train Austin police cadets in constitutional history. It came from a book called "The 5,000 Year Leap" written by a John Birch Society enthusiast with a foreword by Glenn Beck.

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@Grits4Breakfast

1 year

In the context of skyrocketing gun-crime rates, it's worth mentioning that the number of police officers employed in Texas increased >35% from 2017 to 2021. If more police officers helped w/ gun crime, you'd think there'd be an inverse rather than positive correlation.

Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

1 year

Gun crime in Texas during the @GregAbbott_TX era:

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@Grits4Breakfast

1 year

The media fall for this EVERY time: When crime goes down, it's "science." When it goes up, either protesters are to blame, or it's bc they didn't get enough money. Usually both. Only accept credit; never blame.

IACA

@crimeanalysts

1 year

Why are Dallas (Texas) crime trends down? The chief explains the science behind it: When Chief Eddie Garcia took over the Dallas Police Department more than two years ago, he began working with criminologists from the University of Texas San Antonio.

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@Grits4Breakfast

1 year

Lost one of my closest friends and mentors today. That's it for me rn. I'm getting drunk and have no plans to sober up bf the SOB's memorial, at which ridiculously, I've been asked to speak. Idk wtf to say. Feel like I've lost a brother. #CancerSucks #OnlyTheGoodDieYoung

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@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

Did *not* need a study to tell me this.

Shadow and Act

@shadowandact

4 years

New Study: Crime shows are a 'PR machine' for law enforcement 🚔

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@Grits4Breakfast

2 years

So weird to hear cops tell the TX House Public Safety Committee that proper training is in place to prevent school shootings and they just need more security staff. There was no shortage of cops in Uvalde! It's like they can't hear themselves.

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@Grits4Breakfast

5 years

Speaking of @keribla : "In the last 30 years, I can't think of a reporter whose work has so significantly influenced the culture of Texas journalism." She is "making politicians, journalists, and researchers of all stripes step up their game."

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

2020 was Texas' first full year under its new "hemp" law requiring THC testing to prosecute marijuana cases. The result was the number of pot cases filed dropping by more half (2018 # was 87,618). From the Ofc of Court Administration annual statistical report:

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

The term "gang" as used by law enforcement is becoming so diffuse as to be almost meaningless. When kids stop joining gangs they just re-define the term. (See TX Homeland Security Plan, p. 21: )

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

Beyond just deaths, Texas cops used force at traffic stops resulting in serious bodily injury more than 5,000 times in 2020, according to data reported to @TCOLE . "Black folks represented 24.6% of force victims compared to 16.7% of drivers stopped."

Samuel Sinyangwe

@samswey

3 years

The majority of people killed by police in America are killed in response to mental health calls, traffic infractions and other low-level offenses. Police killed 121 people during traffic stops alone last year.

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@Grits4Breakfast

7 months

@DavidMartinDavi One wishes there were more handguns in that photo.

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 months

The @Jeremy4DA campaign sent these assholes out today to harass @JosePGarza blockwalkers. I had to go pick up my wife bc they were following her and another wonan around them around the neighborhood like a bunch of creeps.

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@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

Back from researching slave patrols at the Guadalupe County, TX clerk. I'm beginning to get a clearer picture of the relationship between slave patrols and early Texas policing. (Thread)

Grits for Breakfast

@Grits4Breakfast

4 years

Headed to Seguin, TX today with @AmandaJMarzullo to look for primary sources on antebellum TX slave patrols. Thx to Kyle Ainsworth of the Runaway Slave project at SFA for the tip! Also Christy Costlow at the Travis County archives for the hookup.

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@Grits4Breakfast

8 months

The I-35 expansion was literally the single worst, most harmful urban planning decision ever made in Austin, so naturally, we're doubling down.

Nathan Bernier

@KUTnathan

8 months

The I-35 expansion will force out the beloved Spanish-immersion daycare Escuelita Del Alma, scrambling plans for 200 kids and their parents.

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@Grits4Breakfast

3 years

Disappointed isn't the right word. I'm friggin livid. They're taking up the constitutional amdt on bail TODAY and allowing no testimony or debate in committee. Ds are going to get steamrolled. For no good reason at all. 🤬

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