​Regarding Mayor Whitmire’s ICE press conference today, 7/10:

1. Our rank & file leadership as Houstonians compelled Whitmire to speak much differently than he did at council on Wednesday. Thanks to everyone who has attended a protest or spoken up in someway. 

The next action is when you organize it. The First Amendment is your permit. The work ahead is ours. 

2. We should recall who spoke strongly right off at Council on Wednesday. It was Salinas, Panzerella & Pollard. The four who voted against repeal of the ICE ordinance in April were Pollard, Thomas, Salinas & then-member Kamin. 

Repeal of the ICE ordinance expanded HPD cooperation with ICE because it lifted the 30 minute time HPD could hold someone for an administrative immigration warrant. Now there is no time limit. Voting for the repeal were Castillo, Peck, Jackson, Flickinger, Davis, Alcorn, Martinez, Castex-Tatum, Huffman, Evans-Shabazz, Carter, Ramirez & Whitmire. 

3. Whitmire talked about an independent investigation many times in the press conference. He also said many times that it was a federal matter. We’ll have to keep on him & council. Mayor Whitmire is shifty. Just weeks ago regarding ICE, Mayor Whitmire said Governor Abbott's opinion was the only one that mattered. 

4. Whitmire was critical of ICE. I don’t believe he likes ICE or Trump. In some ways it’s like being Mayor Turner when covid or Hurricane Harvey arrives. Though Mayor Whitmire has opposed his scourges with less vigor. 

5. All the people Whitmire had with him at the press conference were full Whitmire-loyalists. No Republicans though. Mayor Whitmire spoke a lot today about “unity.” I’m looking for some Republican “unity” on opposing ICE. 

6. You can watch the press conference yourself. The more each of us know, the more powerful we all are. It starts near the 12 minute mark of the video & lasts just over 40 minutes.

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​Here is a list of upcoming one-time events about the ICE killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, & of standing weekly protests.

If you'd like to start an event yourself, you can do so. Every act of resistance matters. 5 people on a sidewalk with signs matter. All across the Houston-region, we are forming our own networks of rapid response and self-protection. It's essential that people see others like themselves standing openly and confidently for freedom.

The next action is when you organize it. The 1st Amendment is your permit. The only credential needed is your presence. Voting will not be enough. The work ahead is ours.

All these events listed build our collective rank & file power.

Here are the events & I've included a few graphics as well--

Regarding the ICE killing:

Community Vigil for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo
SEIU Texas Office
3219 Harrisburg Blvd.
Saturday, 7/11, 10 AM

Call for Independent Investigation of Shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo
We Rise Up & Cypress-Tomball Democrats
1400 N. Loop 336 W. (Over I-45)
Saturday, 7/11, 9 AM-11 AM, Conroe

Let's Ride For La Raza-Justice For Lorenzo Salgado Araujo
Family Thrift Center
610 S. Wayside
Saturday, 7/11, Meet at 4 & drive at 5.

Justice For Lorenzo
Houston City Hall
Saturday, 7/11, 6 PM

Community Vigil
Houston City Hall
Sunday, 7/12, 7 PM-9 PM

Pack City Hall
Houston City Council Public Session
Tuesday, 7/14, 2 PM

Weekly Protests & Houston City Council Public Session:
John Cornyn Houston Office Protest
5300 Memorial Dr.
Each Tuesday, 11:30-1

Houston City Council Public Comment Session
Each Tuesday, 2 PM & then 5 PM on last Tuesday of month
Weekly Protest Against U.S. Rep. Luttrell & State Rep. Bell
18230 FM 1488 (Landmark Building)
Each Thursday, 8 AM-9 AM, Magnolia

Defending Democracy Protest
Indivisible Kingwood
2499 Green Oak Dr,. (Kingwood Dr. & Green Oak)
Each Thursday, 10-11, Kingwood

Social Security Office Protest
13302 Westheimer (Westheimer & Eldridge)
Each Friday, noon-1

Weekly Pro-Democracy Protest
We The People Organize
59 & Dunlavy Bridge
Each Friday, 3:30-5, Montrose

Weekly Pro-Democracy Protest
Outside Helen Hall Library
W. Walker & Highway 3
Each Saturday, 11-12:30, League City

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​Above is a picture from the protest/vigil yesterday at the Canal Street location of the ICE killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. Below is another picture from last night and then a picture from this morning, 7/9. 

The Houston Chronicle said there were 1500 people present last night. Here is a report on the event from NPR KUHF.

There is a lot going on about the shooting. There are calls for an independent investigation of the shooting because the federal government aways lies. I posted yesterday on first reactions-or absence of a reaction-from Houston City Councilmembers. 

What I want to emphasize though with this post is that we are going to need a mass movement equal to being the 4th largest city in the United States. 1500 is great on short notice. Parking was not easy. Thank you to everyone who joined. 

But with ICE on the streets and a lawless, authoritarian, white supremacist government in charge in both Austin and Washington, we ultimately need to be able to show up for ourselves. We need to get to 15,000 and 50,000 and 150,000.

The next action is when you organize it. The 1st Amendment is your permit. The only credential needed is your presence. Voting will not be enough. The work ahead is ours.
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​Below are Houston City Council reactions at Council today, 7/8, to ICE killing of Mr. Araujo & above and below is word of two vigils this evening, 7/8, regarding the killing. These events are on after the other at the same location. 

(As part of my work on the Houston Democracy Project, I watch every public comment and agenda session of Houston City Council.)

Ramirez--HPD can't meaningfully investigate because of federal supremacy. "Hopefully the federal government investigation will be transparent...."

Thomas--General condolences. No call for independent investigation. "....looking for information on how this case proceeds..."

Castex-Tatum-No comments. No call for independent investigation.

Peck-No comments. No call for independent investigation.

Matinez-"Prayers and condolences." Said HPD was not present. Mentioned the two vigils this evening & said he would be there. Said federal government must be accountable. No call for independent investigation. (Update-Martinez has since called for the city to work with other agencies for an investigation.) 

Whitmire-Praised Martinez comments. Said HPD had no involvement. Offered condolences. Said Ramirez correct that city can't investigate. Said some were "politicizing" shooting. Did not say who.

Pollard-City should be aggressive in determining what happened. "We can't just leave it all to the federal government."

Alcorn-General condolences. "I wish we didn't have to deal with it." No call for independent investigation.

Carter- General condolences. No call for independent investigation.

Evans-Shabazz-General condolences. No call for independent investigation.

​Castillo-General condolences "...every avenue for accountability and transparency is pursued."

Davis-No comments. No call for independent investigation.

Flickinger-No comments. No call for independent investigation.

Panzarella-Prepared statement critical of ICE. Called for independent investigation. Said will attend vigil this evening.

Jackson-General condolences. No call for independent investigation.

Huffman-Absent

Salinas-Was at family press conference. Called for independent investigation.

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​There are 5 protests I'm aware of for Tomorrow, 7/3 & Saturday, 7/4.

Tomorrow is the weekly protest outside the Social Security office at 13302 Westheimer. This is from noon to one at the busy intersection of Westheimer & Eldridge.

Also, there is the weekly protest on the Dunlavy Bridge over 59 from 3:30-5.

​The three Saturday protests are detailed in the graphics above and below. One in League City one for the last World Cup game in Houston & on in Conroe.
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The next action is when you organize it. The 1st amendment is your permit. The only credential needed is your presence. Voting won’t be enough. The work ahead is ours.

​1st picture below is word of a new protest in League City, Galveston County. I was glad to be there today ,6/27. 

Picture above makes point that you have your rights in League City & in all places.

2nd picture below is the protest today. You see there is shade which is a first-class amenity as protest goes.
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3rd picture below shows you can say 86 47 in League City. Your rights are everywhere.

The six people at this protest made a big difference. There were very many enthusiastic responses from passing motorists. Far more positive than negative. People are heartened to see allies. They process that you are out in the heat & vulnerable to whoever passes by.

There are more and more of these sometimes-modest decentralized actions across the Houston-region & the nation. This work will matter when rapid-response is needed when Trump messes with elections & further escalates attacks on civil liberties.

The next action is when you organize it. The 1st Amendment is your permit. The only credential needed is your presence. The work ahead is ours.
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(This is part of my work on the Houston Democracy Project. Link to contribute in comments. I've supported & promoted protest/pro-democracy events in the past two months in Conroe, League City, Humble, The Woodlands, Spring, Cincinnati & Montrose. This in addition to the Cornyn Office Protest and my other extensive Democracy Project work. That work includes my relentless focus on democracy issues at Houston City Hall. I'm a more effective advocate for democracy than are most candidate an elected officials.)

​NPR KUHF has a report of the far-right extremist likely to be appointed by Greg Abbott as Texas Secretary of State. His name is Nate Schatzline. 

From KUHF:

​"In Texas, the governor picks the secretary of state, and it’s unclear when Republican Gov. Greg Abbott will make a formal announcement. The current top elections official, Secretary of State Jane Nelson — who announced her resignation earlier this month — is expected to stay in office until July 17....For weeks though, signs have pointed to Nelson’s successor being state Rep. Nate Schatzline, a pastor at a Fort Worth megachurch with ties to Christian nationalism, who has repeated baseless claims about widespread fraud in American elections.....“It is believed that Schatzline would represent a disruptor model of [secretary of state] leadership: highly ideological, responsive to grassroots activist demands, and comfortable using the office as an active enforcement agency,"...he’s made it clear he is aligned with President Trump’s false views about elections......"It’s not even debatable the amount of election fraud we had through mail-in ballots. It’s not even debatable that the machines were screwed up and that we’ve seen unbelievable amounts of election fraud,” Schatzline said in an interview last year with John Herold, an election denial influencer who helped popularize a QAnon-adjacent election conspiracy theory after 2020......Schatzline is also an ally of the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in the state Ken Paxton."

Governor Abbott has said the state should take over 2026 elections in Harris County.

The Democratic nominee for Harris County Judge is Letitia Plummer who is a progressive Black Muslim woman. You see a campaign photo of her above. 

Recently, I walked into the Texas Republican convention in Houston and looked around. It was an anti-Muslim hatefest.

We know what is on the way. Attacks on our freedom and on our neighbors. There is no limit of what the right is capable of. Nothing is off the table. What kind of person still supports Donald Trump after 11 years of this?

I'm less interested in candidates than I am in our own power & our own self-protection. We need to elect Dr. Plummer for own sakes. The campaign Republicans will run against here can't be allowed to prevail. 

We need to be ready for not all our votes being counted. Fighting that will involve our leadership and willingness to show up however required. We've seen this necessity at work in the 2024 South Korean martial law crisis and in the resistance to ICE in Minnesota.

The next action is when you organize it. The 1st Amendment is your permit. The only credential needed is your presence. Voting won’t be enough. The work ahead is ours.

Below is an account from the Indivisible Kingwood folks today. They do a weekly protest near Dan Crenshaw's office. This is how it goes sometimes. It's important that we be out there no matter the aggression of the right. Above you see the patriot wearing her 8647 shirt that set off an angry man in the biggtuck. 

They are trying to define as criminals and scare us off the streets. We can't allow that to happen. We are going to have to be on the streets. Don't yield public space to bullies.

The next action is when you organize it. The 1st Amendment is your permit. The only credential needed is your presence. Voting will not be enough.The work ahead is ours.

From today:

"These 11 defenders of democracy made a difference today! The mobile community was quite vocal, ups and downs, but we really caught the eye of a super MAGA! Well, shall I say, Cindi got his attention with her sign. He was so over-the-top agitated that he called the cops on us. As we were packing up, 2 HPD cars rolled up, as did the super MAGA jerk in his big ole truck. The cops were really nice and said they were checking to make sure we were all okay. Then they informed us someone had called in about one of our signs. I asked if it was the loud guy in the truck. Yep. Cindi asked if he was insulted about her 8647 sign and they said yes, so she showed it to them. The jerk then stood on his truck threshold and started yelling at us. We asked if they will have to come out every time someone gets offended. They said yep. They waited until we were all pulling out of the parking lot before they left. As we were leaving they went over and talked to the jerk. Life of a protester!"

There are many of these sometimes-modest decentralized actions across the Houston-region & the nation. This work will matter when rapid-response is needed when Trump messes with elections & escalates attacks on civil liberties. We are getting to know and trust one another.

There is a new weekly protest in League City, Galveston County. There are more and more of these sometimes-modest decentralized actions across the Houston-region & the nation. This work will matter when rapid-response is needed when Trump messes with elections & escalates attacks on civil liberties. We are getting to know and trust one another.

The next action is when you organize it. The 1st Amendment is your permit. The only credential needed is your presence. The work ahead is ours.

Details-"Howdy! Starting this Saturday (6/27), I will be holding A weekly protest near the Helen Hall Library in League City, at the intersection of West Walker and Highway 3 starting at 11:00. Stay until 12:30 or leave earlier - and enjoy the shade trees while there. Hope to see you Saturday!"

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I’m signed up to speak at public comment time at Houston City Council on Tuesday, July 7.

You can speak at Houston City Council as well.
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Here are some of the points I’ll make:

1. Mayor Whitmire makes clear he’ll give HPD the overtime $ they want without serious review.

2. I’ve heard the Mayor 4 times cite “protest” as a reason for some of the overtime.

3. We would have less to protest if the six Republicans on Houston City Council & the police and fire unions, would stop supporting white supremacists and authoritarians for public office.

4. The Texas Republican State Convention recently held in Houston was a dangerous gathering of extremists. That the 2028 Republican National Convention is in Houston is a clear public safety threat.

5. The police union endorses the elected officials we protest, then get the overtime $ from the frequent over-policing of protest. What a racket.

6. All the protests have been peaceful. Yet we seem to have handed over many Houston streets to red light-runners, street racers and bullies. Police resources would be better assigned to lawbreakers than to protestors. HPD should do better at assessing actual public safety threats.

7. The far-right police union is the biggest bunch of paid agitators in town. They should be ignored. The recent solid ballot box defeats of police union-backed Dwight Boykins and Nick Hellyar show that they can be tuned out.

8. The people Mayor Whitmire has unlimited $ to police are basically rank & file Democrats. That’s who organizes the various weekly protests on highway overpasses and at busy intersections. That is who the bulk of the attendees at No Kings are. It’s fine that others who attend local protests might not consider them self as such—But most do.

9. We should have Houston City Councilmembers who support our pro-democracy efforts. If you signed up to serve in public office during an authoritarian crisis, then you signed up to to for political, career and potentially physical risks. I know that in my peaceful protest, I have assumed a measure of physical risk. Many Houstonians have.

10. We deserve better than a Mayor who won’t fight for our freedom.

​11. The next action is when you organize it. The 1st Amendment is your permit. The only credential needed is your presence. Voting will not be enough. The work ahead is ours.