How do you shut down chaos? Prevent it from starting in the first place. And then shut it down definitively when prevention fails.
With anti-ICE rallies popping up across the nation and the state of Texas, Governor Greg Abbott decided an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of tear gas. Late last night, a day after demonstrators blocked streets in the capitol and had to be dispersed by police with tear gas, Abbott called up the National Guard to impose order and prevent a Los Angeles-like chaos from erupting in the streets:
Texas National Guard will be deployed to locations across the state to ensure peace & order.
Peaceful protest is legal.
Harming a person or property is illegal & will lead to arrest.@TexasGuard will use every tool & strategy to help law enforcement maintain order. https://t.co/rS8b5zgE3T
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 11, 2025
In case anyone wonders why Abbott sees the call-up as a necessity, here’s some video from the Austin Statesman about the violence of the demonstrators on Monday night. It starts with someone charging police, while someone offscreen shouts, “He’s a kid, you fascists!” He’s a very stupid kid, if so, who just made a life choice:
Had the demonstrators stuck to the sidewalks and to the terms of any permits they took out for the protest, there would have been no problem. Instead, they blocked the streets, refused to disperse, and as the video shows, tried to get violent with police while being dispersed. That’s a big mistake in Texas, and even in Austin. A fellow protester tries to use the genitalia argument to moan about the police response, but these demonstrators are not entitled to occupy public spaces or ignore the law.
Being a “kid” does not entitle you to attack police without consequences. Being a leftist does not entitle you to block traffic, vandalize property, and obstruct officials in the lawful execution of their jobs. You might get away with that in California. This ain’t California, although in fairness, Austin is as close as you’ll get to it in Texas.
Abbott declared that deployments will occur throughout the state, but the Wall Street Journal reports that the first deployment will be in San Antonio. A major protest is expected in the city today, which will be no problem as long as it remains peaceful and legal. If the demonstration becomes unruly and violates the law, however, the National Guard will ensure that the local police have plenty of firepower to back them up. And unlike in California, Abbott’s call-up allows the National Guard to perform police duties under his authority, which means lots more resources for arrests, detentions, and street-clearing.
Radical leftists clearly want another 2020-esque Summer of Riots. Governors who give a damn about public order and protecting their cities will follow Abbott’s example and pre-empt these riots from forming in the first place. If they choose poorly, they should know that Donald Trump will impose order himself to protect federal buildings and personnel — and they won’t like those outcomes.
Addendum: Oddly, as of 9:40 am local time, the Dallas Morning News has literally nothing on Abbott’s order to call up the National Guard, even though Dallas might be one of the target deployments. They also had an “unruly” anti-ICE protest on Monday, although apparently not as out-of-control as the one in Austin.
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