Chad’s Morning Brief: Davis Campaign Accuses Abbott of Ignoring Sexual Abuse Allegations, Texas Schools Get Military Gear, and Other Top Stories
Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of September 16, 2014. Give me your feedback below and tune in to The Chad Hasty Show for these and many more topics from 8:30 to 11am. Remember, you can listen online at KFYO.com or on your iPhone/Android with the radioPup App.
Wendy Davis’ Latest Attack Ad
Both the Greg Abbott and Wendy Davis campaigns released new ads on Monday. While Abbott's ad focused on continuing to bring jobs to Texas, the Davis campaign launched a new and some would say low attack on Abbott. According to TIME, the Davis campaign is accusing Greg Abbott of ignoring the abuse of children.
The campaign for Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis released an incendiary ad on Monday accusing her Republican opponent, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, of ignoring allegations of abuse at a state run school in 2005.
“Young boys at a state run school are sexually abused,” the voice over says during the 30-second ad. After eleven months and a notification from a Texas ranger, the ad alleges, “Abbott does nothing.” In 2010, the West Texas State School, a juvenile detention center in Pyote, Texas, closed amid an abuse scandal that involved two former administrators at the center.
“What insider was Greg Abbott covering up for this time?” the ad asks.
The Abbott campaign said in a statement Monday that Davis’s allegations “distort the facts.” The campaign says Abbot was “not legally authorized to prosecute the crimes” at the facility until the local District Attorney requested assistance. Abbott’s campaign also cites an AP report that says the case was “quickly taken over” by Abbott after a request was made in 2007. The campaign suggests Davis is hoping to distract voters from questions about her ethics. “Texans deserve a candidate who puts public service before personal profit, and Sen. Davis’ behavior is unworthy of a candidate for Texas Governor,” Abbott campaign spokesman Matt Hirsch said in a statement.
You can view the video below.
Military Gear at Texas Schools
Local Police Departments aren't the only places getting military gear from the Federal Government. According to the Texas Tribune, schools are getting in on it as well.
Texas school districts dominate the list of those receiving military equipment — including firearms and armored vehicles — through a federal initiative, according to a letter sent by a coalition of civil rights and education advocacy groups to the U.S. Department of Defense on Monday.
Led by Texas Appleseed and the NAACP's Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the coalition is urging the defense department to end school districts' participation in what is known as the 1033 Program, which allows the federal government to transfer military equipment including firearms and vehicles to state agencies.
“Military-grade weapons have no place on our public school campuses,” Deborah Fowler, the deputy director of Texas Appleseed, said in a statement accompanying the letter. “We have already seen the way that much more common weapons – like tasers and pepper spray — can be misused in school settings, and know that excessive use of force in schools is often targeted at young people of color and students with disabilities. We’re simply calling for a return to common sense when it comes to the way our schools are kept safe.”
Signed by 22 state and national organizations, including the Education Law Center, the Legal Aid Justice Center and the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, the letter also asks for a "comprehensive accounting" of school districts taking part in the program that indicates the type of equipment received and its intended use.
Though the full scope of school district participation in the program is difficult to determine because of discrepancies in public disclosures at the federal and state levels, Texas Appleseed identified at least 10 Texas school districts that have received armored plating, tactical vests and military vehicles. Together they also received a total of 18 M-14 rifles, 25 automatic pistols and 4,500 rounds of ammunition.
Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District, which serves about 32,000 students in the Rio Grande Valley, used the program to equip a special response team in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shootings. Officers in the district's 12-man SWAT unit carry M-4 or AR-15 assault rifles, which district officials have told the McAllenMonitor leave the school better prepared for emergency situations.
“If you have somebody who’s specially trained to do building clearance and engage a possible intruder, you’d feel safe that somebody with that type of training would have a better edge over a regular patrol officer,” district police Chief Ricardo Perez told the paper in April of 2013.
You can read the entire story by clicking on the link above. Thoughts?
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