More than 5,000 Texas National Guard, 2,000 DPS troopers deployed ahead of protests

Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday morning that he deployed over 2,000 troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety and more than 5,000 Texas National Guard soldiers across the state ahead of the planned protests on Saturday, according to a news release from the governor’s office.

“Don’t mess with Texas — and don’t mess with Texas law enforcement,” Abbott said in the news release.

The DPS troopers include special agents and Texas Rangers. They have been deployed to respond to potential criminal or violent activities at the protest in addition to thousands of troopers already stationed throughout the state, according to the news release.

Jolt Action, a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening Latino civic participation in Texas, released a statement on Wednesday criticizing Abbott’s decision to deploy the Texas National Guard.

The statement said this decision “undermines the constitutional right of free speech and peaceful assembly protected by the First Amendment.”

“He is painting this picture that there is a need for control for actual violence or damage to property … and like it’s coming from a safety concern, when in reality this is an attempt to scare and intimidate people from having their voices heard,” said Jackie Bastard, executive director of Jolt Action.

Bastard said the organization is sharing resources on social media and directly to their before the protests.

“Texas is a diverse state … immigrants make up the backbone of a lot of our population here,” Bastard said. “We want to make sure that their courage fuels the fight for a more just democracy.”

The Texas National Guard soldiers have been strategically positioned to the state and local law enforcement response to any criminal activity, according to the news release from Abbott’s office.

The planned No Kings protests are scheduled to take place Saturday across the state in Dallas, Frisco, McKinney, Denton, Arlington, Fort Worth, Flower Mound and several other locations.