A grand jury indicted more than a dozen police officers in Austin, Texas, for actions related to the 2020 national protests that followed George Floyd’s death, according to a new report.
The 19 indicted officers have not been identified and were charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, which could carry up to life in prison, sources told the Associated Press.
“While I respect the grand jury process, I am disappointed to hear the DA’s press conference statements regarding anticipated indictments of APD officers related to the 2020 protests,” Austin Chief of Police Joseph Chacon said during a press conference Thursday. “As a department, we asked these officers to work under the most chaotic of circumstances in May of 2020 and to make split-second decisions to protect all participants.”
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Chacon argued that APD police officers were put in an extremely difficult position during the 2020 protests. He said they were understaffed and often faced an unruly crowd.
“I believe in many instances, the officers were simply attempting to protect themselves and other protest participants. Additionally, the weapons provided to our officers did not perform in all instances in the manner anticipated,” Chacon said. “The APD recognizes this and now prohibits the use of less-lethal ammunition in crowd control situations. I am not aware of any conduct that given the circumstance the officers were working under would rise to the level of criminal violation by these officers.”
Jose Garza, the district attorney for Travis County, did not provide specifics about the case while speaking at a press conference Thursday, saying he was prohibited by law from publicly discussing any indictments until the people had been booked in the county jail. He said his office conducted a thorough investigation of the Austin Police Department and presented evidence to a grand jury. Many of the victims they investigated were “innocent bystanders” who suffered significant and long-lasting injuries from police, he said.
Garza referenced a recent city council vote to settle two lawsuits related to the 2020 protests for $10 million and argued that some officers in the APD used excessive force during the protests.
But he pushed back on criticism that his office was biased against police officers, noting his office prosecuted 33 cases against people involved in the protests and insisting he favors accountability for both demonstrators and officers accused of wrongdoing.
“Our community is safer when it trusts law enforcement, when it believes law enforcement will follow the law and protect the people,” Garza said. “There cannot be trust if there is no accountability when law enforcement breaks the law.”
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Chacon stressed that officers should be presumed innocent until proven guilty and said he would offer no further comment until more information about the indictments is known.
At least 19 people in the city were hospitalized during the protests, and at least 11 officers faced internal discipline for their conduct during the protests after a review was conducted by the APD.
