Two Dallas MAGA supporters attack an unarmed woman on Ervay Street in Dallas per video from this weekend. They are claiming she threw eggs at them during a Trump Train Parade.
The suspects in this case operate out of Pantego, Texas, a small city adjacent to Arlington, Texas. They are Trevor Turnbow and Chris Covington.
Turnbow turned to social media to say he would not be firing himself after calls were made to Turnbow Construction.
Dallas Police Department has not responded to a request for comment as of this post.
Dallas MAGA Supporters Attack – Again
Dallas has had multiple incidents recently including a Nazi swastika painted on a city parking garage. This summer a Boogaloo Boy posted on Faxcebook his intent to “hunt antifa.” He was later arrested for illegally selling steroids by federal officials.
Four Dallas Police Officers were attacked Halloween night around 7:00 PM while assisting a motorist near Mesquite.
Two Dallas police officers along with two other officers from Mesquite were targeted, according to Dallas Police Association President Mike Mata. All four officers were in uniform at the time of the shooting.
“They were waiting on a wrecker and directing traffic when all of the sudden bullets are coming their way,” said Mata.
Immediately following the initial shot, four or five additional shots were fired at the Dallas and Mesquite police officers forcing the officers to take cover.
The officers were able to safely run toward the area of the gunshots in an attempt to locate a suspect or suspects. As officers were running, they heard screaming coming from 8300 La Prada Drive.
Mata said a 19 year-old believed to be the gunman was found and arrested for unlawful carrying of a weapon. His gun is now being tested to see it was indeed the weapon used in the shooting.
An investigation is proceeding.
“…it absolutely was intentional and unfortunately, it’s a narrative that’s being carried across the country by a very small percentage, but vocal amount of people,” Mata said.
He said across the country, there’s several recent examples of unsuspecting officers targeted for no reason. One high profile example of this includes the attack on officers in California in September.
Additionally, there have been multiple calls by candidates to defund the police and/or remove weapons from them. One candidate even suggested officers should be armed only with a flashlight and radio.
Dallas Police Officers Attacked
The shooting is a reminder of the attack on officers on July 7, 2016.
Local Neo-nazis painted a swastika in Dallas late last week at the top of a city owned parking garage earning the attention of the Dallas FBI Field Office, Dallas Police, and Mayor’s office.
Joey Zapata, an assistant city manager, emailed Mayor Eric Johnson and members of City Council on Monday after the crime was initially reported to DPD by citizens who saw it from the Reunion Tower observation deck. Local and federal law enforcement are investigating the vandalism which will cost $4,000 to remove in addition to more funds to secure the unused parking garage.
City Council woman Cara Mendelsohn wrote in a statement Wednesday night the act wasn’t “just graffiti, it’s a disgusting display of hate and intimidation.” Ms. Mendelsohn is one of two Jewish members on City Council.
“It breaks my heart to see it in Dallas, where we welcome people of all races and religions.”
Swastika In Dallas Just Latest
Earlier this year a Boogaloo Boy Philip Archibald was charged by the US Attorney’s office with illegal steroid sales after threatening to hunt antifa in Dallas.
Additionally, Tennell Atkins appointee to the Permit and License Appeal Board made remarks on social media suggesting moving from rubber bullets to real ones when responding to antifa among other pro violence comments.
Chad West says street racing is a problem, but you can’t “police your way out of it.” This statement has made some local residents angry.
“Number one call in my district is speed racing and it has been before COVID and it actually got worse,” District 1 City Council Member Chad West said.
He said right now a task force is working on long term solutions. Temporary speed cones have been placed on Hampton to take it from three to two lanes of traffic in each direction. They’re currently asking residents what they think.
On West 12th, between Hampton and Edgefield Avenue, the road has been permanently reduced from two lanes of traffic in each direction to one. However, even with the changes, residents still want to see more done.
“What I would like to see is for them to have speed bumps on this side of 12th street which is south of Hampton,” Emilio Urbina said.
The father of three said even on his small residential street there’s speeding.
Gabriel Gonzales said he thinks more police enforcement is needed.
“You can’t stop them when you don’t see them,” he said.
“One of the challenges is that Dallas has a no chase policy,” West said. “Our officers, unless the speed racer has committed a felony or has a felony warrant or a misdemeanor that involves violence, they can’t chase them. Where as every city around us has chase policies. They can chase speed racers.”
Council Member West appears to recognize that other departments do policestreet racing by police enforcement – including chasing suspects – and that the department is tying its own hands by not following suspects.
Street Racing Issues
As recently as August street racing caused a fatality accident in Dallas.
On Christmas Eve, an off-duty Dallas police officer, Joseph George, died after he lost control of his 2015 Ford Mustang while racing with another car, according to police. He was a four-year veteran of the department.
The Community Police Oversight Board Chairman, Jesuorobo Enobakhare, appeared to attempt to take law into his own hands after a reported hit and run near downtown Dallas.
It is not clear if being an appointed member of a citizen advisory board provides some indemnification against vigilante style actions. He does provide a license plate and vehicle description – effectively doxxing a private citizen – who hasn’t been convicted of any crime.
Neither Council Member Thomas, nor the City Secretary’s Office has responded to a request for comment about the behavior of their appointee.
Community Police Oversight Board
The Community Police Oversight Board has largely been absent due – with one notable exception – due to a lack of subpoena power and a questionable relationship between its Chairman and the lame duck Police Chief U Reneé Hall, but few CPB members seem intent on actual oversight.
Multiple news reports said a man died early Sunday after he was shot while in his vehicle outside the Westin Galleria, Dallas police say. This comes less than a week after the Dallas City Council voted to defund Dallas Police overtime, but a social media account suggests the response was slowed due to lack of 9-1-1 call takers.
Officers responded about 2:47 a.m. to the shooting call in the 13340 block of Dallas Parkway, where witnesses told police a group of males in a dark-colored sedan shot at a white Mercedes in front of the hotel.
Both the shooter’s vehicle and the victim left the area, but police found the victim near the service road with a gunshot wound.
9-1-1 Call Takers Inaction An Ongoing Problem
9-1-1 call takers are an ongoing problem in numerous big cities. Dave Statter of Statter911 has a long history of reporting issues with Washington, DC’s Operation Center.
Dallas appears to be having some of the same issues per the social media responses above including a fight in progress and uninterrupted” automatic gun fire.
The Dallas City Council budget choices appear to have everyone mad after a 9-6 vote which cuts $7M from the police overtime budget, but adds another $8M in year over year spending.
The council passed the new budget late Wednesday that increases overall police funding despite promises from progressive members of the council to to slash it. In the backdrop were a crowd of marchers who assembled outside City Hall to protest police violence.
Budget Choices
The budget places an emphasis on ending historical inequities by injecting more money into disadvantaged southern Dallas neighborhoods. There are millions of dollars in federal coronavirus relief for programs like rental assistance filling some of those gaps, but Dallas’ own program ended up sending money to North Dallas.
Local activists did try to cut nearly forty percent from the Dallas Police Department budget – but their proposal for a $200M cut – won no votes. The $200M cut is well over the $77M cut previously rumored for Defund DPD 2.0.
Next Generation Action Network is seeking a Seventy-seven million dollar decrease in the Dallas Police budget per two separate persons with knowledge of the situation.
Defund DPD has been a rallying cry since the George Floyd death with several members of city council vocally supporting fewer dollars headed to DPD. At yesterday’s meeting of Dallas City Council it appeared there were enough votes to move $7M in overtime from the Dallas Police budget.
Mayor Eric Johnson has tweeted that more than 500 people have emailed City Council about defunding police during the violent crime spike. It is unclear how the Dallas Budget will end up with members of Dallas City Council openly attacking one another in meetings and on social media.
Defund DPD 2.0 – Reaction to Alexander Arrest?
One source who reported NGAN may be seeking this level of funding change said it may be related to the arrest this past weekend of Dominique Alexander.
Neither Next Generation Action Network nor Mayor Johnson has responded to an email for comment.
Defund DPD looks like it is becoming an election issue afterall.
Several members of Dallas City Council, including Adam Baladua and Chad West, are circulating the graphic below showing the reallocation of Dallas Police overtime to other focus areas. The argument they make is that crime prevention dollars are better spent than crime response.
It is not clear how some of these measures are anything except for pet projects in the city. Bike infrastructure and new solar panels have not been linked towards crime prevention in any way and arts funding, useful to the community at large, has little to nothing to do with crime prevention either.
One recent social media post noted it appears some members of city council are trying to balance the budget deficit on the backs of cops after the city council voted to waste millions on Visit Dallas earlier this summer.
Another poster noted that city council knows overtime is hard to budget for and with COVID19 and ongoing George Floyd protests these dollars are being used more quickly than usual.
Defund DPD – Not Really
One issue that is being raised very lightly is the total budget cut from the police force. Despite multiple city council members saying their budget priority was to Defund DPD in June the current reallocation argument amounts to only 0.8%. Where is the real ‘Defund’ movement and will these same members of city council continue to buy armored vehicles for the police as they did earlier this year.
Reneé Hall resigns from Dallas Police effective November 10, 2020. Hall’s tenure has been marred by an explosion in Dallas crime over the past two years that is breaking a decades’ old record for violent crime.
Hall has also pushed back against city council critics who want to defund the police budget.
