Good morning, 

Whether it is an unarmed man standing against a battalion of tanks, or a school district promising "civil disobedience" against an out-of-control federal government, courage can be contagious.

This is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, June 5, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Another Venezuelan Who Illegally Crossed Texas’ Border Arrested for Violent Crimes

• An illegal alien who crossed the border into Texas last year has been arrested for allegedly shooting two New York City police officers in Queens. Will Biagini has the details.
     
• Bernardo Castro Mata was detained for attempting to jump the border at Eagle Pass in July 2023, though he was later released. His case was dismissed by a Chicago judge last month.
     
• According to the NYPD, Mata was piloting a moped headed in the wrong direction earlier this week on a one-way street. After police officers attempted to pull him over, he abandoned the vehicle, drew a firearm, and opened fire. One officer was reportedly struck in the chest and the other in his leg. The 19-year-old Mata had recently been staying at a shelter in New York City.
       
• This latest case follows a trend of criminals who originate from Venezuela and commit acts of violence against Americans after illegally entering the U.S. by crossing the Texas border.

Paxton Asks for Review of State Bar's ‘Politically Motivated Lawfare’

• Attorney General Ken Paxton is calling on the state’s highest civil court to intervene against the State Bar of Texas, as the group attempts to censure and strip his license to practice law due to his role in a lawsuit challenging irregularities in the 2020 election. Brandon Waltens has the report.
      
• In December 2020, following the presidential election filled with concerns about election integrity, Paxton led 18 states in filing Texas v. Pennsylvania at the United States Supreme Court. The case challenged the voting procedures in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin and sought to temporarily block those states from certifying vote counts ahead of the Electoral College vote. The case was eventually dismissed.
       
• In 2022, the Texas State Bar attempted to censure and sanction Paxton. They claimed the action was frivolous and took action to remove the law licenses of Paxton and his first assistant, Brent Webster. While the allegations were initially dismissed, the State Bar appealed the case to the Dallas-based Fifth Court of Appeals, which allowed the process to move forward.
      
• In April, a coalition of 17 attorneys general filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court of Texas, supporting Paxton and Webster.
      
• Now the Office of the Attorney General has filed a petition asking the Supreme Court of Texas to review the appeals court’s ruling, calling it "politically motivated lawfare."

RELATED NEWS

• “Companies that collect and sell data in an unauthorized manner, harm consumers financially, or use artificial intelligence irresponsibly present risks to our citizens that we take very seriously. As many companies seek more and more ways to exploit data they collect about consumers, I am doubling down to protect privacy rights.” – Attorney General Ken Paxton

Tyler ISD Embraces ‘Civil Disobedience’ Against Title IX Changes

• An East Texas school superintendent is embracing “civil disobedience” against the Biden administration’s “offensive” rewrite of Title IX, the federal civil rights law designed to prohibit sex-based discrimination in education. Erin Anderson has details from the Tyler Independent School District.

       
• The new Biden version will force school districts to let biological males into women's spaces if they want to keep taking federal funds.
      
• Superintendent Marty Crawford has declared that Tyler ISD will follow Gov. Greg Abbott’s instruction to the Texas Education Agency and ignore the new version of Title IX.
        
• "We believe in protecting girls and women’s rights in the purest biological form in our schools, in athletic competition, in the use of facilities such as locker rooms and restrooms, and as well, the protection of our teachers and staff in the mindless game of misappropriating pronouns." – Marty Crawford
      
• Crawford has called on the Texas Association of School Boards to craft new policies to protect school districts and their students from the new rule's harmful effects.
       
• I know what you're thinking: Texas schools would be in a lot better shape if we had more Marty Crawfords running them.

Quote-Unquote

"Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air."

– John Quincy Adams

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