Good morning, 

This is the Texas Minute for Thursday, September 25, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Shooter Targets Dallas ICE Facility in Deadly ‘Anti-ICE’ Attack

• A gunman opened fire at a Dallas ICE field office just before 7 a.m. on Wednesday, killing one detainee and wounding others before taking his own life in what federal officials described as a politically motivated attack. Sydnie Henry has the story.
      
• The killer has been identified as 29-year old Joshua Jahn. FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed that investigators recovered shell casings at the scene, including one engraved with “ANTI ICE.” Patel said that while the investigation is not complete, “initial evidence shows an ideological motive behind this attack.” 
      
• Jahn reportedly fired into the ICE field office’s sally port area from an adjacent building, using a rifle in what authorities have described as a sniper-style attack.
      
• Gov. Greg Abbott has condemned the shooting, pledging continued support for ICE’s law enforcement operations and vowing that arrests, detentions, and deportations would continue. Back in July, men in black tactical gear carried out an attack on the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, luring staff outside with fireworks before opening fire on officers. All suspects were later caught, and now face federal charges.

Texas GOP Leadership To Consider Censures of 10 Lawmakers

• Next month the Republican Party of Texas' governing body will decide whether or not to punish a group of Republican lawmakers under a newly toughened party rule. As Brandon Waltens reports, the GOP's censure could include keeping those incumbents off the March 2026 primary ballot.
      
• The State Republican Executive Committee will take up censure resolutions on Oct. 11 that were advanced from county parties against ten House Republicans. Those include Speaker Dustin Burrows along with State Reps. Dade Phelan, Morgan Meyer, Angie Chen Button, Angelia Orr, Cody Harris, Jared Patterson, Stan Lambert, Jeff Leach, and Gary VanDeaver. Phelan and Lambert have already announced they will not be seeking re-election.
      
• Under the state party rules, the SREC can determine what, if any, penalties to impose. Those can include withholding party resources, publicly discouraging the officeholder from running, or, in the most severe case, refusing to allow a censured candidate on the Republican primary ballot for two years.
       
• Rachel Hooper, the party’s general counsel, has warned that censure should be about facts, not personal feelings, and not misused for mere disagreements or personality conflicts.

Texas State University Promotes Radical 'Gender' Ideologies

• At Texas State University's Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, instructional materials read like political propaganda. Adam Cahn reviews the coursework.
       
• Course offerings include classes like “Black Queer Experience” and “Gender and Sexuality in Cross-cultural Perspective.”
      
• The center's reading list includes such titles as “Beyond the Whiteness of Whiteness” and “Global Gay: How Gay Culture is Changing the World.” 

New Rules Restrict Sale of THC Products

• In accordance with an executive order from Gov. Greg Abbott, Addie Hovland reports that the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has released this week a series of new emergency rules regulating the sale of THC products. THC is the psychoactive chemical compound in marijuana.
         
• Among other things, businesses are now prohibited from selling products containing THC to any individuals under the age of 21 and are required to verify a purchaser’s age by viewing their government-issued ID. THC-infused products also cannot be sold within 1,000 feet of a school or church.
       
• Even though the new rules are now in effect, TABC will not begin enforcement until October 1.

Tarrant Redistricting Challenge on Hold

• A federal court battle continues between Democrats and Republicans over Tarrant County’s newly redrawn commissioners court districts, which Erin Anderson reports are in place for the upcoming 2026 primary elections.
     
• Tarrant County’s governing body approved a new precinct map in June designed to increase Republicans’ partisan advantage from 3-2 to 4-1. Commissioner precincts had not been redrawn since 2011.
      
• Democrat attorneys sued on behalf of several county voters, claiming the new commissioner precinct boundaries were racially gerrymandered. Tarrant County defended the map as a permissible partisan gerrymander.
     
• Earlier this month, Chief District Judge Reed O’Connor denied Democrats’ request for a preliminary injunction. He concluded that the plaintiffs’ racial discrimination claims are unlikely to succeed on the merits, citing “a dearth of evidence.”

How Much Does Fraud Cost?

Parole Law Ensures Convicted Houston Official Won’t See Review Again Until 2028

• A Houston official convicted of participating in a bribery scheme will be kept behind bars until at least 2028, under a new law allowing the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to delay subsequent reviews after turning one down. Michael Wilson has the details.
      
• Patrece Lee, the former manager for the Houston Water Department, was sentenced earlier this year to 10 years in prison. She used her position to funnel more than $400,000 to her brother’s construction company. She was also accused of soliciting kickbacks and steering vendors to her own consulting firm, ultimately taking in about $320,000 in kickbacks.
     
• Lee became eligible for parole on July 5—just five months into her prison sentence. She was not successful in convincing the board she should be released. In their denial, the board also set the next date for parole eligibility on August 1, 2028.

Quote-Unquote

"The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted."

– James Madison​

SHOWS

Directories of Elected Officials

📧 If someone forwarded the Texas Minute to you, and you like what you see, it is easy to get on the list yourself!