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 Officer Chance Bretches and his family — Austin, Texas | |
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| Dear Friend, My name is Kimberly Bretches. I'm a wife and a mother of four young children. And I'm writing to you today because I am out of options and I am terrified. I'll be honest, asking strangers for help doesn't come naturally to me. But neither does the idea of my husband spending the rest of his life in prison for doing his job — so here I am. Chance is a police officer in Austin, Texas. He is, without question, the best man I know. He has spent his career keeping dangerous people off the streets, protecting a city that doesn't always make it easy to do so, and coming home every night to a family that needs him. His supervisors have praised him for his professionalism, for his instincts, for his dedication. He is exactly the kind of officer you want showing up when things go wrong.
And in May of 2020, things went very wrong in Austin. For three consecutive days, our city was under siege. Violent agitators hurled rocks, frozen water bottles, and exploding fireworks directly at police officers. Buildings were vandalized and looted. Police vehicles were set on fire. A rioter was caught with a Molotov cocktail. Officers were injured. The city was teetering on the edge of complete chaos, and everyone knew it. On May 31st, the third day, when the mob was larger and more dangerous than it had ever been, Chance was on the front lines. He did what he was trained to do. He deployed non-lethal, department-approved beanbag projectiles to stop the aggression and protect his fellow officers and the people of Austin. The crowd eventually dispersed. The city held. No one questioned what he did that night. His supervisors praised his response. His department stood behind him. And then Austin elected District Attorney José Garza. Instead of holding the rioters accountable — the ones who threw the fireworks, who lit the fires, who carried the Molotov cocktails — Garza turned his attention to the officers who stopped them. He launched an indiscriminate campaign against law enforcement, using the power of his office not to protect the public, but to make political examples out of good cops. Chance became one of his targets. | |
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| My husband now faces up to 99 years in prison. Not because he did anything wrong. Not because his department found fault with his actions. Not because any credible review of that night concluded he acted improperly. But because one politically-motivated prosecutor decided the officers who held the line deserved to be punished for holding it. This case has been grinding through the system for years now. The trial has already been delayed several times and is now scheduled for June of this year. Every continuance, every filing, every hearing means more hours of legal work, and more bills our family has to find a way to pay. I am asking for your help because we cannot do this alone. The National Center for Police Defense has been in Chance's corner, and your donation goes toward funding his legal defense, ensuring he has the representation he deserves as he walks into that courtroom in June. | |
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| If you believe that the men and women who run toward danger deserve better than this, please give today. Whatever you can. No amount is too small, and our family will not forget it. Chance stood between Austin and chaos on May 31st, 2020. He didn't hesitate. He didn't run. He did his job. Now I'm asking you to stand with him. With gratitude and hope, Kimberly Bretches Wife of Officer Chance Bretches, Austin Police Department | |
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| National Center for Police Defense · Defenders for Justice |