At least nine indictments have been issued to Austin Police Department officers accused of excessive force during racial justice protests in the summer of 2020, sources familiar with the grand jury’s decision said Thursday.
The state grand jury was considering charges against as many as 21 officers in the department this week, according to the Austin American-Statesman. Their ongoing probe is expected to result in future indictments.
The jurors’ review of the officers’ actions in response to protests across Austin may result in the highest number of charges in any U.S. city related to the nationwide unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd.
Floyd was killed in Minneapolis after then-police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes—roughly a month after the fatal Austin police shooting of 42-year-old Michael Ramos.
Christopher Taylor, the officer who fired at Ramos with a rifle, was indicted on a first-degree murder charge last March. Five months later, he and another officer were indicted for the 2019 murder of a man in crisis who was holding a knife to his own neck.
The summer’s racial justice protests in Austin were buoyed by tens of thousands marching through the downtown area of the city, according to its ABC affiliate KVUE. Demonstrators suffered broken bones and lacerations at the hands of responding law enforcement officers. At least 19 people were reported hospitalized as a result of police actions during the Austin protests, according to The Washington Post.
Of particular interest to the grand jury in its inquiry, according to documents released by the Travis County District Attorney José Garza’s office, was the reported firing of “less lethal” bean bag rounds at protesters.
In 2021, it was revealed by CBS’ Austin affiliate that the police department had chosen not to investigate most of the complaints brought against officers over their conduct during that summer’s protests.
Of more than 200 unique complaints made by community members, the Office of Police Oversight said in a September presentation that just 27 were looked into by the department’s internal affairs office.
The bean bag projectiles are at the center of roughly a dozen civil suits related to the protests and settled by the City of Austin in recent days. On Thursday, the city council announced that two men injured by the rounds would receive a combined $10 million.
One of the victims, a 20-year-old left with brain damage after being hit by an officer who was aiming at another protester, will be paid $8 million. It is the largest excessive force settlement in Austin ever offered, according to KVUE.
It was not immediately clear if the indictments issued Thursday were related to the cases that had been settled.
Just before the grand jury’s decision was announced, representatives of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas held a press conference to denounce the indictments.
“It’s an absolute disgrace. And it sickens me that D.A. Garza is using enforcement officers as pawns in a political game of chess,” said Ken Casaday, the president of the Austin Police Association.
“D.A. Garza ran on a platform to indict officers,” Casaday continued, “and has not missed the opportunity to try and ruin lives, careers [to] simply fulfill a campaign promise.”
Casaday went on to claim that the timing of the indictments was politically motivated, calling it “mighty suspicious” that they had been announced during the primary election’s early voting period.
The Statesman reported that police supervisors and lawyers were working to track down the indicted officers on Thursday afternoon. They will be compelled to surrender themselves for due processing.