AUSTIN, Texas — The Travis County District Attorney's Office renewed a request Thursday for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate how Austin police handled the May 2020 social justice protests.
District Attorney José Garza cited the new internal Austin Police Department (APD) report, first obtained by the KVUE Defenders, which includes evidence that police leadership knew the munitions used on protestors were not functioning properly and could cause serious injury.
More than a dozen people were wounded by the munitions, which police call less-lethal bean bag rounds. In the years since the protests, the City of Austin has paid out about $20 million in lawsuit settlements. Prosecutors first brought charges against 21 police officers but announced in December that they were dropping all but four.
Garza joined Austin Mayor Kirk Watson in asking for a DOJ investigation of the protests.
The new report was completed by the department's Special Investigations Unit about who knew what and when inside APD. That report concluded that concerns about the munitions reached at least the commander level of the department. The report has not been made public.
Garza released the following statement:
"The Travis County District Attorney’s Office updated the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division regarding the request for a “pattern-or-practice” investigation. The Travis County District Attorney’s Office provided the DOJ with additional letters from Congressmen Lloyd Doggett and Gregorio Casar.
In addition, the DA’s Office informed the DOJ about an APD investigation, which concluded that APD knew, prior to May 2020, that the weapons used by APD officers during the May 2020 protests could cause and had previously caused serious injury. This investigation was conducted by APD during the fall of 2023. The statute of limitations to file any additional criminal charges relating to the 2020 protests was May 2023."
The DOJ has not responded to the investigation request, and there is no timeline for a response.