AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) will have agents, including some undercover, back at bars across the state this weekend.
Over Memorial Day weekend, agents visited 400 bars in Texas and at least 40 in Austin to ensure they were following Gov. Greg Abbott’s reopening rules.
Videos surfaced online after the holiday weekend, showing bars with a lot of people packed in. The videos were called out on Twitter by Mayor Steve Adler.
Buford’s, a popular bar on West Sixth Street, was highlighted in the video tweeted by Adler and it was one of the bars TABC contacted, an official said.
TABC spokesperson Chris Porter said the agency is working to meet with business owners and remind them of the guidelines, which is helping resolve potential violations “without the need for further action.”
The state agency is relying on reports from local law enforcement, public health officials, fire marshals, code enforcement and officials with other state agencies, Porter said.
The TABC released a video on Twitter alerting people that agents will be back out over the weekend.
During a press conference on Thursday, former Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt, who is now a special adviser to Judge Sam Biscoe, addressed the videos and enforcement of the governor’s rules.
“As we reach out to these folks, it's really less about punishment and more about informing them of the very serious and present risk of such gatherings,” Eckhardt said. “Unfortunately, much that was in our orders with regard to COVID-19, the governor has stripped away our enforcement mechanisms, but there are other things on the books that make it possible for us to hold people accountable.”
Earlier this week, the TABC told KVUE in a statement that it can use social media videos to aid in investigations of bars that may not be following the rules.
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