Greg Abbott proposes harsher penalties after police brutality protests | The Texas Tribune
The legislation would have to be passed by lawmakers in 2021 and it was not immediately clear that such measures would have the support needed to become law. Abbott’s proposals would create felony-level offenses with mandatory jail time for causing injury or destroying property during what is deemed to be a riot. Blocking hospital entrances and using lasers to target police would also be felony offenses that would require a jail sentence, Abbott said. Striking an officer with something like a water bottle would lead to a mandatory minimum of six months in jail.
Currently, the crime of participating in a riot is a misdemeanor offense in Texas with a maximum of six months in jail and is labeled as a gathering of seven or more people that in part creates a danger to a person or property. Many protesters in Texas have been arrested on suspicion of such offenses since protests erupted in May after Floyd’s death. Others have been charged with felony-level crimes like assault on a police officer, including an 18-year-old who faces up to 20 years in prison for allegedly throwing a water bottle at an officer.