DALLAS – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday he will not be asking President Donald Trump for the military’s help in dealing with protests across the state.
Abbott spoke Tuesday about the large protests in response to George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police. While Abbott expressed support for the right to protest, and categorized Floyd’s slaying as a “horrific act of police brutality,” he took a hard stance against the violence that has wreaked havoc in some cities across the state.
On Monday, Trump said he was prepared to deploy “thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers" in cities across the country to disperse the protests.
"If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them,” Trump said.
On Tuesday, Abbott was asked about whether Texas will seek the military’s help. Abbott said no because “Texans can take care of Texas.”
“We have tremendous police forces in Dallas, in Fort Worth, in surrounding suburbs and the entire state of Texas,” Abbott said. “We have an abundance of resources being provided by the Texas Department of Public Safety."
Along with local police forces, Abbott said Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers and members of the National Guard have already been deployed across the state to help.
DPS Chief Steve McCraw said special agents have been embedded to identify and arrest any agitators.
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