A Texas grand jury has indicted 19 Austin police officers on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for their actions during 2020 protests over racial injustice that spread nationwide after the killing of George Floyd, according to people familiar with the matter.

AUSTIN, Texas Five Austin police officers are on paid administrative duty amid an investigation into the use of what authorities call less lethal force during May protests against police brutality and racial injustice, according to the police department. The investigation follows public outcry after less lethal incidents that left two people with serious injuries who were participating in protests in Austin that were sparked by the death of George Floyd. Austin police policy says officers can be placed on paid administrative duty pending investigations into any force that resulted in serious bodily injury requiring hospitalization and the use of impact weapons. The Austin Police Special Investigations Unit and the Internal Affairs Division are working to identify other officers involved in protest-related incidents, according to the statement. More than 300 people signed up for public comment during the meeting to speak on police use of force witnessed during the late May protests.

This this photo provided by Howell family shows Justin Howel. Anything shot at 90 miles per hour is lethal, Howell said. Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said he has changed department policy to ban the use of less lethal munitions at protests. We cant really take comfort in the phrase less lethal, Josh Howell said. Because if what we mean is less lethal than a bullet, thats not a high bar to clear.He declined to comment on the steps the city and police chief said they are making toward change because he doesn't live in Austin.

Joshua (left) and Justin Howell. Joshua Howell(Audio unavailable. Joshua Howell knows the harm less-lethal crowd control measures can cause. In a column for The Battalion, Texas A&Ms student newspaper, Joshua wrote that Justin has a fractured skull and brain damage. In the weekend edition of The Brief podcast, listen to what he says the Howell family would like to come of this moment.

100 demonstrators march along Culebra Road to remember Justin HowellIf you need help with the Public File, call 210-351-1241.

SAN ANTONIO More than 100 demonstrators, many of them students, gathered in the hot afternoon sun Thursday in San Antonio to protest police brutality. Demonstrators marched along Culebra Road to the parking lot at Taft High School, where Justin Howell once roamed the halls. Howell, a 2018 graduate of Taft, was seriously injured May 31 when police fired bean bags into the crowd of protesters during a demonstration outside Austin Police Department Headquarters, . Its wrong and theres no other explanation for it, said Billie Billington, who was among one of the marchers Thursday. These kids are out here in this hot sun, pouring out their heart and soul, trying to hear them and hear their cries and hear their pain, she said.

AUSTIN, Texas A black activist who was critically injured after he was shot by Austin police with less-lethal ammunition has been identified by family as Justin Howell, a 20-year-old Texas State University student who recently graduated from Communications Arts High School in San Antonio. GoFundMe information for Taft Band alumni Justin Howell injured in Austin this week. Texas State President Denise Trauth also issued a statement on Twitter confirming Howell is currently a student. Today, I learned one of our students, Justin Howell, was critically injured in a protest in Austin on Sunday, May 31. Howell blasted Manley in the op-ed for failing to take responsibility or apologize to his family and the group of protesters carrying his brother.