Hundreds of people gathered outside the Hays County Historic Courthouse Saturday afternoon with a message for their local government officials, “No Justice, No Peace.”
The “Rally for Reinvestment” was organized by local criminal justice reform organization Mano Amiga, urging Hays County officials to shift county funds from policing to programs that tackle racial injustice.
The entirely peaceful rally was conducted “festival style” where residents could camp out on the courthouse lawn with lawn chairs, picnic blankets and colorful signs while listening to compelling speeches and live music performances, courtesy of local festival promoter Michael Howard.
One resident arrived on horseback with a black and white flag with “Black Lives Matter” written on it.
County Judge Ruben Becerra, State Rep. Erin Zweiner, Calaboose African-American History Museum Board members Ramika Adams and Dr. Skyller Walkes spoke out against police brutality and racial discrimination and inequity, and in support of criminal justice reform across the county.
Mano Amiga Policy Director Eric Martinez summed up the speakers’ and attendees’ asks to the county: fund a Public Defender office, a holistic system of legal defense for low-income residents; fund a pretrial services office, which has been in discussion for over a year; to release pretrial detainees and allow them to await their court dates at home; and fund L.E.A.D., the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program, to holistically connect people accused of low-level offenses with social services that address the root causes, homelessness, addiction and mental health needs.
Becerra shared a laundry list of racial inequities at the county level from his perspective as the first minority to hold the office of judge in 172 years saying, “You want to know when all lives matter? When Black Lives Matter.”
