Travis County DA race: Final day of campaigning for Democratic candidates
TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas - A confrontation over the weekend took place between supporters of Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza and a pro-law enforcement motorcycle club called "WTFers", Wind Therapy Freedom Riders.
Video, provided to FOX 7, showed a man in a white truck shouting at members of the club who had gathered at a neighborhood park.
"Harassing women while they walk door to door, y'all are tough guys. Y'all are real tough guys," said the man in the truck.
WTFers responded by saying, "Have a blessed day sir."
When the video began, club leader Luis Rodriguez made a quick assessment.
"He is not going to be one of our fans," said Rodriguez on the video.
If there was any doubt of that, DA Garza, during a Monday news conference, made it clear he was not amused by what happened.
"We will not be intimidated, and we will not be silenced," said Garza.
Images released to the media by the Garza campaign do not show any physical altercation. But, campaign volunteers said the armed WTFers made them feel uneasy.
"It’s obviously intimidation, and it obviously points to the high stakes we have and what we are fighting for, and I’m not going to be intimidated," said campaign volunteer Iris Suddaby.
Rodriguez admits his group followed Garza supporters on block walks. But he said encounters were peaceful and friendly with residents. One video clip showed club members showing a woman and her children their motorcycles. Rodriguez also disputed Garza’s accusation of voter intimidation.
"If they were scared of being intimidated, it wasn’t anything we did, them being intimidated is not on us, that’s on them," said Rodriguez.
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The WTFers are not working for Garza’s democratic challenger, Jeremy Sylestine. They are campaigning against Garza because of his policies and may show up in future Garza block walks.
"Possibly if he makes it past the Primary," said Rodriguez.
Garza called the WTFer's thugs. He also said several elected democrats sent Sylestine a letter warning him about this kind of involvement by an outside group.
"And in that letter they specifically warned him that parroting these lies, these MAGA talking points would embolden fringe elements to put our safety at risk," said Garza.
Sylestine was quick to respond to Garza’s condemnation.
"For him to put that off as some sort of Right Wing concern is just not true, because we know from the campaign and talking to people there are many different kinds of people who are invested in my campaign," said Sylestine.
Sylestine spoke to reporters on Monday afternoon while he was on his block walk.
"What I’m talking about crosses party lines, it’s about safety, crime and law and order and that is resonating with people, and I’m afraid he doesn’t like that," said Sylestine.
The direction of the Travis County District Attorney’s Office since Garza took office was the topic of another Monday news conference. Family members of crime victims shared several stories of the interactions with Garza and his staff. They all indicated Garza's vision of justice became a nightmare for them.
"He acted more like a defense attorney for my abuser than the DA advocating for me. He was more advocating for my abuser," said Courtney Pore, a domestic abuse survivor.
Campaign cash is another big issue in this race. Garza has criticized his challenger for taking money from Republican donors. Sylestine says that 41% of the money the DA has collected has come from out of state.