8 February 23-March 1, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents countless zoo animals loose in the wild, so where would they go? Regardless, Gregory thinks the ethical debate surrounding zoos in itself is produc- tive. Like them or not, zoos instill the public with a sense of environmental conscious- ness at a time when many species are rapidly going extinct. Everyone in this dialogue wants what’s best for wildlife. Even the man accused of breaking into the Dallas Zoo told police that he “loved animals.” “[The debate is] centered on zoos, but that can’t help but extend into other areas of our life and existence, right? And I think that’s something that’s profoundly good that zoos benefit us with,” Gregory said. “Zoos have a benefit because they force us to think about something other than ourselves and our own species, and think about our place among the pantheon of species on this earth — not just ours.” ▼ CRIME FIGHTING FENTANYL ALLEGED ‘MAIN SOURCE OF SUPPLY’ ARRESTED IN CARROLLTON OVERDOSES CASE. BY KELLY DEARMORE T he man authorities say was the source of the fentanyl that contrib- uted to three teens’ deaths in Carroll- ton and seven more overdoses over the past six months has been arrested. Jason Xavier Villanueva, 22, has been charged with conspiracy to distribute a Schedule II controlled substance in con- nection with the case that saw the recent arrests of Luis Eduardo Navarrete, 21, and Magaly Mejia Cano, 29, for their roles in running a drug-dealing operation out of a house in Carrollton near R.L. Turner High School. During a news conference, Leigha Simonton, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said Villanueva was the “main source of supply in the Carrollton ju- venile overdose cases.” Simonton also said that Villanueva “worked through a juvenile dealer” to supply pills to Navarrete and Cano. Each of the victims was between the ages of 13 and 17. Fentanyl-related arrests have become regular occurrences in North Texas. The Carrollton arrests come after Simonton an- nounced multiple other fentanyl arrests in North Texas in January. Simonton, joined by DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge Eduardo Chávez and Car- rollton Police Chief Roberto Arredondo, said that Villanueva actively used social me- dia to communicate with juvenile dealers he supplied with pills stamped “M30.” The criminal complaint contains screenshots of messages from social media apps between Villanueva and some of his juvenile clients. Following the arrest of Navarrete and Cano, Villanueva allegedly posted this mes- sage to one of the social media accounts that authorities were monitoring: “Only thing that’s gonna stop us is feds.” The complaint also gives details on the aftermath experienced by some of the teenagers who survived after taking fen- tanyl allegedly provided by Villanueva. One 15-year-old female spent multiple days in the hospital on a ventilator follow- ing “a medical emergency consistent with the adverse effects of fentanyl,” the com- plaint states. Authorities began investigating after a rash of medical emergencies with sus- pected connections to fentanyl among stu- dents in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD. Fentanyl is a cheaply manufactured synthetic opioid that can be up to 100 times more potent than morphine. Ac- cording to the criminal complaint against Navarrete and Cano, the fentanyl pills were being distributed as popular opioids OxyContin and Percocet, but had been laced with fentanyl. Chavez of the DEA said the investigation is ongoing. Villanueva made his initial fed- eral court appearance last week, and Na- varrete and Cano are still being held from their arrests. ▼ POLITICS IT’S NOT BLACK AND WHITE GOV. GREG ABBOTT IS LEADING THE CHARGE TO RID TEXAS OF DEI POLICIES. BY SIMONE CARTER T he NBA and the NFL won’t be hold- ing championship games in the Lone Star State if some lawmakers get their way. Last week, Black and Latino legislators in Austin petitioned those national sports or- ganizations, in addition to the NCAA and MLB, to steer clear of Texas until Gov. Greg Abbott reverses course on guidance related to diversity, equity and inclusion. The politi- cians’ press conference came about a week after the governor’s office told state agencies and universities that DEI hiring policies are illegal. “The innocuous sounding notion of Di- versity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) has been manipulated to push policies that expressly favor some demographic groups to the detri- ment of others,” Abbott’s chief of staff wrote in a memo first reported by The Texas Tri- bune. The letter didn’t spell out which de- mographic groups he was referring to. The memo is the latest shot from conser- vatives in the ongoing war on supposed lib- eral leanings in public schools. Texas Republicans in 2021 outlawed the discus- sion of so-called critical race theory in class- rooms, and now they’ve turned their attention to higher ed and another three-let- ter acronym: DEI. DEI policies are meant to offer work- places guidance on creating and maintaining an atmosphere of fair treatment to all, par- ticularly when it comes to those from histor- ically oppressed groups, including people of color and LGBTQ+ community members. Legislators with the state’s Black and Mexican American caucuses railed against Abbott during a recent news conference. They also took issue with the claim that DEI efforts are against the law and accused Ab- bott of merely trying to churn up more red meat for his base. The lawmakers argue that Texas’ popula- tion is rapidly diversifying, so its workplaces should also reflect that. “If we remove these opportunities by re- moving DEI, where will that take our econ- omy?” state Rep. Victoria Neave Criado, a Dallas Democrat, said at the conference. Other critics are casting doubt on Ab- bott’s DEI claims. The governor’s office is “grossly misconstruing” federal law in an at- tempt to roll back the clock on equity, said Paulette Granberry Russell, president of the National Association of Diversity Offices in Higher Education. The United States has al- ready had difficulty fulfilling “its founding promise of justice and liberty for all,” she wrote via email. Granberry Russell pointed to several federal anti-discrimination laws already on the books including the Civil Rights Act, which is aimed at preventing discrim- ination on the basis of race, sex, color, reli- gion and national origin. Everyone can benefit from institutions that are equitable and inclusive, she added. “The memo and its claims are ridiculous and beyond an attempt for state government overreach,” Granberry Russell said. “They are just one more step in a broader assault on the basic underpinnings of diversity, eq- uity and inclusion, terms that some have sought to turn into dog whistles because they have not bothered to understand the basic history of America and the principles that can set it on a brighter path forward.” Certain colleges in the state are currently under fire for their DEI dealings. Texas Tech University recently received blowback after a Wall Street Journal opinion piece condemned how the school’s biology department conducted its hiring practices. One job candidate reportedly earned bad marks for not understanding the difference between “equity” and “equality,” and an- other applicant received a demerit for re- peatedly referring to professors using the “he” pronoun. The university has since eliminated the policy in question and launched a review of all departments’ hiring processes. It’s a move welcomed by the Foundation for Indi- vidual Rights and Expression, which advo- cates for protecting free speech rights on campuses and beyond. Aaron Terr, FIRE’s director of public ad- vocacy, noted that tension over DEI initia- tives has steadily ramped up in recent years. FIRE has heard concerns from hundreds of faculty members across the country that their campuses are using DEI statements to “enforce ideological conformity, or using that as a litmus test.” Many higher-ed institutions have started to require job candidates and faculty who are up for a promotion or tenure to demon- strate via written statement their dedication to accepted DEI views, Terr said. Such state- ments then may work against applicants who don’t agree with prevailing DEI opin- ions. “The problem is that the way that these statements are evaluated is often viewpoint discriminatory,” he said. “So if you express, or fail to express, certain views about con- tested social and political issues related to race or gender, then you may be disadvan- taged in the hiring process or when you’re being evaluated.” The way Terr sees it, DEI initiatives don’t have to be at odds with academic freedom and free speech. Still, universities have been known to pit them against such First Amendment values. Colleges have every right to try to in- crease diversity on campus, Terr said, but the process can’t interfere with someone’s expressive rights. “If you’re not familiar with how [DEI] sort of gets operational- ized, it might sound perfectly innocuous or uncontroversial, or values that everyone can agree on,” he said. “But, of course, the devil’s in the details and the actual imple- mentation of it, and I think more people are waking up to the fact that it’s being used to purge campuses of people who don’t hold institutionally approved views.” U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton discusses an arrest related to a recent spate of overdose deaths among teens in Carrollton. Kelly Dearmore Unfair Park from p6 >> p10
