3 May 25 - 31, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER | CONTENTS | UNFAIR PARK | SCHUTZE | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | MOVIES | DISH | MUSIC | CLASSIFIED | Shut Up or Get Out Uvalde CISD threat- ened with free speech lawsuit after banning parent who spoke out about safety. BY SIMONE CARTER A dam Martinez’s son hid under a school desk for around 45 minutes as the shooting un- folded on May 24 of last year. His child, who attended Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, knew several of the kids who were murdered that day. “And so, he still is traumatized,” Marti- nez said. “He won’t sleep in his own bed.” With two children in the Uvalde Consoli- dated Independent School District, Martinez has become an advocate for improved safety following the mass shooting that claimed the lives of 19 students and two teachers. But when Martinez raised concerns over a new Uvalde CISD police hire in February, he was banned from district property and school board meetings for two years. Now, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is demanding that the ban be lifted. Earlier this week, the free speech advocacy organization sent the dis- trict a letter telling it to remove its “uncon- stitutional ban” by Monday or face a lawsuit. As a Uvalde CISD parent, Martinez said it’s a strange feeling to get blocked from set- ting foot on district property. It also means he’s barred from attending his nephew’s graduation ceremony next week. “Sometimes you feel cheated,” Martinez said. “I say that because it’s been very unfair. I mean, they went against my rights.” In an email to the Observer, a spokesper- son for Uvalde CISD said the administration is aware of and has received FIRE’s demand letter. She didn’t respond to specific ques- tions about the letter or whether the district will lift Martinez’s ban. FIRE attorney Jeff Zeman told the Ob- server: “The school district has informed us that they will allow Adam to attend his neph- ew’s graduation, but has not yet lifted his ban from school district property. Until we receive a formal response confirming the ban has been lifted in its entirety, the district continues to vi- olate Adam’s First Amendment rights.” In the wake of last year’s massacre, Uvalde officials attracted fierce criticism over the police response. Officers reportedly waited more than an hour to end the shoot- ing after the slaughter began. The district subsequently suspended its entire police department and fired the police chief while working to find qualified officers. Martinez has criticized officials’ efforts to remake Uvalde CISD’s police force, accord- ing to the release. He spearheaded the launch of an advocacy group that mounted fundrais- ers to aid Uvalde shooting victims and as- sisted with medical and funeral expenses. In February, Martinez learned the dis- trict had hired someone whom the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office “had deemed ineli- gible for rehire,” according to FIRE. So, the dad raised concerns about the move to Uvalde CISD Police Chief Josh Gutierrez during a school board meeting that month. FIRE points to video from the meeting as proof that Martinez’s side conversation with Gutierrez stayed quiet and didn’t disrupt the meeting. Martinez was told to sit down but continued to talk to Gutierrez anyway. Next, Martinez and his family were asked to exit the meeting. He then received a for- mal criminal trespass warning prohibiting him from all Uvalde CISD campuses and property for two years. Since the Uvalde shooting, Martinez has been fighting for improved school safety, but now, he said, he’s the one who’s being painted as a threat. “I’ve never had any type of record or been arrested for anything, and for them to treat me that way, it’s embarrassing,” Martinez said. “I don’t let it get to me because I know that they’re wrong ... people know who I really am. Josh Bleisch, an attorney with FIRE, ex- plained that school districts can’t bar people from public property just because officials don’t agree with what’s being said. Parents and other citizens have the right to attend open meetings and to criticize their government. To Bleisch, it’s understandable that Mar- tinez would be focused on Uvalde’s safety. “For him to bring his concerns directly to the source, but then be banned for doing so, we think that’s pretty egregious [and] pretty ridiculous,” Bleisch said. “And we’re happy to help him try to vindicate those First Amendment rights.” The ban from district property is a “com- pletely disproportionate” punishment for something that shouldn’t be punished in the first place, he added. FIRE hopes to hear back soon from the district with news that they’ve reversed course. Martinez pointed out that his case isn’t the only one in which officials have at- tempted to squelch free speech. Still, he said, not everyone is as lucky in finding the legal muscle to back them up. “I just ask that people keep that in mind, and try to stand up more because I’m not alone in this,” he said. “I’m glad that I do have somebody to represent me, but a lot of them don’t, and so these cases go unheard. And the only way we can fix that is by speaking up.” ▼ ALLEN SHOOTING A QUESTION OF HATE WAS THE ALLEN MASS SHOOTING A HATE CRIME? AUTHORITIES STILL HAVEN’T SAID. BY KELLY DEARMORE O n May 9, Hank Sibley of the Texas Department of Public Safety was one of three officials who gave an update on the investigation of the May 6 mass shooting at Allen Premium Outlets. Eight people had been murdered that day, including three children, and several more were injured when Mauricio Garcia opened fire with an assault rifle in front of the H&M store around 3:30 p.m. An Allen police offi- cer shot and killed Garcia at the scene a few minutes after the shooting began when he was replying to an unrelated call. Sibley confirmed that, indeed, Garcia “had neo-Nazi Ideation.” The Texas DPS re- gional director pointed to uncovered social media posts, as well as patches on the cloth- ing Garcia was wearing during the shooting and the tattoos found on his body after he had been killed by police as evidence Garcia held white supremacist views. Sibley also said, “to me, it looks like he targeted the location, rather than a specific group of people. He was very random in the group of people he killed. It didn’t matter the age, race or sex, he just shot people, which is horrific in itself.” He ended by say- ing “the investigation is ongoing.” Sibley’s assertion during the May 9 news conference, the last official update on the Allen shooting provided by authorities, didn’t make much sense to some Texas- based Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) groups. During a press conference on May 15, representatives from three AAPI groups urged authorities to begin call- ing the shooting in Allen a hate crime. “The targeted location does not exclude the possibility of a hate crime,” said Stepha- nie Drenka of the Dallas Asian American His- torical Society during the press conference, held at the Dallas Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation offices. “Allen and its adja- cent cities of Plano, Frisco and Carrollton are home to one of the largest Asian American populations outside of the coasts. The shooter lived here in Dallas where a long his- tory of racism and discriminatory policies have shaped the city and its people. We are demanding a full and thorough investigation by local and federal officials to determine if this was a racially motivated hate crime.” Lily Trieu of Asian Texans for Justice al- luded to last year’s shooting in Dallas’ Kore- atown district when she suggested a trend is developing in how local law enforcement works on possible hate crimes. “In the span of less than a year, the De- partment of Public Safety has once again made statements dismissing incidents of gun violence against the Asian community in North Texas as not being racially motivated,” Trieu remarked during the press conference. “Just like in May of 2022, well before an in- vestigation had been conducted, the DPS continues to make flippant comments with- out consideration of the facts. Not only is this insulting to a community fearful for its safety, it is negligent and irresponsible.” We reached out to the Texas DPS to ask if a decision had been made on whether the Allen shooting will be considered a hate crime. In a written statement provided to the Observer, Lt. Oscar Villarreal explained, “At present, in the course of this investiga- tion, we have shared all the preliminary in- formation available for release. Please understand that investigations of this mag- nitude take time and are criminal, limiting what we can share. We do not have any new information available to share at this time.” Melinda Urbina, the public affairs officer for the FBI Dallas field office, stressed that when giving an update to the public, agen- cies can only confirm what they know for certain at that moment. There may be some eye-catching facts known in the case, but for the FBI or any other official body to stamp something with the hate crime label, many dots must be fully connected. According to Urbina, the agencies investi- gating the Allen shooting have not declared it was not a hate crime, simply because they have yet to declare it as such. She says it’s not a dismissal, but a sign that the scenario is still developing. There’s a process that must be followed that involves more information than what the public is often privy to. “Law enforcement can’t go into an inves- tigation with preconceived notions,” Urbina said. “They have to work with | UNFAIR PARK | Photo courtesy of Nycole Knoxx Uvalde parent Adam Martinez, whose son survived the Robb Elementary School shooting last May 24. >> p4
