11 November 7 - 13, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents ton. We’ve traveled together, attend church together.” Following his reinstatement into office in September 2023, Paxton immediately set off on a revenge tour he was openly vo- cal about, supporting Republican primary candidates running against House Repub- licans such as Leach. And to a large extent, Paxton was successful in vanquishing his enemies on Super Tuesday in March, al- though perhaps his two biggest, newest enemies, House Speaker Dade Phelan and Leach, made it through to the November election. As for the matter at the heart of this par- ticular Republican v. Republican fight, the filings continue, regardless of what Leach or Paxton have to say about one another. For now, Roberson’s execution is on hold, and on Monday night, Leach and Moody filed a brief with the state Supreme Court outlining what they feel is the House’s ability to issue a subpoena similar to the one issued for Roberson. Paxton, the brief says, is keeping Roberson from appearing before Leach the rest of the committee. “In brief, a legislative committee issued a subpoena for the testimony of a condemned prisoner that interrupted his execution,” Leach’s filing reads. “The executive branch took exception and refused to honor the subpoena. That impasse remains today.” ▼ ENVIRONMENT GAG ORDERED ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ADVOCATES SAID THEY BROKE THE LAW ON PURPOSE IN HOPES OF PUTTING THE GAF SHINGLE FACTORY ON TRIAL. BY EMMA RUBY W hen Janie Cisneros walked onto Singleton Boulevard on April 22, 2024, she knew she was break- ing the law. So, too, did the four individuals flanking her who stepped onto the road and sat down along its edge. Within a few sec- onds, a supervising Dallas police officer pulled his vehicle into the lane, blocking the group from oncoming traffic. Within a few minutes, their drivers licenses were col- lected and they were issued citations for ob- structing the roadway. Cisneros is the leader of Singleton United, a West Dallas community group dedicated to shutting down the GAF shingle factory on Singleton Boulevard because they believe the plant is creating pollution that impacts their health. The activists suc- ceeded in shutting down the factory on Earth Day this year in a planned demonstra- tion of civil disobedience. But on Tuesday afternoon, a Dallas County judge kept the environmentalists’ dream of putting the plant on trial from be- ing realized, siding with state prosecutors who argued the case was a “straightfor- ward” one pertaining to liability, not motive or cause. Cisneros and her fellow defendants — nonprofit director Jim Schermbeck, Justice for Joppa Co-Chair Emmanuel Davis, envi- ronmental justice advocate Allen McGill and retired attorney Ruth Alhilali — were found guilty and fined $97 for the street- blocking stunt. “We wanted to present our defense and talk about why we took this action, which was necessary, on April 22. It’s a shame that we didn’t get to present that,” Cisneros told the Observer after the trial. “[Civil disobedi- ence] was an avenue of last resort, consider- ing all the other avenues that we have sought and have been stalled and obstructed by the city, the state, GAF itself.” Cisneros, Schermbeck, Davis, McGill and Alhilali had intended to tell the court that because of the conditions caused by the GAF shingle factory that West Dallas resi- dents have endured, they had no choice but to break the law and raise awareness for en- vironmental injustices. “We were doing what anyone would do to protect their children,” Cisneros said on the stand, adding that the “stench” emitted from the factory regularly gives her head- aches and prevents her from enjoying her yard. Her testimony was one of few moments where direct references to GAF were al- lowed. At the trial’s start, Dallas County Judge Marcia Tillman sustained a motion by the prosecution to keep the mens rea — or the mental state of each defendant at the time they committed the crime — out of the case. This resulted in questioning that pertained almost exclusively to the semantics of road- way engagement: whose foot stepped into the road at what time? How many inches into the road was the step? How many cars were passing by at that moment? Did the Dallas Police Department block the road “milliseconds or many seconds” later? The organizers each maintained that the Earth Day protest had been planned “for months” alongside the Dallas Police Depart- ment, and each individual who took the stand claimed the step into the road had been approved by a liaison for the depart- ment. But two officers who were on the scene the day of the protest claimed they had not been informed of the protesters’ plans to venture into the roadway. Body camera foot- age viewed in the courtroom showed offi- cers approaching each of the defendants as they sat in the entryway of the GAF factory and asking them to move out of the roadway. One protester can be heard responding they would not comply, and another stated they’d hoped to be arrested. “If we didn’t take action they were going to get hit by a vehicle,” said Officer Dylan Nelson, who helped issue the citations given to the protesters. Additionally, testimony referencing a Texas A&M University study released ear- lier this year that found evidence of “toxic air” conditions in the neighborhood sur- rounding the factory was repeatedly ob- jected to, with the state maintaining that an expert witness would be required to speak to the studies findings. Cisneros said she was “frustrated” by questioning she faced on the stand, which she felt precluded her from fully sharing her firsthand experiences as a homeowner living several hundred feet from the GAF factory. Defense Attorney Bruce Anton also seemed frustrated as the trial con- cluded, stating he was unable to present the necessity defense that had been planned due to the court’s refusal to ac- cept each activist’s firsthand knowledge and testimony without an expert witness present. “The city attorney’s office wants the public to know there is no room for peaceful protest in Dallas,” Anton said in his closing argument. Anton and Cisneros both said they in- tend to appeal the ruling. “While I may not be a doctor, we see the emissions, we experience what we ex- perience when we inhale the pollution,” Cisneros said after the trial’s conclusion. “This is a community that’s hurting, that’s sick and it’s going to continue to keep be- ing sick as long as the facility stays open. It is continuous harm on a daily basis. So us sitting down for those few minutes on April 22 is nothing compared to that harm.” Emma Ruby Local advocates for environmental justice came to Tuesday’s trial to support the five Earth Day defendants.
