AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Tuesday directed the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to “bolster security efforts surrounding places of worship in the wake of the escalation of violent attacks against people and places of faith across the nation.”
In the directive, Abbott said local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies will partner to increase safety and security at churches, synagogues, and faith-based organizations in Texas.
“Places of worship are sacred,” Abbott said. “We will marshal all resources necessary to safeguard our places of faith. To accomplish that objective, I directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to bolster security efforts to protect places of worship.”
According to Abbott’s office, Texas Highway Patrol troopers, Criminal Investigations Division special agents, and Texas Rangers, supported by the DPS Homeland Security Division, will work with local and federal law enforcement to “identify threats and prevent life-threatening attacks before they happen.”
This comes after national news of violent incidents at churches and religious spaces across the country.
Just days ago, at least four people were killed and eight wounded at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints church in Michigan after an ex-Marine crashed a pickup truck into the church, opened fire, then set the building on fire, according to the Associated Press.
Last month, a 23-year-old shooter fired dozens of rounds into crowds of students and parishioners who were gathered for Mass at Annunciation Catholic church in Minneapolis.
Days after that attack, Pope Leo XIV called for an end to the “pandemic of arms, large and small,” as he prayed publicly for the victims of the Minneapolis shooting.
Church violence in Texas, Austin
Texas, and Austin itself, are unfortunately no strangers to violence and attacks on religious spaces.
Earlier this year, three local mosques were vandalized with spray-painted Stars of David on the building, according to a press release from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR-Austin.
In 2021, a man set fire to north Austin synagogue Congregation Beth Israel in an antisemitic attack. He was a member of the Texas State Guard and a student at Texas State University, and had written racist and antisemitic journal entries before setting the fire, according to federal investigators.
In 2019, a man was caught on camera trying to set a Muslim community center in north Austin on fire, and in 2017, a fire was intentionally set at an Islamic Center in Victoria, Texas.
More than two dozen people died in 2017 when a gunman opened fire at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs outside of San Antonio, Texas.
Abbott’s directive also reminded people that they can use the iWatchTexas Community Reporting System to report any “suspicious activities or behaviors in and around their schools, places of worship, and communities that may indicate criminal, terroristic, or school safety-related threats.”
iWatch can be accessed via a mobile app, online at www.iwatchtx.org, or by calling 1-844-643-2251. A report usually takes less than five minutes, and once submitted, each report is reviewed by law enforcement analysts. All reports are confidential (providing contact information, which is optional, will allow for follow-up questions).
iWatchTexas is not designed for emergency reporting. If an emergency response is needed, call 911.
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