Co-host of weekend street takeover event comments on contentious labor contract negotiations with police

Austin, Texas – The co-host of Saturday night’s Lone Star Show, or street takeover, said he didn’t want to get into a political showdown, but their actions caused havoc at the intersections in Austin, adding to the already difficult takeover talk. city ​​and police department employment contract.

“This has nothing to do with politics. It has nothing to do with race. and have fun,” said the co-host of the event.

“I believe they turned the city over to the Austin Coalition of Justice, and that’s what you get,” former Austin Police Association President Ken Kasaday said on KLBJ The Todd & Don Show.

The co-host of the event said they would return to Austin because “the cops can’t catch us.”

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“You have all these resources and you tell me that you only caught two people. That’s what the community should be upset about. They should be upset that they are wasting time, wasting valuable money and resources that could be allocated elsewhere,” the co-host said.

The video shows cars making donuts, people throwing fireworks at a police car, girls hanging out of cars and people on fire. Austin police said one officer was taken to the hospital.

“I just wanted to say that we are not bad people. We’re not trying to harm anyone. We’re not trying to harm anyone. We don’t want to hurt the police,” the co-host said. .

Austin Police Association blamed Austin politicians on Twitter and stated that they are “directly responsible for the overall safety of their citizens and visitors.” They continued and said, “It looks like they failed to make the right decisions and continue to defund, destroy and demoralize public safety.”

This was due to the city council refusing to vote on a new four-year contract with them, they were offered a one-year contract and the APA walked out.

Mayor Kirk Watson stated that the Police Association’s tweet is false and that they “erroneously mixed the incident with important conversations about safety and oversight.” He said he welcomed the Police Association’s return to the negotiating table to negotiate a one-year contract.

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“The Austin Police Association wants to blame the city for everything that’s going on, when in fact they’re the ones who left, ignored a significant deal offer to avoid clashing with voters, and may disagree with stronger police oversight,” the treasurer said. Kathy Mitchell told Equity Action.

The co-host of the event said the leaders are using the event to their advantage.

“My response to city officials who are upset about this is: stop pretending to be upset about your constituents. score for them,” said the co-host.

The current contract expires March 31st.