El Paso Politics

There are bad campaign strategies. There are questionable campaign strategies. And then there’s whatever the hell is going on right now in this runoff. Because somehow, in a Democratic race, we’ve reached the point where the loudest, most unhinged MAGA folks in El Paso have picked their favorite Democrat. Let that sink in. The same people who think every election they lose is “rigged,” who treat Facebook comment sections like a contact sport, who couldn’t find the Democratic platform if it was taped to their forehead… those folks are now organizing, posting, and cheerleading for a candidate in a Democratic runoff. And not quietly either. Not subtly. They’re out here waving pom-poms like it’s Friday night lights. Now, if you’re a candidate and you wake up one morning and realize the MAGA crowd has adopted you, there are only two possible reactions: You immediately create distance so fast it gives people whiplash Or… you lean into it like it’s a good thing Guess which one we’re seeing. H...

This story isn't going away.  What That Press Conference Actually Told Us About El Paso Police...actually sounds familiar. In fact it reminds me of the ol' saying, the cover-up is worse than the crime.  On April 4, a verified Iranian news account posted video of El Paso police arresting Kelcee Hufford in her living room. By April 10, it had millions of views. Let that sink in. El Paso wasn’t just trending locally. We became an example used by foreign media to argue that the United States has no standing to lecture anyone on human rights. That’s the context Chief Peter Pacillas walked into. And in about fifteen minutes, he somehow managed to make things worse. Before the chief spoke, his public information officer told reporters to keep questions limited to “this incident and this incident only.” That wasn’t a casual request. It was a line in the sand. And it was clear that they know there is a trend of police violence, otherwise there would be no need to start that ...

Okay, I don’t know about you but I can’t stomach the video of the woman that was punched in the face while she was held down by a police officer in El Paso.  And before you guys start acting like this is an anti-cop rant, its not.  Its an anti-cop violence rant.  The woman was on the ground with two cops on top of her. Was she struggling against the cops  absolutely. Does that warrant her getting punched in the face out of nowhere? Absolutely not.  And quite frankly - its time the Mayor and Council step-up and take responsibility for this kind of stuff.  The woman was autistic, and I have no idea where she is on that spectrum, but she clearly is wired differently. Did you see the picture of her face after she got hit by the cop? Here’s the damage after one punch.  Now look at the picture of Freddy Khlayel-Avalos, a former EPISD School Board Member after his interaction with PD. I wonder exactly how many blows he took for his face to look like ...