Governor Abbott Highlights Important Topics During Town Hall in Tyler

TYLER — Governor Greg Abbott visited Tyler on Thursday taking part in a town hall hosted at the UT Tyler Cowan Center. According to our news partner KETK, the topic of the night was the devastating shooting in El Paso that claimed the lives of 22 and injured 24 others. Governor Abbott silenced the crowd by saying, “Even though I am in Tyler tonight, my heart is still in El Paso.” Gov. Abbott spoke on the plans the legislature has in place when it comes to domestic terrorism. “First is with this domestic terrorism task force that will be operating year around,” he said. “We will be including all of the deligation of El Paso as well as other leaders across that state of Texas where we will put every issue on the table,” he said.”

Round tables are set to be held soon that will discuss gun control and prevention plans.

Many people have asked about the implementation of red flag laws in Texas. Gov. Abbott said there are current laws in place regarding mental health and previous convictions. Gov. Abbott mentioned if a red flag law would have prevented the shooting in El Paso. “The shooter in El Paso had demonstrated no red flags at all,” he said. This is true based on many investigation reports that showed the shooter’s background and motives.

Wood County Sheriff Tom Castloo asked about the plan of immigration at the U.S. and Mexico border. Gov. Abbott expressed, “There’s one reason and one reason only, why we have to spend this money, and that’s because the United States Congress is not doing its job to secure our borders.” When asked why 1,000 members of the National Guard to the border, he explained that during that time 45,000 people came in from different countries. “When Border Patrol is making arrests, they’re not at the border, doing their jobs.”