I thought that Republicans were supposed to be the protectors of liberty, free speech, and the 2nd Amendment. Right? Well, not if you are Rep. Jason Villalba (144-Dallas). It seems that Rep. Villalba, in an attempt to please “the good men and women in blue”, has decided that the First and Second Amendments need to be tossed aside. This from Brett Sanders at BrettSanders.me:
Texas representative Jason Villalba (R-Dallas), who first made headlines in 2013 for his weird statements on Obamacare, filed a bill on Tuesday that would criminalize filming the police as a private citizen. This proposal is not only an egregious violation of free speech under the United States and Texas Bill of Rights but could be considered an act of defiance to mountains of legal precedent set forth by the Supreme Court of the United States.
The bill he is referring to is HB2918.
In typical Villalba fashion he is not backing down and is unapologetic for his attempt to suppress free speech and gun rights. I find it very interesting that he targets concealed carry permit owners, statistically one of the least criminal groups you can find. Villalba wants you to move 25 feet away from an officer to film but if you are legally carrying a concealed weapon, he wants you 100 feet away. Both are egregious violations of our rights, I’m just curious why he doesn’t like concealed permit owners.
Check his Twitter feed and Facebook account for his reactions. Here is one from Facebook:
How does MQS end up in this thing? This isn’t something on his radar. I swear, the reason MQS has so much perceived power is because people like Villalba give it to them.
Or this from Twitter:
Okay, so he’s a “macho man” and ready to take on all comers. For what? To protect LEO’s? No, to protect BAD LEO’s. You know, the guys that beat people senseless, plant evidence, or kill unarmed citizens. The rest of the law enforcement community, you know, the 90{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of LEO’s that do the right thing, don’t need to restrict freedom, liberty, speech, or the 2nd Amendment.
Clearly, Villalba want to be elected to a statewide office. Recall his visits around the state in the past two years. He even made a visit to my favorite club, the Downtown Houston Pachyderm Club. And I gave him a glowing review. I like people that speak their mind, even when I disagree with what they are trying to do.
Would this be a deal killer for me if he were to run for statewide office? Not necessarily but it wouldn’t help persuade me to vote for him.
I have complete confidence that this bill is going nowhere. Villalba may be a supporter of Speaker Straus but there is no way that the Speaker is going to lend his support to this bill. Notice that he doesn’t have a single co-author that he could muster up. So for all practical purposes, the bill was dead on arrival. Perhaps that was his intent – mollify the person or group that convinced him to file this all the while knowing it wouldn’t be passed. He might even think that was a smart move.
But you know what? People have memories, especially when you are going out of your way to defend the indefensible. See you down the road, Rep. Villalba.