Dana Loesch to Houston police chief Art Acevedo after online threat of legal action: ‘Am I under surveillance?’
On Wednesday, Twitchy reported that Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo threatened Dana Loesch and NRA TV with legal action over a clip from Tuesday in which Loesch dared to criticize Acevedo over sanctuary city laws and his support for gun control.
This is the video in question:
“So Chief @ArtAcevedo, you support sanctuary city laws. You support lawlessness and law-breaking. You don’t get to cherry-pick what laws that you support … And you don’t get to lecture law-abiding Americans on what you think we should be able to do with our #2A.” – @DLoesch pic.twitter.com/WPWndmYhri
— NRATV (@NRATV) May 22, 2018
Acevedo, Twitchy said, claimed this was a lie, but didn’t say how Loesch lied:
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
Another lie keep it up. You have deep pockets. Bye forever or until we meet in court.
— Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) May 23, 2018
As the Houston Chronicle reported last year, Acevedo blasted a measure targeted at so-called “sanctuary cities.”
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, speaking Thursday at a national immigration forum, blasted Texas’ new anti-sanctuary cities law, known as “SB4,” that requires police officers to question the immigration status of people they detain.
“It is so counter-intuitive, counterproductive,” Acevedo said in remarks that recalled Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas that took the lives of at least 58 people as well as the gunman.
“When you have millions victims and witnesses of crime that you’re pushing back into the shadows, people who might know about a guy who’s going crazy and might shoot up 20,000 concertgoers, and they’re afraid to come forward,” he said. “How is that a public safety measure? It’s a real problem.”
More recently, the Chronicle said that Acevedo got himself into a running battle with the NRA over comments he made on Facebook after the recent school shooting in Texas:
What started with a pained Facebook post by Chief Art Acevedo after yet another school shooting Friday has escalated into a full-on war of words with the nation’s gun lobby.
Hours after a gunman killed 10 people and wounded 13 others — including a retired Houston police officer — Acevedo tweeted his frustration, excoriating elected officials for failing “to enact common sense statutes & policies & continue to fail our families & especially our children.”
Acevedo’s frustrated cry — followed by a Facebook post where he said he’d hit “rock bottom” and told people they could unfriend him if they thought guns weren’t a problem — was met with swift reaction from the National Rifle Association and some prominent conservatives.
Acevedo, Twitchy said, “responded with a screenshot of an email declining an invitation to appear on Dana’s program along with his legal threat…”
Like I was saying, blah, blah, blah. Stop misrepresenting &/or lying about my views. Your action is leading to harassment by your minions. You may just make testing the limits of your dishonesty & cyber bullying worthwhile in Court. Many top-notch firms would do so pro-bono. pic.twitter.com/KirUT42u5P
— Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) May 23, 2018
He wasn’t finished, and suggested that Loesch would be under surveillance: “Lastly, I will not respond any further to you on any platform outside of a legal process. Be on notice that we will be watching and will do our talking in a court of Law if the need arises. Good day.”
Lastly, I will not respond any further to you on any platform outside of a legal process. Be on notice that we will be watching and will do our talking in a court of Law if the need arises. Good day. https://t.co/xGKhMfaDqq
— Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) May 23, 2018
He added:
P.S. Dana, I Forgot to thank you for making my point in my response to your kind request for an appearance on your insignificant show. Before I close for the last time, did I mention court of law? I retain my right to explore the limits of your twisting of the truth in court. https://t.co/xbGm1ubuKl
— Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) May 23, 2018
Translation: Don’t dare criticize my publicly-stated views or else.
Loesch, of course, didn’t back down:
Wow, seriously? I simply criticized the hypocrisy of you lecturing law-abiding Americans while publicly supporting the disregard of federal immigration law. No one “misrepresented” you. It’s surreal to see a chief reacting to free speech this way. https://t.co/fwe6xpkikZ
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) May 23, 2018
She also reminded Acevedo of her First Amendment rights:
A free people have the right to call to account elected or nominated political figures. I will continue to excercise my free speech and do so. You can continue to threaten censorship and surveillance. I’m sure that’s a good use of taxpayer dollars. https://t.co/ZW3QVkfadH
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) May 23, 2018
And she told Acevedo that she was not about to be bullied or intimidated by him:
Ok. If that’s how you respond to free people questioning and criticizing political figures like yourself, that’s unfortunate, but I am not intimidated by you. https://t.co/VKLmbm8O0v
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) May 23, 2018
She then asked: “I forgot to ask this last night @ArtAcevedo : when you told me that “we will be watching” (as a result of you disliking my remarks on your reported-on support of sanctuary city policies), are you using the resources of the Houston PD to watch me? AM I under surveillance?”
I forgot to ask this last night @ArtAcevedo : when you told me that “we will be watching” (as a result of you disliking my remarks on your reported-on support of sanctuary city policies), are you using the resources of the Houston PD to watch me? AM I under surveillance? https://t.co/VG5U2M5rdu
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) May 23, 2018
Good question.
Reaction was predictable:
https://twitter.com/BusterH37608353/status/999351823050911755
Wow, #ArtAcevedo Houston police chief is threatening people that mention or talk about what he actually supports? Wonder why such disregard for Constitutional rights? 1st Amend (NO) 2nd Amend (NO) Hmm bet the 4th Amend included! against unreasonable searches, seizures & warrants pic.twitter.com/QS3cAU8NzR
— ArmsAgent (@ArmsAgent) May 23, 2018
https://twitter.com/JeffMcMenamin1/status/999351431256772608
https://twitter.com/wgbrick/status/999351040184070153
Should be… But remember, this is the city that once issued subpoenas demanding pastors hand over sermons to determine if they said anything negative about homosexuality or the city’s mayor, who happened to be a lesbian…
“The city council and its attorneys are engaging in an inquisition designed to stifle any critique of its actions,” said Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Christina Holcomb.
It seems that some things, at least in the city of Houston, never change…
Related:
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- Video of the Day: Anti-NRA group calls for garnishing gun owners’ wages whenever there’s a mass shooting
- Anti-NRA group calls for gun census program as part of effort to repeal, replace Second Amendment
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