UPDATE: Officer Teng’s trial date was set for 06-03-24, but has since been delayed and the current trial date is unknown.
On Friday, May 29th, 2020, hundreds of protestors gathered outside the Austin Police Department’s Eighth Street headquarters. The demonstrators had gathered to protest the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and other police incidents that they perceived to be police brutality. The protests started a little after sunset but dragged late into the night.
As the protests passed midnight, the protesters’ energy began to swell. They started throwing rocks, frozen water bottles, fireworks, and other dangerous objects at the police. The police responded by identifying the bad actors in the crowd and impacting them with non-lethal bean bag projectiles. They made all efforts to protect innocent people and allow peaceful protestors to continue their lawful protests while dealing with the bad apples who were inciting violence.
Over the next two days, the protests and rioting behavior spread to Austin City Hall, the Texas State Capitol, and other downtown areas. Buildings were damaged, vandalized, and looted. Vehicles
belonging to the police department and innocent persons were destroyed and set on fire. One rioter was caught with a Molotov cocktail and stopped before he could throw it. Dozens of violent protestors were arrested. It took nearly all of the city’s 2,100-strong police force to keep the city from descending into total anarchy.
Then, on Sunday, May 31st, the crowd again focused on the police department headquarters. A mob of rioters went so far as to completely block the I-35 highway directly in front of the headquarters.
Nobody, not even those driving emergency vehicles, could get past. An important, busy interstate highway was forced to a standstill. Officers gave loud verbal commands to the illegal protesters to
leave the highway. A police helicopter even used an amplified P.A. to order the rioters to disburse, but some in the crowd steadfastly refused.
Left with no choice, the police made a plan to disburse the remaining rioters safely and efficiently while using as little force as possible. They first deployed canisters of smoke at the remaining rioters, then followed up with canisters of CS gas (a chemical irritant) to make it too physically uncomfortable for them to remain blocking the roadway.
Officer Jeffery Teng was partnered with Officer Hernandez and they responded to 12th and Trinity to standby for further directions. They were later rerouted to I-35 due to protestors blocking the freeway. The officers were instructed to push the protestors that were blocking traffic off of the freeway when the protestors began throwing objects at them. Rioters began throwing rocks and Officer Teng’s partner was struck in the chest by one of these large projectiles. The officers deployed non-lethal rounds at the rioters that were attempting to harm the officers in an attempt to deescalate the situation.
The police remained restrained even when individuals throwing objects injured several police officers. The police didn’t want to hurt anyone. They only wanted the people acting dangerously and trying to incite a riot to stop.
But for the radical District Attorney José Garza, the riot was not the crime — but the police trying to stop the riot! Officer Jeffrey Teng as well as over 20 Austin police officers are now facing felony charges for their efforts to maintain order in our city during unprecedented rioting. Meanwhile, Garza has dismissed nearly every criminal charge filed against the rioters.
José Garza has made it his mission to prosecute police officers who uphold the rule of law and not the criminals who break it.
Is this how our country rewards brave police officers who stop dangerous mobs — using NON-LETHAL methods? Officer Teng is under attack from a legal system that’s been hijacked by a politically-motivated, anti-cop prosecutor.
If we don’t defend the innocent police officers who risk their lives for us, we will soon have a collapse of law and order. Help keep Officer Teng and his family by donating to National Center for Police Defense today! Your donation will go towards Jeffery Teng’s legal defense and his family during this difficult time.
