Austin’s Democrat DA has hired security through his taxpayer-funded office after being turned down twice when he asked for police protection, despite being the one setting criminals free and vowing to go after cops.
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza has a long record of being ‘pro-criminal,’ according to victims’ families and campaigning to zealously prosecute officers for use of excessive force, who claim he mishandled their cases by setting violent offenders loose with no charges or slap-on-the-wrist probation.
Despite letting many of them go and making an enemy of local cops, DailyMail.com can reveal his requests for private protection.
Last fall, Garza, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, went to Travis County Commissioners claiming he needed armed protection.
He was turned down, then appealed to the local sheriff – who also rejected his request.
After his requests to Travis County Commissioners and the local sheriff for a bodyguard were denied, District Attorney Jose Garza (right) can be seen leaving a police funeral with armed security in November
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza was first elected to office in 2020, following a summer of unrest in Austin with widespread protests over the killing of George Floyd despite never presenting a case in front of a jury in a criminal trial
Since then, he has found the money from his own taxpayer-funded budget.
‘It’s the height of hypocrisy. The irony of all of this is that these are the people who want to defund the police.
‘People like us, apparently, we don’t need police, but they need one on one bodyguards. It’s just unbelievable,’ a source with knowledge of the requests told DailyMail.com.
‘What he said is that he was getting death threats,’ a source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
‘He had a security firm come out to his house to assess how safe his house was and that it wasn’t that safe, and so he really needed 24/7 bodyguards because of these death threats.’
The request for police-provided protection was turned down. Garza has subsequently appeared at private events including a police officer’s funeral with a security guard that he paid for.
In recent weeks, there have also been closed-door discussions about whether or not all public officials in the county should receive protection.
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza is on record as being against the death penalty, vowing to never enforce it as long as he’s in office
Travis County Judge Andy Brown, center, speaks at a press conference at the Travis County Administration building in March
Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez speaks during a press conference and turned down a request by the district attorney to supply him police protection
The person in charge of the agenda for those meetings is County Judge Andy Brown, who Garza’s wife works for as his chief of staff.
‘What happened a couple of weeks ago, mysteriously in executive session, they discussed that maybe all the of the elected officials in Travis County should have a personal bodyguard,’ the source explained.
‘The fact that the request was for all elected officials, that would then kind of hide Garza.’
DailyMail.com reached out Garza’s office, the sheriff and the county for comment, however, all three declined.
Since he was elected, Garza has brought charges against at least 21 Austin police officers on charges of excessive use of force against local protestors in 2020. He later dropped charges against 17 of those same cops.
Additionally, his soft-on-crime policies with those accused of crime have earned him a reputations with arrestees, including one caught on camera telling the cops that no one was being charged by Garza.
‘Ain’t nobody doing time… they really giving people slaps on the wrists,’ a suspect told police in a 2022 clip.
Instead, Garza resorted to using one of his office’s investigators– who are licensed to carry guns and are sometimes retired cops, as his protector.
The DA was photographed with armed back up in November, when he tried to attend the funeral of slain Austin Police Officer Jorge Pastore and was kicked out.
‘@JosePGarza u are such a loser, why on earth would u think you would be welcomed anywhere near this. Garza attempted to go to funeral and was kindly told that he was not welcomed anywhere in the building,’ tweeted Austin public safety advocate Cleo Petricek.
The photo of Garza leaving the funeral with his security trailing him was taken after he was booted.
‘The most anti-Police DA in Austin history was asked to leave a police funeral,’ posted Matt Mackowiak, who runs a pro-cop group in the Texas capital city.
‘Actions have consequences.’
It’s possible the threats against Garza were deemed not credible or the denial was due to low staffing, Dennis Farris, a retired Austin cop who worked in executive details for elected office holders and dignitaries told DailyMail.com.
Austin DA Jose Garza is up for re-election in November
‘He probably wanted to hire somebody (for security,) and he doesn’t have the budget for it, and he went to the commissioners to ask for the money,’ Farris stated.
If he was told ‘no,’ now, he’s going to use someone in his office, and rightly so. It should come out of his budget. It’s not the county commissioner nor the sheriff’s department responsibility to give the district attorney a detail.’
Additionally, the sheriff’s office, like the Austin Police Department are facing historic staffing levels in the anti-cop climate in the capital since 2020, Farris said.
But it turns out, Garza’s own extreme ideas on criminals may have sabotaged his request for police protection with county officials.
‘First of all, these are very, very liberal people– all of them. They really think a lot of these criminals, they didn’t have a good childhood or they’re mentally ill,’ explained the anonymous whistleblower.
‘If you really believe these people aren’t dangerous, then why would you talked about armed protection?’
Garza has indicted at least 21 Austin police officers on charges of excessive use of force against local protestors in 2020. He later dropped charges against 17 of those same cops