A grand jury formed to look into allegations of police brutality at the May 2020 racial injustice protests that occurred in the Texas state capital has included Austin Chief of Police Joseph Chacon and his predecessor, Brian Manley, in its review, according to a report from Austin FOX affiliate KTBC.
The station reported that the latest and high-profile additions to the grand jury review came just as the statute of limitations to bring forth assault charges nears its expiration date at the end of the month.
Charley Wilkison, the executive director of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT), criticized the inclusion of Chacon and Manley, per KTBC.
"This is a mop up, a political mop up operation, so he doesn't look so bad to his superiors, political handlers that hired him to do this job," Wilkison told the station.
According to KTBC, the review may include 10 additional officers.
The Austin Journal reported that Travis County District Attorney (DA) Jose Garza announced the indictment of 19 Austin Police Department (APD) officers in February for alleged aggravated assault with a deadly weapon during the protests.
The deaths of George Floyd and Mike Ramos in police custody prompted the protests.
KTBC reported that APD's senior command staff were aware that the officers may have fired faulty munitions.
CLEAT was among the critics of the indictments, the station reported, with Wilkison asserting the start of the investigation was flawed.
"People were injured, we know that for a fact, we know how their injuries occurred, but we don’t know who directed them to make these decisions, and so that would have been a better starting point for this district attorney and grand jury," he said, per KTBC. "So I don’t know in the end if the criminal charge can be made over faulty expired weapon, munitions, who knows if that can happen, but it was exactly the opposite of what should have occurred. It should have begun with a real investigation."
The city said in a statement that it didn't receive any information in relation to Chacon and Manley's role in APD's action during the protest nor did the DA's office provide a response, according to KTBC.