Watson calls for an investigation that APD assures is independent

Mayor of Austin, in a statement posted on X and Facebook

With the rogue nature of ICE and the chaos we’re seeing fomented by ICE, there’s no reason to be surprised. Austinites have a right to know what happened and they have a right to feel safe in their community. Though APD was not involved in the shooting, I believe that there needs to be an investigation that APD assures is clear-eyed, as complete as possible, and independent.
Read the original post (opens in a new tab)Mayor Kirk Watson's post on X on the ICE shooting in Austin · Kirk WatsonPost text
Read the original post (opens in a new tab)Mayor Kirk Watson's Facebook statement on the ICE shooting in Austin · Kirk WatsonPost text
Open source (opens in a new tab)ICE shooting in North Austin: Texas leaders reactStatements section: Travis County District Attorney, Mayor Watson, Rep. Casar
Open source (opens in a new tab)Austin officials condemn ICE shooting of Venezuelan man, call for independent investigation · KXANParagraphs quoting Mayor Watson on ICE's credibility, the Travis County District Attorney statement, and Rep. Doggett
Open source (opens in a new tab)ICE agent shoots and wounds man in Austin, Texas, sparking demands for full investigation · CBS NewsFull article: investigation lead; attorney quotes; Watson remarks

Source and context

Original post

Mayor Kirk Watson's post on X on the ICE shooting in Austin (opens in a new tab) · Kirk WatsonPost text

About this source

Mayor Watson's own post on X, the same statement he posted to Facebook the day of the shooting.

Original post

Mayor Kirk Watson's Facebook statement on the ICE shooting in Austin (opens in a new tab) · Kirk WatsonPost text

About this source

Mayor Watson's own statement posted the day of the shooting. The public page shows only the opening lines without sign-in; the full text is reproduced verbatim in FOX 7 Austin's roundup of official reactions.

Reporting

ICE shooting in North Austin: Texas leaders react (opens in a new tab)Statements section: Travis County District Attorney, Mayor Watson, Rep. Casar

About this source

Roundup that reproduces the full text of statements from Mayor Watson, the Travis County District Attorney, Rep. Casar and others on the day of the shooting.

Reporting

Austin officials condemn ICE shooting of Venezuelan man, call for independent investigation (opens in a new tab) · KXANParagraphs quoting Mayor Watson on ICE's credibility, the Travis County District Attorney statement, and Rep. Doggett

About this source

Local report quoting Mayor Watson's news conference remarks and the District Attorney's statement. It notes the DHS post did not name the man.

Reporting

ICE agent shoots and wounds man in Austin, Texas, sparking demands for full investigation (opens in a new tab) · CBS NewsFull article: investigation lead; attorney quotes; Watson remarks

About this source

CBS News/AP report noting that HSI will lead the investigation with FBI assistance and quoting Mayor Watson on ICE's credibility to investigate.

Archived copy (opens in a new tab)

Before the quotation

Watson wrote after an ICE officer shot and wounded a man in North Austin. He began by saying he was “very angry and extremely disappointed” and not surprised.

After the quotation

He said Austin police's Special Investigation Unit was on scene and that Chief Lisa Davis had asked the Texas Rangers to assist. At a news conference, he said the credibility of ICE conducting an investigation by itself and excluding others would not be appropriate.

How this statement is classified

Condemned

Case context: Should DHS lead the investigation of the ICE shooting of a delivery driver in Austin?

The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.

Why this label?

Relative to DHS's decision to have its own component lead the investigation, Watson criticizes ICE's conduct and insists on an investigation that Austin police can assure is independent; in remarks to reporters he said an ICE-only investigation would not be appropriate. Closest competing label: mixed_or_conditional loses because the request is a rejection of ICE-only control, not a conditional acceptance.

Recorded on
Published here
People and groups discussed
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Editorial composite of the Austin skyline and an ICE agent viewed through a magnifying glass.
Credit: Quintin Soloviev; Charles Reed / U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; composite by The Dispute Index with OpenAI

More from this case

Read the full case

Lloyd Doggett

clearly ICE has no credibility anymore. It lies. We know it lies. We've seen it demonstrated again and again, and we need the kind of independent structure to demand some accountability.
Read statement

Greg Casar

The reason we have all these cameras out here and all these people out here is because ICE has lied in virtually every single case.
Read statement