Refuse Fascism Texas is heartbroken and angered by the murder of Garrett Foster in Austin. Less than three weeks after Summer Taylor was killed by a car that plowed into protesters in Seattle, the life of yet another young protester violently cut short is an outrage and a tragedy. Everyone who cares about humanity and the right to dissent should honor Garrett by emulating his commitment to forging a better world through non-violent protest.
People who knew Garrett talk about his passion for racial justice and civil rights. He would regularly attend protests with his fiancée Whitney Mitchell, a quadruple amputee confined to a wheelchair. Garrett was a staunch supporter of First and Second Amendment rights, and carried his rifle to protests – which is his legal right in the state of Texas. Some of the same people who vociferously tout the Second Amendment rights of fascist militias to arm themselves to the teeth as they surround and intimidate protesters – which they have done at numerous protests around Texas – are trying to blame Garrett for his own murder because he dared to carry his rifle in a peaceful protest. Rightwing mouthpieces on social media, with no evidence, have begun a campaign of slander and disinformation that disputes eyewitness accounts and even the statements of the Austin Police Department.
After the APD detained and released the shooter without filing any charges, they have yet to reveal any details about the shooter or his motivations. There is much we don’t know. But we do know that Garrett Foster stood for something bigger than himself and was gunned down in a hail of bullets. This cannot stand.
We are at a serious crossroads. The horrific murder of George Floyd led to a beautiful uprising of people who lost their adjustment to entrenched white supremacy in this country and the hate and bigotry emboldened by the white supremacists in the White House.
Yet Trump and his regime have doubled down on their attacks on protesters, the press, their political enemies, and Black and brown people. The surge of federal forces to Democrat-led cities around the country is an ominous escalation of fascist power. The forces that are trying to hammer in a fascist America have declared their determination to prevail – led by the Trump/Pence regime and enforced by armed thugs from the Department of Homeland Security down to the violent vigilantes Trump has groomed since his campaign. At his KKK-style rally in Tulsa on Juneteenth Weekend – a slap in the face to Black people and Black Lives Matter protesters everywhere – Trump said, “When you see those lunatics all over the streets, it’s damn nice to have arms.”
A future of fascist consolidation is not inevitable, but it looms large if we do not escalate our sustained, non-violent struggle in the streets to include the demand that the fascist Trump/Pence regime must go now. For every Heather Heyer, James Scurlock, Summer Taylor, or Garrett Foster, thousands should be willing to take their place so that their courage and sacrifice will not be in vain. Millions of us who do not want a world where protesters are killed for standing up must wrench a different future out of this struggle, not only for ourselves but for all of humanity.
Garrett Foster, Presente!