The festival draws hundreds of thousands of people to the city every year. Safety precautions were already designed to address the possibility of mass violence.
Criminal Justice
Get the latest Texas Tribune coverage on criminal justice, including crime, courts, law enforcement, and reforms shaping the state’s justice system.
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Congress
Ted Cruz leads bipartisan bill that would void and prohibit confidentiality clauses in child sex abuse cases
Known as Trey’s law, the legislation would make any non-disclosure agreement unenforceable if it prohibits or restricts revealing the sexual abuse of a minor or facts related to that abuse.
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Politics
Political fighting pervades Texas politicians’ responses to Austin shooting
Days out from the March primary, Republicans called for changes to immigration law. Democrats repeated their calls for stricter gun laws.
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Criminal Justice
Three dead, including suspect, and 14 injured after shooting at Austin bar
Officials are investigating the early Sunday morning shooting as a potential act of terrorism, but didn’t provide further details, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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Courts
Texas grand jury won’t indict in 2025 fatal shooting of U.S. citizen by ICE agent
The Department of Homeland Security said the 23-year-old, who came from a family of Trump supporters, was shot after intentionally hitting an agent with his vehicle on South Padre Island.
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Criminal Justice
Texan shot dead by ICE agent months before killings in Minneapolis, records show
The involvement of federal immigration agents in the fatal shooting of Ruben Ray Martinez on South Padre Island in March had not been disclosed in initial reports.
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Immigration
Cuban man’s death at El Paso tent camp was result of “spontaneous use of force,” ICE says
His death is the first homicide in ICE custody in recent history, experts said. It comes after the deadliest year in ICE detention in decades.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accuses Dallas of spending too little on police
In a new lawsuit, Paxton accused city officials of under-calculating how much money should go to law enforcement under a voter-backed provision.
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2026 Texas Elections
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals primaries: Who is running and what to know
The criminal court decides death penalty case appeals and rules on petitions for those who believe they’ve been wrongfully detained. Here’s a look at who’s running for the court’s three seats on the 2026 ballot.
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2026 Texas Elections
“Rule follower”: In GOP primary, Joan Huffman promises to bring law and order to the attorney general’s office
Huffman is running on her criminal prosecution experience and allegiance to the rule of law, cutting a contrast with her opponents who are emphasizing a continuation of Paxton’s culture war battles.