A Texas civil rights attorney announced his plan to replace Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) over the weekend, saying, “It’s clear he doesn’t want to do his job.”
Lee Merritt, who has represented several families of blacks killed by police officers, stated his intentions to become Texas’ next attorney general in a Saturday tweet with a video.
The attorney posted a campaign for the attorney general in comments to a reporter on Friday and said in the tweeted video that he “accidentally announced yesterday that I was running for Texas attorney general”.
“I plan to run,” he said. “I just didn’t intend to announce it yesterday.”
“Texas deserves an attorney general who fights for the constitutional rights of all citizens,” he wrote in his tweet.
I’m running for Texas Attorney General.
・ ・ ・
Texas deserves an attorney general who fights for the constitutional rights of all citizens. pic.twitter.com/JhE9HSPc8q
– S. Lee Merritt, Esq. (@MeritLaw) March 20, 2021
In the video, Merritt said he was concerned about how police were treating people with mental health problems and asked whose responsibility it was to ensure law enforcement got these people safely to the appropriate clinics.
“I said it was Ken Paxton’s responsibility,” he said. “I had been telling Ken Paxton this for a while, but he blocked me. And I said if he didn’t do his job, I would take his job. It’s clear he doesn’t want to do his job so I decided to take him on. I will get back to you later. ”
Paxton’s campaign did not immediately return a request for comment on Merritt’s announcement.
Merritt spoke to the reporter during a protest at the Collin County courthouse over the death of Marvin in custody David ScottDavid Albert ScottLawmakers, activists remember civil rights icons to mark “Bloody Sunday”. Amazon Manager Sues Company Over Racial Discrimination, Harassment Allegations OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Trump Administrator Sells Oil Leases In Arctic Wildlife Sanctuary Before Biden Takes Office | Trump administration approves controversial oil test method in Gulf of Mexico | Rep. Scott wins the House Agriculture Committee gavel MORE III, whose family he represents, reported the Dallas Morning News.
The attorney has represented the families of Botham Jean, who was killed by an off duty officer in his own Dallas apartment in 2018, and of Atatiana Jefferson, who was fatally shot and killed in her home by a Fort Worth officer in 2019.
He also represents the family of Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed last year after jogging in rural Georgia.
Merritt also previously represented a woman whose claims that a soldier sexually assaulted her were proven false with footage from body cameras. He apologized for “any problems that these claims may have caused,” according to The Dallas Morning News.
Paxton has been criticized in recent years when he is charged with securities fraud and is under investigation by the FBI for alleged abuse of office and bribery, according to the Dallas newspaper.
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