AUSTIN — After recent riots swept the nation and left behind a trail of burned cities, destroyed livelihoods, and murdered citizens, Democrat elected officials in Texas’ capital city are now pushing to defund local police and calling upon their “vulgar Marxist” friends to help. 

Democrat Austin City Councilman Jimmy Flannigan, who represents much of northwest Austin and is facing re-election this November, has enlisted self-proclaimed “vulgar Marxist” Jacob Aronowitz to be his campaign field director. Aronowitz also refers to himself as “rank and file” in the Austin Democratic Socialists of America. 

“I’m [Jimmy Flannigan’s] new field director, hit me up if you want to help us beat one of the most toxic reactionaries in our city,” Aronowitz tweeted. 

That “toxic reactionary,” whom Aronowitz has also called a “Nazi” and said “must be stopped,” is Flannigan’s opponent, Mackenzie Kelly. Kelly is a native Austinite who supports lower property taxes, law enforcement, and transparency between local city government officials and the citizens.  

Aronowitz, on the other hand, supports very different things and has voiced them clearly on social media. 

“ALL POWER TO CHAZ,” he posted on Facebook, referring to protestors who took over six city blocks of downtown Seattle in June and set up their own “autonomous zone,” free from police or law enforcement. 

The zone Aronowitz supported quickly devolved into chaos, where Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best said that “groups of individuals engaged in shootings, a rape, assault, burglary, arson, and property destruction.” A 19-year-old black man was shot and killed in the zone, and police soon moved back in to restore order. 

“I cannot stand by, not another second, and watch another black man—or anyone, really—die in our streets while people aggressively thwart the efforts of police and other first responders from rescuing them,” Best said at the time. 

Aronowitz has also shared an article entitled “Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police” and made numerous comments on Facebook about what he and other leftists want to do in Texas’ capital city, saying, “We run this town now. Get used to losing.”  

“You better get right with your fellow workers before the storm hits,” Aronowitz wrote.

“Get ready for more direct actions and mass movements,” he added. 

Other citizens spoke out against some of Aronowitz’s online posts.

“I can’t believe that we still have no response from [Jimmy Flannigan],” one wrote. “Is he really going to try to ignore this?” 

Aronowitz’s boss, Councilmember Flannigan, has lately been busy with the city council, discussing cutting a quarter of the Austin Police Department’s budget. 

On top of the all-Democrat council proposing to cancel police cadet classes, remove vacant officer positions, close the police academy for a year, and cut at least $100 million in total to spend on other city projects, Flannigan proposed demolishing the Austin Police Department headquarters downtown and using the property to instead “address historic economic inequities in the black community.” 

Ironically, to “make Austin a safer and better place to live,” the council is proposing spending some of the police money on killing children. 

Flannigan’s opponent, Kelly, also called his demolition proposal “unthinkable and reckless” in light of violent crime that has recently risen in the city, and in light of leftist’s violence and lawlessness that has swept the nation.

“Nothing is more symbolic of recent efforts to defund the police than this scheme to demolish Austin Police Headquarters,” said Kelly. “If anyone for even a second thinks that these proposals are designed to save money or increase accountability, remember that Jimmy Flannigan is now proposing swinging a wrecking ball at the very heart of law and order in our city. A majority of our city wants to preserve law and order, and we can do better than Flannigan in November.”

Jacob Asmussen

Jacob Asmussen is a Senior Journalist for Texas Scorecard. He attended the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and in 2017 earned a double major in public relations and piano performance.

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