- EXCLUSIVE: ICC seeks arrest warrants against Sinwar and Netanyahu for war crimes over October 7 attack and Gaza war CNN
- International Criminal Court seeks arrest warrants for Israeli PM Netanyahu, three Hamas leaders CNBC
- Israel Gaza war: ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas leaders BBC.com
- Biden speaks on Gaza cease-fire at Morehouse College commencement The Washington Post
- Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC: Applications for arrest warrants in the situation in the State of Palestine the International Criminal Court
Tag Archives: Warrants
Judge seals dozens of warrants for over 60 companies in accused Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger’s case – New York Post
- Judge seals dozens of warrants for over 60 companies in accused Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger’s case New York Post
- Idaho murders: Kohberger court filings show where warrants were served, including Tinder, DoorDash, Reddit Fox News
- New documents show strategies in prosecution against Moscow murder suspect KREM.com
- Search warrants show police searched financial records, Reddit, Snapchat to find information about U of I murders KXLY Spokane
- Police issued 60 warrants to companies like Doordash and Tinder while investigating Bryan Kohberger msnNOW
- View Full Coverage on Google News
DOJ opposes making public details in Mar-a-Lago search warrant’s probable cause affidavit
In their new filing arguing for some continued secrecy, the Justice Department made clear the seriousness of the ongoing criminal investigation, saying it “implicates highly classified materials.”
“Disclosure of the government’s affidavit at this stage would also likely chill future cooperation by witnesses whose assistance may be sought as this investigation progresses, as well as in other high-profile investigations,” the Justice Department wrote. “The fact that this investigation implicates highly classified materials further underscores the need to protect the integrity of the investigation and exacerbates the potential harm if information is disclosed to the public prematurely or improperly.”
Media organizations including CNN had asked for the affidavit to be unsealed after the search last week at Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, club and residence.
The Justice Department said in its filing that disclosing the affidavit details “at this juncture” would “cause significant and irreparable damage to this ongoing criminal investigation.”
“The redactions necessary to mitigate harms to the integrity of the investigation would be so extensive as to render the remaining unsealed text devoid of meaningful content, and the release of such a redacted version would not serve any public interest,” the Justice Department stated.
CNN, joined by The Washington Post, NBC News and Scripps, asked the judge last week to unseal all documents — including any probable cause affidavits — connected to the FBI search.
“Not since the Nixon Administration has a President been the subject of such a dramatic and public criminal process,” the outlets said in the filing, adding that the outlets are “attempting to shed light on the federal government’s unprecedented actions and motivations.”
“Here, there could not be a more ‘historically significant event’ than an FBI raid of a former President’s home for the alleged removal of national security records after leaving office,” the outlets said.
The New York Times, CBS, the Palm Beach Post, the Miami Herald, the Tampa Bay Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press and ABC also requested the judge unseal affidavits.
A magistrate judge unsealed the Mar-a-Lago search warrant and property receipt on Friday, after the Justice Department lawyers for the former President agreed they should be released. Other parts of the search warrant, including the probable cause affidavit, were not addressed at the time.
The search warrant identifies violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice and criminal handling of government records as reasons for the search.
The receipt list, which shows what items agents recovered from Mar-a-Lago, shows that agents removed 11 sets of classified documents — including some marked with the highest levels of classification — from Trump’s home.
Republican politicians have continued to demand that the Justice Department explain their reasoning for taking the dramatic step to search Mar-a-Lago.
After the judge unsealed the search warrant and receipt for Trump’s property last week, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said in a series of tweets that “We still need to see the affidavit,” and that “Attorney General (Merrick) Garland must release the information as to why a warrant was necessary, not what was taken.”
Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “releasing the affidavit would help, at least that would confirm that there was justification for this raid.”
Prosecutors need to “show that this was not just a fishing expedition, that they had due cause to go in and to do this, that they did exhaust all other means,” Rounds said, emphasizing that waiting would hurt the integrity of the department. “And if they can’t do that, then we’ve got a serious problem on our hands.”
Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and the panel’s top Republican, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, sent letter on Sunday to Garland and top intelligence officials requesting a classified briefing on the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago.
Ohio Rep. Mike Turner, who is the ranking Republican member of the House Intelligence Committee, echoed that request on Sunday, telling CNN’s Brianna Keilar that “Congress is saying show us the goods.”
University of New Hampshire fraternity members accused of hazing; 46 issued arrest warrants
The university’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) chapter was suspended over the allegations, which were reported to the school by the fraternity’s national organization, the school has said.
Hazing is suspected to have happened at the university’s SAE chapter house on April 13, at an event involving new members, police in the university’s host town of Durham said in a news release.
Warrants were issued for 46 SAE members on Tuesday, and 10 of them were arrested by Friday at 2 p.m., police said. Those 10 have been charged with hazing, a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,200, police said.
Police did not release details about the allegations, and CNN’s attempts to obtain the charging documents or a comment from the Strafford County attorney’s office weren’t immediately successful.
Police said they began investigating April 18, when university representatives told them that hazing might have happened at the house five days earlier.
A warrant also charges the fraternity’s chapter with student hazing, police said. The charge is punishable by a fine of up to $20,000 when brought against an organization, police said.
The university said it contacted Durham police immediately after the fraternity’s national headquarters told it of the alleged incident.
“We have cooperated with police throughout the investigation and the fraternity was interim suspended pending the outcome of the police investigation,” a university statement reads.
The fraternity’s Illinois-based national service center said upon learning of the allegations it “immediately issued a cease and desist of the chapter, began our own investigation, and informed the University of New Hampshire’s administration.”
“SAE’s investigation was paused upon being notified about the opening of a police investigation. We are fully cooperating with the local authorities’ investigation and have urged all of our members to do the same,” the organization’s statement reads.
“Sigma Alpha Epsilon denounces all acts of hazing and misconduct that do not represent the fraternity’s values defined by our creed, The True Gentleman,” the statement reads.
The fraternity’s statement does not address the nature of the hazing allegations.
On its website, SAE says it has more than 12,000 active collegiate members.
The university’s spring semester ended in May; the fall semester starts in late August.
CNN’s Jason Hanna contributed to this report.
No-knock warrants: Minneapolis mayor answers council questions about policies
“The no-knock warrant is what caused Amir’s death,” his father Andre Locke told CNN’s Omar Jimenez on Monday.
“The whole system. He wasn’t killed, he wasn’t murdered, he was executed,” Locke’s mother Karen Wells said.
Locke wasn’t named in the warrant, officials said.
“As professional people that carry guns and are supposed to protect and serve a community, they didn’t protect my son that day,” Wells said. “They chose not to do that. And they took him from me and I am angry,” she added, holding back tears.
“He didn’t even see what was coming, he couldn’t see who took his life,” Locke said, describing how his son usually slept on his stomach with a cover over his head.
In November 2020, amid a nationwide reckoning over police policies prompted in part by the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and the shooting of Breonna Taylor during warrant service in Louisville, Kentucky, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and then-Police Chief Medaria Arradondo announced they were instituting a policy that required officers to announce their presence and purpose before entering a building — except in special circumstances.
At a City Council committee meeting Monday seeking clarity in the wake of Locke’s death, Frey said he holds himself accountable for using language indicating the city had banned no-knock warrants.
Frey was reelected in 2021 and said some of his campaign statements were misleading. He said his language in describing no-knock warrants was more casual and did not reflect the necessary precision or nuance.
“I believe that my language and what we were saying certainly in longer form honored the spirit of this policy change,” Frey said Monday at the virtual meeting of the Policy & Government Oversight Committee. “But there were instances when it did not, and I own that.”
The mayor told the committee that before late 2020, there was state law on no-knock and knock-and-announce warrants but there were no “delineating factors beyond those options.”
The city had no policy at the time, he said.
“Our policy reform then required officers to announce their presence and their purpose prior to entry when serving any type of warrants, including a no-knock warrant,” the mayor said.
On Friday, Frey imposed an immediate moratorium on the request and execution of no-knock warrants, but his announcement noted they could still be carried out if there is “an imminent threat of harm to an individual or the public and then the warrant must be approved by the Chief.”
Examples of those circumstances include hostage situations and extreme domestic violence situations in which an officer may have to protect someone from the threat of severe bodily harm, he said.
“We have to challenge them not to put a band-aid over no-knock warrants,” Jeff Storms, a Locke family attorney told CNN. “They need to take this step and completely ban no-knock warrants. It’s not safe for either side of the door.”
“Nothing that they can do can bring our son back,” Andre Locke said. “But the best thing they can do at this point, with no-knock warrants and prosecuting the officer who decided to play God, what they can do is fire him, prosecute him, and just tell the truth.”
Professor: No-knock warrants are dangerous
No-knock warrants are historically dangerous for police officers and residents, according to Rachel Moran, a University of St. Thomas School Law School associate professor and founder of the Criminal and Juvenile Defense Clinic.
“Just to give one example, between 2010 to 2016, at least 94 people were killed in the United States as a result of no-knock warrants,” Moran said.
“What Mayor Frey’s November 2020 policy did was require Minneapolis Police in most situations to announce their presence before crossing the threshold into a residence,” Moran said, pointing out police could open the residence without knocking but were then required to announce their presence when they crossed the threshold.
Attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents Locke’s family, said that in too many instances someone affected by a no-knock warrant raid ends up wounded or dead, and that most of the time, that person is Black.
If the police would have announced their presence “to carry out their duties in a safe, professional manner,” the death of Amir Locke could have been prevented, he said.
“This is an epic failure policy,” he said, “and that failed policy killed Amir Locke just as surely as the bullet that pierced his body.”
Family wants change in policies
Earlier Locke’s aunt, Neka Gray, called on officials to change no-knock warrant policies, saying the warrants mostly affect people of color.
“We stand together and demand this change. Unfortunately, Amir won’t benefit from it, but the next person will,” Gray said at a news conference with family members and racial justice activists.
Nneka Constantino, one of Locke’s cousins, said her family is struggling with knowing police are trained to disarm and deescalate, yet body-worn camera video shows officers firing their guns within seconds of entering the apartment where Locke was in the living room and appeared to be waking up.
“Our family is not naïve, so we understand that it was not necessarily a person, but a system of injustice, that has killed Amir Locke,” Constantino said. “It’s a layered system of injustice that starts with so many inequalities and abuse. Shame on you is not enough of a condemnation.”
Racial Justice Network founder Nekima Levy-Armstrong said Frey should immediately fire the officer who fired the fatal shot and suspend the other SWAT team officers. She demanded interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman be fired or resign.
Frey and Minneapolis police leaders intend to meet with prominent activist DeRay McKesson and Eastern Kentucky University justice studies professor Pete Kraska, who worked with Louisville police after Breonna Taylor’s killing “and have spearheaded significant reforms to unannounced entry policies” across the country, Frey’s office said last week
Locke’s early-morning killing
On Wednesday, just before 7 a.m., Minneapolis police were executing a warrant linked to a homicide probe in neighboring St. Paul, authorities said, when a SWAT officer fatally shot Locke, who appeared to be asleep on the couch.
Officers burst into a home, and as Locke tries to stand — still wrapped in blankets — he is seen holding a gun, police body camera footage shows. Three gunshots are heard.
The 14 seconds of footage the city released do not reveal how Minneapolis SWAT members approached the apartment or how they reacted after the shooting. CNN has requested body camera video from the other responding officers.
Locke was not named in any warrants, police said, and his family says he acquired his firearm legally. Locke’s parents describe him as a budding figure in the music industry who wanted to help young people.
The warrants precipitating Locke’s shooting are sealed to “protect the integrity of the investigation” and will remain sealed until a “court directs otherwise,” said Steve Linders, spokesman for the St. Paul Police Department, which is investigating the homicide that served as the basis for the warrants.
“The City of Minneapolis told the public that it was limiting the use of no-knock warrants to ‘limit the likelihood of bad outcomes,'” Storms, the family attorney, said. “Less than two years later, Amir Locke and his family needlessly suffered the worst possible outcome.”
Gov. Tim Walz said last week his heart goes out to Locke’s family, and while the state has made strides when it comes to no-knock warrants, Locke’s death shows the need for “further reform,” he said in a statement.
Walz has no authority to issue a statewide moratorium, he told CNN affiliate WCCO on Sunday, but there are now legislators who are “‘hearing voices’ that were silent on the issue until this week.” Lawmakers should also consider the best practices for getting violent criminals off the streets, he said.
“I’m sorry it took this tragedy, but there are voices now across the political spectrum that these are very dangerous,” the governor told the station.
City already had a no-knock policy
The mayor’s order prohibits police from serving warrants without first knocking, announcing themselves and waiting a reasonable amount of time before entering. However, it leaves open the prospect for an unannounced warrant if there is “an imminent threat of harm to an individual or the public and then the warrant must be approved” by the police chief, the mayor’s release said.
“No matter what information comes to light, it won’t change the fact that Amir Locke’s life was cut short,” Frey said in the statement.
Frey appears “committed to making changes to these processes in order to protect lives,” McKesson said, with Kraska adding city leaders “are demonstrating their dedication to real change through this collaborative partnership.”
Officers were serving an average of 139 no-knock warrants annually at the time of the November 2020 announcement, according to the mayor’s statement. The news came about six months after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd.
No-knock warrants persist, according to a review of records by the Star Tribune newspaper. Its reporters found Minneapolis Police Department personnel had obtained 13 no-knock or nighttime warrants so far this year — as opposed to a dozen standard warrants in the same time span.
The figures are likely undercounted, the newspaper reported, because some applications are submitted under court seal.
In the Locke case, interim Chief Huffman has said, “The officer had to make a split-second decision to assess the circumstances and to determine whether he felt like there was an articulable threat, that the threat was of imminent harm, great bodily harm or death, and that he needed to take action right then to protect himself and his partners.”
Locke pointed the weapon at officers, police initially said, but it was not apparent in the 14 seconds of video released by the city.
Locke was taken to the Hennepin County Medical Center where he died of multiple gunshot wounds, authorities said. The officer who shot him, Mark Hanneman, is on administrative leave pending an investigation, per department policy.
Attempts to reach Hanneman and the Minneapolis Police Federation were unsuccessful. The state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is leading the investigation, Huffman said.
CNN’s Adrienne Broaddus, Amy Simonson, Hannah Sarisohn, Tina Burnside, Christina Maxouris, Ray Sanchez, Aya Elamroussi and Raja Razek contributed to this report.
Amir Locke: Minneapolis mayor bans most no-knock warrants after body camera video shows officers shooting Black man
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has imposed an immediate moratorium on the request and execution of no-knock warrants except in cases of imminent threat, according to a news release from his office.
[Previous story, published at 4:55 p.m. ET]
In the early morning hours Wednesday, Minneapolis police officers gently placed a key in a city apartment door before bursting through the doorway yelling “Police! Search warrant!,” according to body camera footage released by city officials Thursday night.
In the seconds that followed, a Black man named Amir Locke — apparently asleep and shown to be holding a gun upon awakening — was shot and killed. Police say he was not named in any search warrants before the entry, and attorneys for the man’s family say he was in legal possession of his firearm. Police said the warrant was connected to a homicide investigation.
The fatal shooting brings further scrutiny to the use of no-knock warrants and shines a spotlight on a police department that has faced criticism before.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Friday that he asked Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to join in his review of the shooting.
“We will be working with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to ensure a thorough and complete evaluation,” Freeman said in a statement. “Thereafter we will decide together, based on the law and evidence, whether criminal charges should be brought.”
Ellison, in a separate statement, vowed to conduct a “fair and thorough” investigation, adding: “Amir Locke’s life mattered. He was only 22 years old and had his whole life ahead of him. His family and friends must now live the rest of their lives without him.”
Governor says there’s ‘need for further reform’
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, on Friday called for changes in the way search warrants are executed in the state, Locke’s parents described their son as a law-abiding citizen who respected law enforcement, and community leaders and a gun rights group demanded transparency and accountability in the case.
Walz expressed his condolences in a statement.
“Minnesota made strides last year, passing statewide restrictions on the use of no-knock warrants,” he said, calling for “additional changes to police policies and practices regarding the execution of search warrants.”
“But the events leading to the death of Amir Locke illustrate the need for further reform,” the governor said.
In a virtual press conference with civil rights attorney Ben Crump and other lawyers, Locke’s parents described their son as an aspiring music industry figure who wanted to help young people.
“A mother should never have to see her child executed in that type of manner,” said Locke’s mother, Karen Wells.
Wells vowed to “fight everyday” to ensure justice for her son. At a news conference later Friday, Wells called for the officer who shot him to fired and prosecuted.
“It is clear to anyone that no lawful gun owner could have survived this situation,” family attorney Jeff Storms said.
“The police department says they announced (their presence) at the threshold … but you’ve all seen the video, there is no announcement prior to entering that threshold. They barge in before they identify themselves and they give Amir no time to save his own life.”
The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, in a statement, said Locke’s death was “completely avoidable.”
“Mr. Locke did what many of us might do in the same confusing circumstances, he reached for a legal means of self-defense while he sought to understand what was happening,” Rob Doar, a spokesman for the group, said in the statement.
Family attorneys say Locke was not named in warrant
Community activists and lawyers for Locke’s family said the shooting demonstrated the failure of reforms that followed previous deaths at the hands of law enforcement.
In May 2020, Minneapolis Police Department officers were involved in the killing of George Floyd before later being fired and charged in his death. The subsequent national outrage over the killings of Floyd and Breonna Taylor — who was shot by police in Kentucky as they performed a no-knock warrant entry — led to sustained protests and calls for policing reform.
Taylor’s death prompted other cities across the country to move to ban or rein in no-knock, forcible-entry raids.
That summer, Minneapolis announced a new policy on no-knock entries, aimed at limiting the “likelihood of bad outcomes.” Officials said that officers would be required to announce their presence and purpose before entering, except in certain circumstances like hostage situations.
“The City of Minneapolis told the public that it was limiting the use of no-knock warrants to ‘limit the likelihood of bad outcomes,’ Storms said. “Less than two years later, Amir Locke and his family needlessly suffered the worst possible outcome. Our City has to do better.”
Minneapolis officers were executing the warrant tied to a homicide investigation in nearby St. Paul, according to Minneapolis police.
“At this point, it’s unclear if or how he (Locke) is connected to St. Paul’s investigation,” said Interim Minneapolis Police Chief Amelia Huffman during a press conference late Thursday.
“These events unfold in seconds but the trauma is long-lasting. A young man lost his life, and his friends and family are in mourning,” said Huffman, describing it as a sobering moment.
Body camera video shows shooting
After police entered the apartment, officers quickly identified a man inside, body camera footage shows.
“Hands! Hands! Hands!” one officer yells while others yell “Get on the fu**ing ground!” as they make their way toward the back of a couch where a man is seen wrapped in blankets at 6:48 a.m., according to the footage. One officer kicks the back of the couch, appearing to wake up the man, who looks up to see the officers all around him.
He begins to try and stand up, still wrapped in blankets, and is seen holding a gun. Three gunshots are then heard from officers.
A screenshot provided by the police department from the body camera video shows the weapon more clearly.
“The involved officer was just outside the frame in the direction the barrel is emerging from the blanket,” said Huffman.
Based on the short video and image provided, CNN is not able to independently confirm where the gun was pointing, but has requested body camera video from the other responding officers.
The video was released at multiple speeds — one version in real time, the other two edited by the city to be slowed down. In total, 14 seconds elapse in real time.
“As they got close, you can see, along with an individual emerging from under the blanket, the barrel of a gun, which comes out from the blanket,” said Huffman. “The officer had to make a split-second decision to assess the circumstances and to determine whether he felt like there was an articulable threat, that the threat was of imminent harm, great bodily harm or death, and that he needed to take action right then to protect himself and his partners.”
The initial release from authorities said “officers encountered a male who was armed with a handgun pointed in the direction of officers.”
Officer Mark Hanneman, as identified by the City of Minneapolis, then shot at and hit Locke. The police department says aid was immediately provided as the officers carried him down to the lobby to meet paramedics.
Locke was taken to the Hennepin County Medical Center where he died, according to the police.
Locke died of multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death is homicide, according to the county medical examiner.
Hanneman has been placed on administrative leave, as is policy, pending the ongoing investigation, a spokesperson for the City of Minneapolis said. CNN has attempted to reach Hanneman and has reached out to the Minneapolis Police Federation for comment but has not gotten a response.
“The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was notified immediately and is heading up the criminal investigation,” Huffman said Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the St. Paul Police Department confirmed to CNN the homicide investigation that was the source of the original warrant is still active.
A gun was also recovered from the apartment, police said.
Crump said in a statement, “Locke, who has several family members in law enforcement and no past criminal history, legally possessed a firearm at the time of his death.
“Like the case of Breonna Taylor, the tragic killing of Amir Locke shows a pattern of no-knock warrants having deadly consequences for Black Americans,” Crump said.
Taylor, a 26-year-old ER medical technician, was shot and killed by Louisville officers in her home during a botched police raid in March 2020.
A grand jury failed to indict any officers in her death. One officer, Brett Hankison, was indicted for blindly firing into a neighbor’s apartment during the shooting. He has pleaded not guilty and trial proceedings are ongoing.
Correction: An earlier version of this story reported the wrong last name of Amir Locke’s mother. She is Karen Wells.
CNN’s Claudia Dominguez contributed to this report.
JPMorgan sues Tesla for $162 mln over warrants, Musk tweets
NEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) on Monday sued Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) for $162.2 million, accusing Elon Musk’s electric car company of “flagrantly” breaching a contract related to stock warrants after its share price soared.
According to the complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, Tesla in 2014 sold warrants to JPMorgan that would pay off if their “strike price” were below Tesla’s share price upon the warrants’ expiration in June and July 2021.
JPMorgan, which said it had authority to adjust the strike price, said it substantially reduced the strike price after Musk’s Aug. 7, 2018 tweet that he might take Tesla private at $420 per share and had “funding secured,” and reversed some of the reduction when Musk abandoned the idea 17 days later.
But Tesla’s share price rose approximately 10-fold by the time the warrants expired, and JPMorgan said this required Tesla under its contract to deliver shares of its stock or cash. The bank said Tesla’s failure to do that amounted to a default.
“Though JPMorgan’s adjustments were appropriate and contractually required,” the complaint said, “Tesla has flagrantly ignored its clear contractual obligation to pay JPMorgan in full.”
Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment after market hours.
According to the complaint, Tesla sold the warrants to reduce potential stock dilution from a separate convertible bond sale and to lower its federal income taxes.
JPMorgan said it had been contractually entitled to adjust the warrants’ terms following “significant corporate transactions involving Tesla.”
The automaker in February 2019 complained that the bank’s adjustments were “an opportunistic attempt to take advantage of changes in volatility in Tesla’s stock,” but did not challenge the underlying calculations, JPMorgan said.
Musk’s tweets led to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil charges and $20 million fines against both him and Tesla.
Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chris Reese and Cynthia Osterman
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
At the Texas Capitol, a Day for Arrest Warrants, Not Legislation
After the vote on Tuesday, Dade Phelan, the speaker of the Texas House, signed the 52 civil arrest warrants to start the roundup. In addition to Mr. Black and his team, members of the Texas Department of Public Safety could also be dispatched throughout the state to go the homes and businesses of the absentee members and escort them back to Austin.
After staying in Washington, D.C., through the first 30-day session, many Democrats are believed to be back in Texas, but they seemed to be poised to continue their resistance against the voting bill and other conservative measures the governor has included in both special sessions.
“Every day the House can’t move forward on these voter bills and other measures is a good day,” said Chris Turner, the Democratic leader, who received his warrant by email. He described the special session as a “30-day campaign commercial” for Mr. Abbott’s re-election campaign, adding, “Right now we’re not interested in participating in it.”
Representative Celia Israel, an Austin real estate agent who was elected to the House in 2014, arrived back in the capital city on Monday night from Washington, aware that she might be considered a fugitive in the eyes of Republicans.
“Today was trash day,” she said. “I took the trash cans out, looked on both sides of the street. The coast was clear.”
Asked if she planned to return to the chamber, she responded with a full-throated “Hell no” and declared: “I didn’t sacrifice my business, my family time and crispy tacos just to go down to walk onto the House floor and help them pander to 5 percent of the electorate.”
She added: “This is a civil matter. I have not committed any crime.”
The move by the Texas House to round up the lawmakers came hours after the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court, acting on a petition by Mr. Abbott and Mr. Phelan, overturned an earlier ruling in the matter.