Texas prosecutor sues Austin authorities for wearing masks

Los Angeles, Mar 11 (EFE) .- The attorney general of Texas (USA), Ken Paxton, sued the mayor of Austin, the state capital, and Travis County, where part of the city, for maintaining the requirement to wear masks in defiance of the order of this state to cancel all the restrictions established by the coronavirus pandemic.

The lawsuit is asking the court for a temporary restraining order requiring Austin and Travis County officials to refrain from imposing the use of the mask on their residents.

Since this Wednesday, Texas lifted the order to wear the mask and allows all commercial establishments to open to their maximum capacity, but both Austin and Travis County decided to maintain the use of the mask, arguing that this helps to minimize the risks of contagion.

Paxton had given an ultimatum on Wednesday to Judge Andy Brown, who heads the Travis County Government, and Austin Mayor Steve Adler, to abide by the suspension, arguing that the decision to require masks or impose limits “does not rest with jurisdictions. like cities or county. “

Faced with the refusal of the two Democrats, Paxton filed the lawsuit.

In a message on his Twitter account on Thursday, Paxton stressed that he had told Travis County and the city of Austin to comply with the state law on face masks. “Adler will never do the right thing on his own. Your obstruction will not prevent me from keeping Texas free and open, ”he wrote.

For his part, Adler replied in a statement that “the judge and I will fight to defend and enforce the rules of our local health officials for as long as possible, using all the power and tools available to us.”

Governor Greg Abbott’s decision to overturn all restrictions generated a great controversy that even sparked an exchange of views with President Joe Biden, who criticized the orders of the Republican state leader.

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Abbott justified its decision to open 100% by alluding to the “good vaccination rate,” but to date only 8.49% of the total Texas population of 28.9 million has been inoculated with full doses.

To this must be added that, of the more than 44,000 deaths from Covid-19 in the state to date, more than 20,000, or 46%, have been people of Hispanic origin, a much higher proportion than that of any other minority.

The same rate is seen in infections: Hispanics account for 37% of the total, above whites (34%) and African Americans (17%), according to figures from the Texas Department of Health Services.

(c) EFE Agency

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