Written by Amanda Coers – Under the beating sun, a lone man stood in front of Brownwood City Hall on Monday afternoon holding a sign that read: Free the Kids. The single protestor, certainly an unusual sight for Brownwood, was hoping for an answer regarding what he believed to be District 11 Representative Mike Conaway’s silence on the separation of children found attempting to cross the American border in Texas.
He lives outside of Cisco and had traveled to stand outside the nearest office location for Representative Conaway, located in Brownwood inside City Hall. He agreed to share the reasons for the quiet protest, but asked to remain relatively anonymous as it could cause issues with employment.
“I just want a response to hear his statement on separating children from their parents at the border,” he explained. “We’ve been calling and trying to get some kind of response and nothing yet. I didn’t know what to do. I think the constitutes of District 11 deserve to hear what he has to say about it.”
He said he has called Representative Conaway’s offices, asking for some word regarding the matter that has quickly been decried by Democrats and many Republicans. Former First Lady Laura Bush recently published a statement on the Washington Post, saying “I live in a border state. I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart.”
Speaking with Conaway’s staff members, he says he was told the Representative had not yet issued a response. Feeling there was nothing left to do, he made a sign and spent some time outside Conaway’s Brownwood office, hoping to have an impact.
“Some of my friends were crying, wondering what they could do. I just wanted to take some kind of action, even if I stand out here for a couple of hours, at least I did something instead of sit at home and think about stuff.”
He did speak with a few local community members as they drove by, and reported positive responses from the people he had spoken to about the issue. As a father, he felt horrified by the reports of children separated from their families. He himself works in the education industry and notes some similarities between what is happening at the border today and the imprisonment of Japanese families during WWII.
“It’s the most concerning thing I’ve seen in recent history. It’s a lot like Japanese internment. I think there are certainly comparisons there.”
The man said he was part of a political action Facebook Group called Indivisible Texas 11, and encouraged anyone wanting to become more involved in sharing their voices with government representatives to join.
“Indivisible Texas 11 is a nonpartisan group for the most part,” he explained. “We’re participating in different actions, marches, a vigil for Charlottesville.”
He did say he would likely be voting for Conaway’s challenger, Virginia “Jennie Lou” Leeder of Llano. Leeder recently won the Democratic nomination for District 11. A Democrat hasn’t run against Conaway since 2012.
