Photos: SB 4 Protesters Flood Capitol to Jump-Start ‘Summer of Resistance’

From an overnight mariachi-themed protest at the governor’s mansion to more than 1,000 protesters flooding the Capitol, here’s what the Observer saw at the start of the “summer of resistance.”

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When Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 4 into law, opponents of the anti-immigrant “show your papers” legislation answered with a promise. Two days after the governor signed the bill — on a Sunday night over Facebook Live — lawmakers and activists gathered on the South Steps of the Capitol to warn Abbott that he was in for a “summer of resistance.” If Memorial Day weekend was any indication, protesters are going to make good on their word.

At 3 a.m. Sunday morning, about 50 people gathered outside the governor’s mansion for a “traditional mariachi serenade” in protest of SB 4. Picture the boombox scene from Say Anything, but with a bullhorn blaring “Rata de dos patas” (two-legged rat) instead of Peter Gabriel.

On Monday, the final day of the 85th Texas Legislature, more than 1,000 human rights advocates filled the Texas Capitol in a massive show of opposition to SB 4. State troopers removed the protesters from the House Gallery, but not before tea party Representative Matt Rinaldi said he called Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in an attempt to silence dissent. “Fuck them, I called ICE,” he allegedly told a peer, prompting an altercation on the House floor.

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