Texas’ deadly secret is being exposed. Domestic terrorism and hate crimes are being carried out by white men across the state, but Texas officials, including Governor Greg Abbott and Austin police chief Brian Manley, and the media refuse to identify and address it as racially-motivated crimes.

Since March 2nd, six people died from packaged bombs shipped by serial bomber Mike Anthony Conditt, a 24-year-old white man. The first explosion in East Austin killed 39-year-old Anthony House, a Black father to an 8-year-old girl. Ten days later, two more package bombs exploded in the same neighborhood, killing a Black teenager, Draylen Mason and wounding his mother. Another packaged exploded on March 12th injuring Esperanza Herrera, a 75-year-old Latinx woman.

Donald Trump’s White House tweeted a statement rejecting the serial bombings as a hate crime. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, law enforcement, and media outlets are already painting Conditt as this innocent, young American who struggled with unemployment. But we are not buying their sappy, sad narrative. This is an act of domestic terrorism and if Conditt were Muslim, Black, or Brown, this crime would have already been classified as an act of terror. But Texas has a culture of underreporting and ignoring violent attacks targeting their most marginalized communities -- Black and Brown people.

The majority of victims killed in the serial bombings are Black folks and people of color. Given the small population of Black people in Austin, it must be assumed that communities of color were targeted until it is concretely ruled out.

Governor Abbott and Austin police chief Brian Manley have blood on their hands if they continue to ignore the rise of racially motivated attacks in Texas.

Here is the Petition:

The recent package bombings in Austin and San Antonio, Texas, was a vicious domestic terrorist attack impacting predominately Black and Brown victims. As Governor and as police cheif, it’s your duty to ensure the safety of your constituents -- and that involves identifying when crimes are racially or ideologically motivated. We demand that you classify the package bombings as an act of domestic terrorism and enforce the state investigate all hate and domestic terrorism in Texas.