Governor Escalates DPS and Military Patrols
Amid Domestic Terror Potential from Attacks
Capitol Inside
June 22, 2025
Governor Greg Abbott sent mixed messages on Sunday on the potential aftermath of U.S. air strikes on Iran - putting the state police and military on high alert to combat possible threats to the public security and safety while assuring Texans they had nothing to worry about at this point in time.
Abbott joined a chorus of Texas Republicans who praised President Donald Trump for ordering aerial attacks on nuclear facilities in Iran on Saturday night in a mission he hailed as a "spectacular military success" shortly after the bombings.
But the U.S. entrance into the latest war in the Middle East didn't have the rally-around-the-flag effect that the world's most celebrated leaders like Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt inspired when they led their nations into battle during World War II with most of their countrymen and women behind them. Democratic lawmakers from Texas decried the attacks on Iran as an illegal move with massive potential to backfire that Republicans have either failed to anticipate or refuse to acknowledge in fear of Trump.
Abbott made his position clear in a social media post immediately after the news broke on the bombings. "I stand with Donald Trump and the United States of America," the Republican governor said several hours before elaborating in a subsequent posting on X.
"As we unite as a Nation, we as a state must remain vigilant to secure our homeland," Abbott said. "To ensure the highest level of safety in our communities, and out of an abundance of caution, Texas is elevating the readiness of our Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and Texas National Guard, increasing patrols around high-risk locations and ensuring our state is fully prepared to address any threat."
The governor did not elaborate on the places in Texas that could be vulnerable to domestic attacks that the Trump strikes could trigger in American's second largest state. Texas is home to nearly three dozen military installations including four air force bases and the Army's chief medical facility at Fort Sam Houston.
The Air Force has bases at Abilene, San Angelo, Del Rio and Wichita Falls. Fort Cavazos, which Trump plans to rename as Fort Hood, is a major Army post in Killeen. Fort Bliss in El Paso is the Army's second largest installation in the country. Corpus Christi and Kingsville both have Naval air stations. It's not clear what the DPS and Texas Guard could do to protect U.S. military assets and the people stationed here.
Abbott also could deploy the DPS and National Guard troops to some of dozens of synagogues and temples where Texans who are Jewish worship. But the governor assured constituents that everything will be fine despite the escalation of police and military patrols at unspecified locations here.
"At this time, there is no need to worry," Abbott said on X. "We want to keep it that way. Texas stands with America’s Commander-in-Chief. We will defend our communities and support our troops."
Texans would be naive if they believe that based on responses that Democrats here have made on the attacks in Iran.
"Donald Trump once again shows that he is a man of his last word," U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Austin said in a statement. "With his unconstitutional action entangling us in conflict, he has made American families less safe. While bombing Iran’s nuclear sites may slow nuclear development, it intensifies anti-American hatred and calls for deadly retaliation, encourages more Iranians to rally around their repressive regime, and increases Iranian eagerness to go nuclear as protection from future attacks. The fall of Saddam Hussein’s statue in Baghdad was the beginning, not the end of chaos in Iraq that led to 4,000 American deaths and cost $2 trillion. The same could happen here."
Democratic U.S. Reps. Lizzie Fletcher of Houston and Greg Casar of Austin both portrayed the strikes on Iran as a blatant violation of constitutional law that gives Congress the power to declare war as opposed to the president. But Texas Republicans weren't concerned with details like that.
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick - the Trump campaign chairman in Texas - said the president "saved America and the world from fanatical terrorists" who'd vowed to destroy the USA and Israel.
"I have never been more proud of my President," Patrick added. "President Trump is a man of peace, but when faced with no other option, he will take the bold action needed to protect our country."
more to come ...
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