Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announces a new public safety initiative to combat violent crime in Greater Houston during a press conference in Houston, on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
On Friday, Fox News Digital reached out to Abbott's office, which responded by pointing to a press release that states the governor "directed the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and Texas National Guard to deploy personnel and tactical assets to Austin ahead of a planned antifa-linked demonstration to protect Texans and their property."
Fox News Digital also reached out to No Kings for comment on Friday and received a response from the American Civil Liberties Union, which provided a statement from Ellen Flenniken, deputy director of the Justice Division of the ACLU.
‘NO KINGS’ MOVEMENT AND WHAT IT WANTS: INSIDE THE MESSAGE DRIVING SATURDAY'S NATIONWIDE PROTESTS
Atmosphere during the Austin Food & Wine Festival at Auditorium Shores on Nov. 2, 2024 in Austin, Texas. (Rick Kern/Getty Images)
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Texas Democratic Party chair Kendall Scudder accused Abbott of "doing everything he can to suck up to Donald Trump, including taking a page from Trump’s authoritarian playbook, and intimidating people exercising their First Amendment right."
President Donald Trump issued an executive order last month in which he declared, "I hereby designate Antifa as a 'domestic terrorist organization.'"
Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/abbott-orders-texas-national-guard-austin-advance-antifa-linked-protest