{"id":552307,"date":"2026-01-29T20:09:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T20:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/552307\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T20:09:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T20:09:13","slug":"bexar-county-sheriff-calls-trump-pseudo-dictator-during-impassioned-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/552307\/","title":{"rendered":"Bexar County Sheriff calls Trump ‘pseudo-dictator’ during impassioned speech"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar speaks during a rally at San Antonio\u2019s Progresso Hall on Wednesday. Credit: Michael Karlis<\/p>\n

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar called President Donald Trump a \u201cpseudo-dictator\u201d and lambasted the administration for politicizing law enforcement during a San Antonio rally against Immigration and Customs Enforcement <\/a>on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to clip the wings of this administration,\u201d Salazar, a Democrat, said to cheers from the at-capacity crowd in the West Side\u2019s Progresso Hall. \u201cThese pseudo-dictators, these pseudo-emperors \u2014 they think they run things. We need to show them what we\u2019re capable of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Salazar\u2019s comments \u2014\u00a0which stand in stark contrast to rhetoric spouted by top federal law-enforcement honchos following the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti at ICE\u2019s hands \u2014 came during a rally organized by U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a country of laws, and you can be a country of laws and a country of compassion if you do it right and do it with heart,\u201d Salazar said.<\/p>\n

The sheriff continued: \u201cI have watched my profession that I love, that I have devoted my entire adult life to, be politicized and weaponized against our community. I\u2019m watching folks that \u2018kind of\u2019 wear a uniform murdering people on live TV. And then I\u2019m watching them defend that and tell you that what you saw was not murder. We know what we saw.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s rally was attended by a Who\u2019s Who of South Texas Democratic politicos. Speakers included Castro, U.S. Reps. Jasmine Crockett and Greg Casar along with former Mayor Ron Nirenberg, District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo, Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai, State Sen. Jose Menendez and State Reps. Gina Hinojosa, Trey Martinez Fischer and Diego Bernal. <\/p>\n

San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones was notably absent because she\u2019s attending the annual U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C. She\u2019s expected back in San Antonio on Friday, her office said.<\/p>\n

The rally came after Castro and Crockett visited the South Texas Residential Center<\/a> earlier in the day to meet with 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, who was detained by ICE agents in Minneapolis last week, sparking national outcry.<\/p>\n

\u201cLiam did not look well,\u201d Castro said during the rally. \u201cMy staff and I are very concerned about him.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Castro and Crockett visited the facility, troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety teargassed an already dispersing crowd of protesters outside. <\/p>\n

During his speech at the rally, Nirenberg called out DPS for excessive use of force and called their actions \u201cwrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Castro and his staff plan to return<\/a> to the migrant detention center in Dilley next week for a follow-up visit with Ramos.<\/p>\n

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