Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on May 23 that he would support legislation that would prevent cities from issuing directives or voting to reduce funding to police departments—coming in the wake of Black Lives Matter protesters’ calls to “defund the police” last year. In a tweet, the Republican governor highlighted an incident in Austin where there were no police units available for 12 minutes following a shooting that left a victim critically wounded. “This is what defunding the police looks like,” he wrote in reference to the incident. “Austin is incapable of timely responding to a victim shot in the head.” The Austin City Council voted last summer to reallocate up to $150 million from its police department, coming at the same time as demonstrations and riots across the United States and Texas. The “defund the police” slogan became a common cry during the Black Lives Matter protests, leading some cities to …