A Canyon Lake man who says he was roughed up, sprayed with tear gas and arrested by Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers while protesting for the release of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos at Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s (ICE) Dilley Immigration Center Wednesday spoke at an anti-ICE rally in New Braunfels Saturday, Jan. 31, telling an estimated 275 protestors gathered around the gazebo on Main Plaza that showing up matters.
Comal ISD substitute teacher Gavin Pope, 24, co-founder of the Young Democrats of Greater Comal County, said he was standing in a designated area outside the ICE facility when he moved to the front of the crowd to fill a space after DPS asked anyone who felt they were “at risk” to leave, telling protesters they had “done” their jobs.
Reading a speech on his cellphone, Pope said he stood next to clergy and others who were singing.
“I did not show up planning to get arrested, but when that did happen, when a DPS officer shoved a baton into my throat as I stood there still and nonviolent, when another officer grabbed my hair and shoved my face into the pavement, I still didn’t feel scared because I knew, I felt I had a really good chance at being okay…