A person was taken into custody on Saturday afternoon in connection with what the Texas Department of Public Safety said was a “credible threat” to the safety of state lawmakers attending an anti-Trump protest in Austin, according to a law enforcement official.
The threat had prompted the temporary closure of the Texas State Capitol grounds, and the law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing investigation, said the person taken into custody was found in the town of La Grange, Texas, between Austin and Houston.
The threat came after shootings that killed a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband and wounded another Minnesota lawmaker and his wife early on Saturday.
The Texas Department of Public Safety sent a warning to Texas lawmakers early Saturday afternoon and said it was concerned about people who could be inspired by the Minnesota killings.
The message to lawmakers, sent around 1 p.m. Central time, said the Minnesota attack “seems to be an isolated incident.”
“However, we’re always concerned about copycats and those who this attack might inspire,” it read.
“I received it and I was like whoa, it could easily have been one of us, easily,” said State Representative Ron Reynolds, a Houston-area Democrat who was in Houston on Saturday and spoke at a protest that attracted roughly 15,000 people.
“You have to take it seriously,” Mr. Reynolds said, adding that what happened in Minnesota was “awful.”
“It’s a threat to democracy. But it’s real. We can’t let them silence us, but we have to be vigilant,” he said.
Around 4:45 p.m., lawmakers received another update from the state police saying they had “addressed the earlier reported threat” and that the Capitol grounds had been reopened.
J. David Goodman is the Houston bureau chief for The Times, reporting on Texas and Oklahoma.
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