Cameron County DA Fires Warning Shot at SpaceX
By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon
A local official has finally done something other than sing the praises of Elon Musk and SpaceX.
It was about time.
The Brownsville Herald's Laura Martinez reported on a letter Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz sent to SpaceX representatives addressing their disregard for state law.
Saenz sent investigators out to Boca Chica after receiving a letter from Save RGV, an organization dedicated to the environmental protection of Deep South Texas. The letter alleges SpaceX is ignoring state law; closing roads and State Highway 4 more times than they originally agreed to under a memorandum of understanding between the renegade space company, Cameron County, and the General Land Office.
The investigators were stopped and detained by a SpaceX stormtrooper — an armed private security guard. They were told the road they were on was closed and the members of the DA's team had to find their way back to Highway 4.
The SpaceX stormtrooper committed two errors. First, Neither SpaceX, the stormtrooper, or the stormtrooper's supervisor have the authority to close roads that are maintained by the County. In addition to the State Highway 4 closures, SpaceX has restricted access to two other streets. And second, if you're a private security guard in the State of Texas, and you carry a firearm, you must be licensed by the state. Saenz could not verify if the SpaceX security guards held state licenses to carry firearms.
In addition to the closure of the streets, Laura Martinez reports SpaceX may also be in violation of taking control of county property by paving over one of the roads in question.
The DA gave SpaceX representatives a timeline to respond to the letter. In classic SpaceX fashion, they did not respond to the district attorney's request.
But "Brutus is an honorable man."
I'm sure Musk did his research when he decided to build his launchpad in South Texas. He probably thought the leadership down here was incompetent and would be impressed a billionaire wants to come to town. He probably thought, "Brownsville would be so grateful to have us come down here, they'll let me do anything I want, and to keep them from telling me anything, I'll just throw a few dollars their way to keep them satisfied..."
When will Brownsvillians and Cameron County residents wake up and see Musk thinks he can do whatever he wants whenever he wants; and he thinks SpaceX is above the law? He is laughing in the face of city, county, and state leaders as he ignores agreements he makes and breaks rules and regulations out at Boca Chica?
The district attorney has fired a warning shot across Musk's bow. Truth be told, it probably won't be enough. He'll probably have to slap SpaceX with some violations and hold them to account before they start falling in line.
I applaud the district attorney, and I can only hope he continues his investigation into SpaceX's actions.
The line must be drawn now. We can no longer afford to keep appeasing these swindlers and looking the other way as they keep doing whatever they want unchecked out at Boca Chica.
Appeasement only makes the aggressor more aggressive.
Bullies don't usually leaen their lesson until someone stands up to them, socks them in the nose, and knocks them on their rear end.
We shouldn't allow ourselves to be pushed around any further.
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