EoT: ‘Boarzilla’ and Breakaway Texas
Eyes on Texas, a roundup of news, columns and features about the state, from media around the world.
Comanche County hunters thought they had brought home the really big bacon when they captured an 800-pound hog. It turned out “Boarzilla” already had an owner, a local rancher who wanted his big pig back, according to published reports.
Blaine Garcia spotted the hog and called his friend, Wyatt Walton, to help. Along with two bulldogs, they spent four hours chasing, tackling and hog-tying Boarzilla, the New York Daily News reported.
They hoped to sell the pig for $3 a pound, but a justice of the peace decided the hog belonged to the local rancher. The hog is being kept alive in Clyde, according to The Flash Today.
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A Texas lawmaker wants to give teachers the green light to use “lethal force” against intruders, students, or anyone else they think poses a threat to others on school property. The bill would give teachers immunity from prosecution if they killed somebody in those situations.
State Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Van Zandt, was insulted by the heavy criticism his bill stirred up teacher unions and teachers.
“In all of my years teaching, never in my wildest dreams did I think that having a license to use lethal force would have helped any situation,” Ken Zafiris, president of Education Austin, told Vice News.
Flynn responded to the criticism by saying, “teachers are not sure that they can even raise their hands to defend themselves.”
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Russian separatists claiming a “people’s republic” in part of Ukraine say they feel a kinship with Texans who want to secede from the United States. The self-styled Donetsk People’s Republic invited the Texas Nationalist Movement to become part of an alliance of breakaway republics around the globe, according to The Telegraph.
The Texas group met in December with a DNR representative in Moscow to discuss how the movement can be moved onto the world stage.
Aleksandr Kofman, the foreign minister of the self-styled Donetsk People’s Republic, plans a conference next month.
“We will help Texas to achieve their independence too, if they genuinely want it,” Kofman said. “Only without war and bloodshed.”
The Texas Nationalist Movement describes itself as an organization dedicated to the freedom and independence of Texas and claims more than 250,000 supporters in all 254 counties.