Event: Civil Rights Hearing and Investigastion

When: Wednesday August 5th 6:30-10pm CST

Location: Austin Justice Center Sanctuary

1605 E 38th Austin, Texas

Contact: Malik Shabazz, Esq @ attorney.shabazz@yahoo.com



(Austin Texas 8/2/26) The nationwide pandemic of unjust police killings of Black people

still runs rampant. On August 5th, Black Lawyers for Justice (BLJ), the Austin Justice

Coalition (AJC), Mano Amiga Action (MAA) and the Emmett Till Family will hold a public

legal hearing on civil-rights violations, including the recent brutal killing of unarmed

17-year-old Anthoneil Williams II. Testimony and fact finding will be held at this hearing,

marking the opening of a civil rights investigation into police shootings in central Texas. Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis, in reference to the unarmed Williams being shot

multiple times by a bevy of APD officers, horrifically claimed at a news conference last

Friday that, “All points indicate this was suicide by police.”

The August 5th public legal hearing is the opening of a formal human and civil and

rights investigation into the Austin Police Department and central Texas. The public

legal hearing will feature formal testimony of victims of police shootings, police

misconduct, and other civil rights violations in Central Texas. Several veteran police

brutality attorneys with Black Lawyers for Justice will conduct the hearing. Once the

hearing testimony is complete and the documentation supporting the allegations against the Austin PD, Travis County law enforcement, and other Central Texas departments

has been reviewed, the appropriate legal filings will be made in a court of law and

through lawful information requests and subpoenas.

Outraged local residents and activists are not remaining silent and claim Central Texas

has a decades-long history of brutalizing Black and Brown residents. “A 17-year-old called for help and never made it home. We mourn with Anthony Williams’ family and stand with our neighbors in Austin, who are tired of burying theirand our children. We will not normalize this. We’ll keep organizing until every family in

Central Texas can call for help and actually receive it”, said Myles Martin, who is an

organizer with Mano Amiga. Chas Moore of the Austin Justice Coalition (AJC), who has

been closely following the case, expressed his pain. “Anthoneil Williams II was 17-years-old, unarmed and worthy of the opportunity to grow old. Instead, three Austin police officers took his life.”

Malik Shabazz, Esq. and veteran police misconduct lawyer and national president of

Black Lawyers for Justice, is calling for the assembling of a criminal grand jury and the

U.S. Department of Justice to investigate. Shabazz states:

“The brutal, firing squad-like killing of young Anthoneil Williams II was completely

unreasonable, unnecessary, and possibly criminal. We must ensure proper

presentation to a grand jury, which will ensure a criminal indictment. If this case

ever proceeded to a civil jury, the officers and the county would not fare well. In

addition, the United States Justice Department must investigate Anthoneil’s

assassination for criminal civil rights violations, because assuredly, if Anthoneil

had not been Black, Austin police officers never would have gunned him down

like that. Anthoneil was wholly unarmed and not posing any threat to the officers

who aimed to kill him before they even arrived at the park.”

Shabazz is most noted for his legal representation of the plaintiffs in the famous

Rankin County “Goon Squad” case in Mississippi, where the defendant officers were

sentenced to 132 years in federal prison for the torture and shooting of one of the

victims in that case. Mississippi 'Goon Squad' ex-officers sentenced for racist torture :

NPR

Local resident Chantel Pridgon says: “We cannot continue to fund a broken system like

APD. Who is only reactive and kills our children and black & brown bodies because of

the racial disparities in Austin, TX. Law enforcement needs to be held accountable and

not rewarded for a toxic culture.”

Black Lawyers for Justice promises the Austin Police Department will be held

accountable for Anthoneil’s execution and other brutalities, and the customs and

practices that led to his shooting death. Court actions, subpoenas, information requests,

further hearings, civil-rights violations, intake portals, and other legal tools will be utilized

by Black Lawyers for Justice to ascertain the level of constitutional violations occurring

at the Austin Police Department and Central Texas as a whole.