The Dallas Police Association (DPA) and its president, Mike Mata, have labeled the recent charges filed against two Dallas Police officers as politically motivated.
In a previous report, The Dallas Express wrote that the Dallas County District Attorney’s office obtained the arrest warrants for the two officers — Senior Cpl. Ryan Mabry and recently fired Senior Cpl. Melvin Williams — on February 9. Both officers are accused of injuring protesters during the 2020 protests.
Williams, who had been fired from the department on another excessive force accusation unrelated to the 2020 protests, is facing two counts of aggravated assaults and four counts of official oppression. Mabry is facing three felony counts of aggravated assault and three misdemeanor counts of official oppression.
While reacting to the charges, Mata called the timing of Creuzot’s office into question, saying the information the DA’s office used to charge the officers has been in its possession for some time. He accused Dallas County DA John Creuzot of trying to make a political statement by charging the officers as he is running for re-election.
“The level of charges placed against these officers are so overreaching and obviously politically motivated in time for the upcoming primary that we must bring this to the attention of the public,” Mata argued.
Mata added that the officers were facing “unimaginably tense circumstances” and were pelted with stones, bricks, rocks, and frozen water bottles during the protest. “That is not a peaceful protest, that is riot,” he said. He argued that the officers did not leave their homes to hurt people during the protest.
An attorney for Williams told WFAA, “Melvin and his fellow SWAT team members were only called into action once the protests had turned into violent riots. His options were simple: do nothing, allow downtown to burn and his fellow officers to get injured, or use the tools that he was provided and called on to use by his command staff to suppress the ongoing riots. He obviously chose the latter and now faces absurd criminal charges for lawfully targeting individuals that were clearly agitators.”
The DPA also noted that one of the charges against Williams had already been brought before a grand jury that did not indict him.
“Do I think they overstepped in charging them at all? I can’t say that because … I haven’t seen all the facts and evidence,” Mata said. “But I will say this: charge them appropriately. That’s what myself and my fellow board members are up here saying.”
Mata said that while he believes the officers should be disciplined for some unprofessional comments made during the protests, their actions do not rise to the level of sending them to prison for 20 years.
Meanwhile, attorneys for the victims expressed gratitude on behalf of their clients in a statement: “It’s life changing the injures that [the victims] are dealing with. They are injuries that they have to look at when they wake up in the morning and go to sleep at night, and we want to thank District Attorney Creuzot.”
One such victim was Brandon Saenz, who was hit with a 40-millimeter sponge round while protesting near Dallas City Hall in May 2020. The shot was allegedly fired by Mabry.
Saenz’s attorney, Daryl Washington, noted his client’s emotion in learning the charges had been filed. “When I broke the news to Brandon, the very first thing he did was cry.”
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia commented on the matter to WFAA. “Did we make mistakes? Absolutely, we did. Did the mistakes we did rise to the level of criminal culpability? I guess we will soon see,” he said.
Both Mabry and Williams have turned themselves in.