Many People Are Saying (11/17/23)
Weekly Texas rumors, gossip, and projects we're working on.
Update 12/4/23 on the Chris Betts Situation below.
Welcome to “Many People Are Saying,” our once a week paid-subscriber article where we feature rumors we’re hearing, inside gossip in the political world, and projects and pieces we’re working on that we haven’t published yet.
This week we’ve got:
A judge grants a protective order against a wannabe political activist.
A grassroots leader has a run-in with police (we have the bodycam footage!).
We check out a First Liberty luncheon.
Michael Burgess did a weird ad buy.
Judge Grants Protective Order Against Wannabe Political Activist
Texas politics is the one place where you can be a total weirdo loser and still end up being given a political platform.
Such is the case with Chris Betts. Betts, who also goes by the moniker Chris “McFreedom” is listed as the Outreach Coordinator for True Texas Project and as the Political Director for Republicans for National Renewal. He also has (or had at one time) some some sort of connection with America First News network.
Betts has long been involved in politics but, with the exception of event photo-ops and political baseball games, he has not made much of an impact in the Texas political scene.
Except maybe when it comes to dating. An ongoing joke in local DFW political groups is Betts’ changing of girlfriends on his Facebook every few weeks or so. Changing girlfriends every few weeks is often a red flag to normal people.
And such was the case with a recent girlfriend. Their two-week long relationship seemingly ended on very bad terms. So much so that she filed a protective order against Betts alleging stalking and him threatening to post provocative photos of her online.
We obtained video last month of an incident that seemingly shows Betts driving his girlfriend’s (at the time) car and becoming unhinged. Even going on a weird rant about “Mexicans”, “beaners”, and the Rio Grande Valley (RGV).
After the above incident and several other issues related to alleged harassment, the girlfriend filed for a protective order, which was granted and signed yesterday. Betts now has a two-year long protective order against him.
The woman who filed the protective order was stuck with pretty hefty legal fees. If you’d like to assist with her legal costs, click here.
Though this may not be the end of Betts’ legal problems…
The political grassroots are often put in situations where they have to interact with deranged individuals like Betts. And it’s not as if people like Betts are actually effective in pushing policy or are major donors. The grassroots tolerates these individuals since they force themselves into the political scene. In some cases they’re given titles in organizations and said organizations keep them around despite the baggage they carry.
You are who you surround yourself with, as they say.
UPDATE 12/4/23: We’ve been made aware that Betts has not signed the legal documents agreeing to the protective order yet. Therefore nothing is currently in place. This allegedly comes after stated he would sign them over a week ago. Unsurprising!
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, please reach out for help or call the domestic violence hotline: 800-799-7233
Speaking of legal incidents….