District 9 Councilman John Courage announced his candidacy for mayor on the steps of City Hall on Thursday.
But he only got in a few words before protestors demanding a ceasefire in Gaza disrupted his speech.
Courage, a 72-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran who has served on the San Antonio City Council since 2017, has said he would never support a resolution before council that involved an international issue.
Protestors denounced Courage for his lack of support for a ceasefire resolution, saying the councilman had “blood on his hands.”
Courage repeatedly said protestors had a right to be there, and he suggested their disruption might actually be to his benefit.
“Allow them to say what they want, they have the freedom of speech,” Courage said. “It’s only helping me get more media for my mayor’s race, so thank you.”
Courage read his entire statement announcing his candidacy for the 2025 mayoral election, when Mayor Ron Nirenberg will be term-limited out of office, while protestors spoke over him, approached the dais where he stood, and yelled on megaphones until he finally walked back into City Hall at the end of his speech.
The San Antonio City Council nearly voted on a resolution that would have called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and for the return of all hostages earlier this month. Council members from Districts 2, 5, and 8 signed a joint memo calling for a special meeting to discuss the resolution. But after District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez rescinded his support, the item was withdrawn.
The disruption at Courage’s announcement could be a sign of what’s to come for other mayoral candidates as they prepare for next year’s election. Already, pro-Palestinian protestors have shut down city council meetings, and some have promised to make the public lives of city council members who do not support a ceasefire very difficult.
Several other cities like Oakland, San Francisco, Detroit, and Minneapolis have passed ceasefire resolutions. Chicago’s mayor recently announced his support for a similar resolution.
The Israeli military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 25,000 people, with thousands more believed to be buried under rubble, in the three and a half months since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in Israel that killed more than 1,100 people. The International Court of Justice — a United Nations international court — is expected to deliver an initial ruling on South Africa’s accusations that Israel has violated the Genocide Convention in Gaza.
After his announcement, Courage said he understood the protestors’ passion.
“You know, like I was telling them, they have the right to say their piece and they’re very passionate about that,” he said. “And sure, many years ago I was very passionate about a lot of issues.”
Courage said when he was in college in 1970, he was passionate in his protest of the Vietnam War. He then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1971.
“I’ll tell you honestly, protesting in college didn’t do my grades very good,” Courage said. “And so I decided I need to try something else. So I joined the Air Force, served four years, became a military police officer, and grew up a lot in that four years of time.”
Courage is running his campaign on several issues, including public safety, education, workforce training, affordable housing, homelessness, and mental health. He was a special education school teacher for more than 20 years and has served as an elected trustee for the Alamo Colleges District.
He said he hopes to use the 16 months between now and the election to listen to the city’s residents and more fully develop his platform.
