Shouts of "coward" and "shame" rang out at San Marcos City Hall after council members voted down a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza early Wednesday morning.
The 5-2 vote came after nearly seven hours of public comment from residents.
The resolution, proposed by council members Alyssa Garza and Amanda Rodriguez, called for an immediate ceasefire and recognition of Palestine as a sovereign state. It asked that residents' tax dollars not be used to fund Israel's military and instead be reallocated toward local priorities.
Residents had been urging council members to consider a ceasefire resolution for a year, Garza said. Though it began as a symbolic expression of support for Palestinians, the resolution quickly had real consequences for San Marcos.
In an April 29 letter sent to Mayor Jane Hughson, Gov. Greg Abbott said he would terminate all existing grants with the city and refuse to enter any new ones if it passed.
"Israel is a stalwart ally of the United States and a friend to Texas. I have repeatedly made clear that Texas will not tolerate antisemitism," he wrote. "Anti-Israel policies are anti-Texas policies."
Funding for roads, parks, first responders and other city services was at stake.
Residents on both sides of the issue spoke until nearly 2 a.m., many urging City Council members to stand firm in the face of state pressure.
"We're here today, in probably record-breaking numbers, to show that although we may be little, we are strong," Chloe Dykstra, who lives just outside San Marcos, said. "What little old San Marcos can do is say we will not be complicit in funding a genocide. We will not be bullied into silence."
Many speakers, including San Marcos resident Ashley Prevost, disputed claims that the resolution wasn't relevant locally.
"Some claim that this conflict is too far away to involve us, but that's completely false," she said. "As many have said before, $4.4 million of our public money has gone to Israel, while our school district is in millions of dollars of deficit."
But the opinions of most council members mirrored those of Robert Eby.
"We don't have enough money to provide the existing services we already have. And yet, we're growing and we need more services," he said. "We are going to lose millions of dollars if we pass this resolution. And betting Greg Abbott? You're playing chicken with Greg Abbott, and I don't think that's a fun game to play when there's millions of dollars on the line."
Rodriguez, who voted in favor of the resolution along with Garza, said the governor's threats were killing democracy.
"The past few days have revealed something deeply disturbing. We've witnessed in real time the methods of collective punishment the state is willing to use to force the city to bend the knee," she said before the vote. "Not because of violence, not because of lawlessness, but because of speech they disagree with."
"I don't know where the camera is," she continued, "but to Gov. Greg Abbott: How dare you?"
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