Texas can enforce 1925 abortion ban, state Supreme Court says
The ruling Friday night exposes abortion providers to fines and lawsuits even before the state’s trigger law goes into effect. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/7320b0a6473f568af8a418bb2233fbdb/Beto%20Abortion%20Rally%20JV%20TT%2013.JPG)
Zach Despart
Enterprise and Investigative Reporter
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/profiles/Zach_Despart_HC_TT_02.jpg)
Zach Despart is an enterprise and investigative reporter focusing on state government. His work on a team investigating the flawed police response to the Uvalde school shooting was awarded the 2024 Collier Prize and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting. He led the Tribune’s effort to become the first news organization to determine where Texas has built 50 miles of border wall, a project that also found the state struggles with holdout landowners along the route. He previously covered Harris County for the Houston Chronicle, where he reported on corruption, elections, disaster preparedness and the region’s recovery from Hurricane Harvey. An upstate New York native, he received his bachelor’s degree in political science and film from the University of Vermont.
Latest Contributions
-
![Attendees hold signs at a rally for abortion rights in East Austin on Jun. 26, 2022.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas congressional Democrats call on Attorney General Ken Paxton to release Uvalde shooting records
Uvalde, state and federal officials have refused to release records related to the May 24 massacre at Robb Elementary School. Nine members of Congress said in a letter that families of victims deserve to know the full truth about what happened. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/ba09385befe22bad193870598540b265/Joaquin%20Castro%20REUTERS%20TT.jpg)
![U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, speaks at a House Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats, in Washington, D.C., on April 15, 2021.]()
Credit: Al Drago/Pool via REUTERS -
Uvalde school police chief “decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children,” Texas DPS director says
Steve McCraw testified before a Texas Senate committee, laying blame on local police officers in Uvalde for not acting faster to save children during the school shooting. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/0eb88e556496f7cd09403f88f1a29153/Cmte%20to%20Protect%20All%20Texans%20JV%202.jpg)
![DPS Director Steven McCraw testifies before the Senate Committee to Protect all Texans at the Capitol on Jun. 21, 2022.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Greg Abbott’s handwritten notes raise fresh questions over who “misled” him about Uvalde shooting response
The nine pages of blue ink on white lined paper, first published by the Houston television station KTRK, show how the governor prepared his remarks for a news conference May 25, the day after the shooting — presumably based on information being given to him. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/d48dabb2858c4abb34df7a1e03afc167/Abbott%20Uvalde%20Presser%20EL%20TT%2012.jpg)
![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a presser at the Uvalde High School on May 27, 2022. Gov. Abbott addressed the response to the recent school shooting, and emphasized the need to respond appropriately to mental health crises.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy for The Texas Tribune -
Five takeaways from Uvalde schools police Chief Pete Arredondo’s interview with The Texas Tribune
This week, Uvalde schools police Chief Pete Arredondo and his attorney granted an exclusive interview to The Texas Tribune to detail his version of what happened inside Robb Elementary School on May 24, when a shooter killed 21 people. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/ab65ecea305851549c8ec37a46427bf0/Ulvade%20Active%20Shooter%20Scenes%20PL%20TT%2020.JPG)
![Students flee and authorities help others evacuate after a gunman entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on May 24, 2022.]()
Credit: Courtesy of Pete Luna/Uvalde Leader-News -
Waiting for keys, unable to break down doors: Uvalde schools police chief defends delay in confronting gunman
Criticized by law enforcement experts for slowness in taking out the shooter, Pete Arredondo described an agonizing wait for a key that would work. In an interview with The Texas Tribune, he said he hadn’t spoken out sooner because he didn’t want to compound his hometown’s grief or point blame. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/381fb9d442df583a2da1006419241d7e/Chief%20Pete%20Arredondo%20EL%20TT%2006.jpg)
![Uvalde school police Chief Pete Arredondo stands on a dirt road on the outskirts of town on June 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy for The Texas Tribune -
At first meeting since massacre, Uvalde school board takes no action on police chief
Chief Pete Arredondo has been faulted for a slow response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/ff27c2a50b75796707a57ca56f7f22c3/UCISD%20School%20Board%20KGB%20TT%2006.jpg)
![The Uvalde CISD School Board met on June 3, 2022.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee Beal for The Texas Tribune -
In battered Uvalde, where a police chief is in hiding, grief gives way to calls for accountability
As chief of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Department, it was Arredondo’s call to wait more than an hour for backup instead of ordering officers on scene to immediately charge the shooter. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/f21b877ea695d20ec3b51d6919da6323/Arredondo%20DPS%20Presser%20SF%2001%202.jpg)
![Police hold a press conference on Thursday, May 26, 2022 in Uvalde, TX. Twenty one people were killed after a gunman after a high school student opened fire inside Robb Elementary School on Tuesday where two teachers and 19 students were killed.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
After another mass shooting, Texas Democrats again push for gun control measures
The question moving forward is whether Democrats, outnumbered in the Texas Legislature for two decades, will be able to put enough pressure on lawmakers to move on a previously intractable issue in gun-friendly Texas and that Republicans, who support looser gun laws, will fight tooth and nail. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/7f8fbe0f737eb707b2951ab02043b07f/NRA%20Convention%20Protest%20JR%20TT%2056.jpg)
![Texas Democratic candidate for governor Beto O’Rourke speaks on stage at a protest of the NRA Annual Meeting in Houston on Friday, May 27, 2022.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
At NRA convention after Uvalde massacre, attendees describe a culture under siege
Deflecting blame from guns, attendees said a breakdown in society — including removing God from schools and a rise in mental illness — causes mass shootings, echoing the rhetoric of Gov. Greg Abbott and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/04d4f304ad84f680dae15c33d8e8cbfe/NRA%20May%2027%20REUTERS%20TT%2001.jpg)
![People attend the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual convention in Houston, Texas, U.S. May 27, 2022.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton