Perry Expected to be Booked Today
Editor's note: This story has been updated with comments from Travis Count officials and former Perry staffer David White.
Travis County deputies say they expect Rick Perry to be booked between 4 and 6 p.m. on Tuesday — the same window when supporters are expected to rally at the courthouse in defense of the Texas governor as he fights two felony indictments.
The deputies said if Perry arrives after 5:30 p.m. — the time they close to the public — members of the media will not be allowed to film the booking, and the mugshot will not be available until Wednesday.
Two Republican operatives also confirmed a rally would take place at around 5 p.m. outside the courthouse. Sid Miller, the Republican nominee for agriculture commissioner, has said on his Facebook page that he’ll be there.
“It’s our understanding that the governor is going to be booked at 4:45 p.m. this afternoon,” said Todd Smith, a consultant for Miller. “I don’t know if any other statewides will be there, but Sid will be there.”
Perry’s office has not confirmed that the governor will be booked Tuesday — a process that generally involves a mug shot and fingerprinting. His lawyers have promised to inform the media about it ahead of time.
Perry's arraignment — when the charges are formally levied against him — is scheduled for Friday.
Another Republican official who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Texas Tribune that plans were being made to get supporters to the courthouse Tuesday afternoon.
“They’re organizing a rally at 5 p.m.,” the official said.
David White, a GOP consultant who served as Perry's political director during the governor's 2010 re-election campaign, was among those urging a pro-Perry demonstration. White sent out an email to fellow conservatives, asking them to show their support for his former boss. He said he sent the email at his own initiative, with no direction from Perry or his allies.
"I just e-mailed a bunch of my friends to come show their support for Governor Perry," White said. "This indictment is outrageous and is uniting both Republicans and Democrats in denouncing the prosecution as politically motivated. Governor Perry exercised his constitutional right to veto legislation, and I believe without a doubt he will be vindicated.”
White included a map of the courthouse in his widely circulated email, which was simply addressed to "friends."
"Tomorrow is our turn to rally around Governor Perry. A group of supporters are gathering outside the courthouse tomorrow after the Governor goes through the “booking process,” where he will hold a press conference," White wrote in the email.
"Governor Perry has done so much for our state and stood up against the abuse of government power. Please come stand with him so that we can show the country that we will NOT PUT UP WITH THIS!"
After word leaked about a pro-Perry rally, Democrats began mobilizing people to get to the courthouse to stage a counter-protest. They will call on the governor to pay his own legal bills instead of asking taxpayers to pick up the tab, according to a top Democratic operative.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/08/19/rally-perry-planned-courthouse/.
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