As Governor Greg Abbott traveled to Fort Worth on Tuesday to propose freezing property tax revenue for cities that defund police, a Fort Worth attorney completed a 190-mile walk to Austin to highlight police reform.
Last week, NBC 5 reported Leon Reed Jr left Fort Worth last Sunday.
Tuesday, he completed his last six-mile stretch to the Texas State Capitol building in Austin with the goal of meeting with the governor to discuss police reform.
“We don’t want this matter passed onto future generations because if we’re still dealing with this and having these conversations in another 50 years, we’ve failed,” said Reed.
Reed, a criminal defense attorney, told NBC 5 he decided to walk nearly 200 miles in the Texas heat because he’d felt underutilized in protests. Reed said he also wanted to talk to Texans along the way.
Some, tracking his progress online, would drive by and offer support.
“Even those who didn’t know why I was walking, if I told them: I appreciate you stopping to check on me, I appreciate you having that spirit, they would almost always tell me we have to look out for each other,” said Reed.
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“It’s easy to be distrustful of one another, it’s easy to be discouraged by the conduct we see in the world today, but I’ve had a renewal of the premise of not giving up hope on one another,” Reed added.
Reed’s friend from his time in the Marines, Wesley Daniels, followed Reed in an RV for safety. Reed said he walked an average of around 25 miles a day.
“My getting to where I am right now was nothing but the grace of God,” said Reed.
Reed told NBC 5 he planned to stick around Austin a little longer, in hopes of getting a meeting with the governor.
During a press conference in Fort Worth about police funding, NBC 5 asked Governor Abbott if he would meet with Reed.
“I’m not there today and my schedule is in flux tomorrow. We’ll just have to see. If not, I have no doubt I have representatives who would be happy [to],” Abbott answered.
“Governor Abbott is the captain of the ship right now,” said Reed. “I don’t have any bad remarks to say about him. I need him, we need him.”
