Texas AG Ken Paxton campaign ad blasts Dem opponent on Border Patrol comments, features widow of late officer
Freddie Vasquez's wife calls out Texas Attorney General candidate Rochelle Garza for calling her husband a coward
Inez Vasquez discusses the passing of her husband, Freddie, who died in the line of duty as a border agent on May 8, 2021.
FIRST ON FOX: Incumbent Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released a campaign ad telling the story of a deceased El Paso border patrol officer, Freddie Vasquez.
The ad began airing across Texas on Saturday.
The political ad targets Paxton's opponent Rochelle Garza and her past comments regarding border patrol officers.
Freddie's widowed wife, Inez Vasquez, tells the gripping story of how her husband lost his life in the line of duty after suffering complications from COVID-19, which he is believed to have contracted from untested migrants at the border.
Ken Paxton, Texas attorney general, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas, US, on Friday, Aug. 5, 2022. (Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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"Freddie was a border agent for 19 years," Vasquez says. "He saved lives."
The twice decorated U.S. Customs and Border Agent died on May 8, 2021. He had been hospitalized for months after contracting COVID-19 in the line of duty.
"He gave his life to keep us safe," Vasquez states in the ad. "That's why it's so hurtful to hear Rochelle Garza compare law enforcement to terrorists."
In October 2019, Garza wrote in a tweet that Border Patrol was "terrorizing" border communities in a "shameless and cowardly" show of force during a "Remain in Mexico" protest at Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas.
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"He was absolutely not a coward," Vasquez asserts. "Rochelle Garza should thank God every day that people like my husband are out there keeping America safe."
Candidate for Texas Attorney General Rochelle Garza speaks at a "Get Out The Vote" rally on October 18, 2022 in Houston, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images / Getty Images)
In 2019, Rochelle Garza served as a staff attorney for the ACLU and filed a formal complaint with the Department of Homeland Security, and personally accused the U.S. Border Patrol of "atrocious actions."
The complaint also called Border Patrol a "rogue agency that cares little about the people in its custody."
Rochelle Garza's staff did not immediately respond to FOX Business' request for comment.
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The El Paso native is survived by his wife, a daughter and three young sons, as well as his parents and two brothers.