Smith County sheriff apologizes to Gov. Abbott for ‘noise’ made following immigration town hall

TYLER, Texas (KETK) — An East Texas sheriff has apologized to Gov. Greg Abbott during a press conference on Friday after hosting an immigration town hall forum.

In a letter sent Thursday evening, Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith apologized to residents, Abbott, his office, Border Czar Tom Homan and President Donald Trump. In a since deleted post, Smith said, “please take a moment to read what I really said, without the vicious spin and outright mistruths added by vicious agenda driven mouthpieces.”

During the conference, Smith retracted his broader apology and stated he was only apologizing to Abbott for the “noise” the town hall had stirred.

“The reason being is because everything I said was misconstrued. I apologize for him having to hear that noise, that nonsense, having to think I might have been the cause of it,” Smith said.

When asked what “noise” he was referring to, Smith clarified he had been the subject of false and misleading accusations concerning remarks he made in the immigration town hall forum. An article by Current Revolt, an online Texas political news organization, alleges Smith was defying the governor as he would not turn over illegal immigrants to ICE and that the county would become a safe haven for immigrants.

These accusations stemmed from Smith’s comment that an illegal immigrant would not be arrested for a class C misdemeanor, such as not presenting a driver’s license during a traffic stop. 

“I’m the one that sets the bar for what we are going to do here in Smith County, DWI or above,” Smith said at the Feb. 6 town hall. “Everybody that gets stopped for a traffic ticket, everyone that gets stopped for anything less than a class B misdemeanor has nothing to worry about.”

Smith acknowledged that he acted too hastily and corrected his statement, clarifying that the sheriff’s office does not have a policy of not arresting for class C misdemeanors. However, due to overcrowding in the Smith County Jail, which currently holds over 900 detainees, they do not have the capacity to detain people on those charges.

If jail capacity were to decrease, Smith said they would begin arresting for class C misdemeanors, though he believes this is unlikely without the construction of a new jail, which would cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

When Smith spoke to Abbott’s office, the governor reportedly “knew better” and recognized that the sheriff stands with Abbott’s stance on illegal immigration.

For now, the sheriff said he does not plan to hold another town hall meeting. Reflecting on the Feb. 6 forum, he added that it should have been held at a location where he had more control, rather than at a public venue behind a restaurant.