Texas AG candidate Aaron Reitz vows to dismantle DEI and hold Austin Fire Chief accountable after Texas flood revelations

Texas Attorney General candidate Aaron Reitz has vowed to dismantle DEI in "every corner of state and local government" of Texas after Austin Fire Chief Joel Baker was accused of refusing to send advance teams to the region of the flash floods in Texas when a request was made over a day prior to the disaster. Baker has been pro-DEI during his tenure as fire chief.

Reitz posted to X, "DEI means people DIE. In 2014, the Obama Admin launched a (friendly, coordinated) lawsuit against the Austin Fire Dept, claiming its merit-based entrance exams had a 'disparate impact' on minority applicants—i.e., objective standards are 'racist.' Austin caved, scrapped its exams, and went all-in on DEI."

He later added, "Last week, disaster struck. A catastrophic flood devastated bright-red Kerr County, just 75 miles from Austin. While local firefighters pleaded to deploy help, Chief Baker refused. Was it sheer incompetence? Or something darker—deliberate, callous indifference to the lives of Texans in a conservative county?"

"As Texas’s next Attorney General, I will dismantle DEI in every corner of state and local government. Race-based hiring and anti-white discrimination are illegal under state and federal law. I will enforce that law without apology. The City of Austin, the Austin Fire Dept, and Chief Baker must be investigated and held accountable to the fullest extent. DEI means people DIE. Under my watch, that ends," he concluded.

On July 4th, flash floods struck in the Hill Country region of Texas, which has led to the deaths of over 100 people and there are over 170 still missing from the catastrophe, per USA Today.

However, in the wake of the flooding, the Austin Firefighters Association (AFA) said that Baker failed to deploy advance teams ahead of the flooding. The AFA intended to hold a vote of no confidence in response, and said that the failure to deploy the teams was an "egregious dereliction of duty."

Baker has denied the accusation, saying that he was only made aware of the requests for the advance teams on July 4, per KXAN. The chief said that the requests included one for the assistant chief, who did not go; one for a dispatcher, which was denied; as well as one for rescue swimmers, who were sent to help.

“It’s important that we are able to function and maintain a certain level of readiness in the city of Austin. Now, to keep in mind — again — I was not sure how much of the weather would impact my city — the city of Austin. I need to make sure that I have an adequate amount of resources within the city so I can respond for my mutual aid calls and my automatic aid calls around the city of Austin,” the chief said in a statement.

Baker has prioritized diversity goals while on the job, and said previously that one of his goals was to "really to increase the diversity at the Austin Fire Department," adding, "It needs to reflect more of the community we serve because I believe the youth of Austin and our youth in general, you will be what you see those young African American, young Latinos, people in the Asian community or LGBT community, if they see more firefighters that look like them, they will want to choose the Austin Fire Department as a career as well."