Blue Grit Podcast: The Voice of Texas Law Enforcement

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, (Ret.) ICE Special Agent Victor Avila joins Blue Grit to share his story of courage and survival during a harrowing ambush in Mexico.  Agent Avila has since been on a mission to obtain justice for his partner, Jaime Zapata, who, while just inches away in a vehicle, was shot numerous times and killed.   The government's coverup of what happened and their retaliation against him for telling the truth is unforgivable.

Check out the book "Agent Under Fire" here- 
https://www.amazon.com/Agent-Under-Fire-Victor-Avila/dp/1632215292

Outro music credits
Artist- Avi Kaplan 
Song-I’m only getting started 

Support the show

email us at- [email protected]

Send us Fan Mail

The Blue Grit Team has Personal Injury Attorney Aaron Allison and TMPA Legislative Liaison John Wilkerson to discuss Workers Comp. 

Aaron was brought in to assist TMPA regarding Workers Comp HB 790, filed by State Representative Jared Patterson. Aaron Allison is admitted to practice law by the Texas Supreme Court, the Federal Court for the Western District of Texas, 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Support the show

email us at- [email protected]

Send us Fan Mail

TMPA Attorney Randall Moore sits down with the Blue Grit Team and discusses the "ins and outs" about the BRADY LIST. 

BIO-
Randall D. Moore has practiced law in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, north Texas and west Texas since 1985. Upon graduation from Southern Methodist University in 1985, he served as an assistant district attorney in Tarrant County.

Randy then spent the next several years representing doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, trucking companies, construction companies and other businesses. As an insurance defense lawyer, he handled litigation involving breast implants, dangerous drugs such as fen-phen, and defective medical and surgical devices. Today he uses the experience he gained representing insurance companies to protect the rights of injured people.

Randy is board certified in personal injury trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and in civil trial law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is a member of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, the Tarrant County Bar Association, the Tarrant County Trial Lawyers Association, the State Bar College, and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). He has been selected multiple times as one of Fort Worth’s best attorneys, as published in Fort Worth, Texas Magazine, in the area of medical malpractice and personal injury and is a frequent lecturer for the State Bar of Texas and a past lecturer for insurance defense organizations. Randy has achieved an AV rating*, which shows that a lawyer is recognized by his peers for the highest levels of skill and integrity. Randy has been selected for inclusion in the Texas Super Lawyers, as published in Texas Monthly magazine, since 2005. In 2011, he became a member of the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers.

Support the show

email us at- [email protected]

Send us Fan Mail

The Blue Grit Team meets with Hardin County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Tom Lee and TMPA Field Rep. Leighton Guarnere to discuss Sgt. Lee's story of being shot...with a CROSSBOW. 

On June 20, 2019, Sgt. Lee was dispatched with a Spindletop Center crisis worker to a residence in the 30000 block of Old Sour Lake Road (in Hardin County) at about 10:45 a.m. after the mental health patient's family requested assistance from the mental health division at the sheriff’s office. While they were talking to the man, he came out of the residence armed with the crossbow and shot Sgt. Lee.

Sgt. Lee further discusses how he mentally dealt with the incident afterwards, and TMPA's response.

Support the show

email us at- [email protected]

Send us Fan Mail

The Blue Grit Team has on Todd Bensman, a former counterterrorism journalist appointed by DPS Director Steve McGraw as a DPS counterterrorism analyst. Todd discusses his career and the release of his new book "Overrun." 

You can get a copy of Todd's book here-
https://www.amazon.com/Overrun-Unleas...

Todd's Bio-
Todd Bensman currently serves as the Texas-based Senior National Security Fellow for the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), a Washington, D.C. policy institute for which he writes, speaks, and grants media interviews about the nexus between immigration and national security. For nearly a decade prior to joining CIS in August 2018, Bensman led counterterrorism intelligence for the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division and its multi-agency fusion center. Before his homeland security service, Bensman was a journalist for twenty-three years, covering national security after 9/11 as a staff writer for major newspapers. He earned accolades—such as two National Press Club awards—for his border reporting. Bensman holds an MA in security studies from the Naval Postgraduate School, Center for Homeland Defense and Security (2015, Outstanding Thesis designee). He also holds an MA in journalism from the University of Missouri School of Journalism (2009) and an undergraduate degree in journalism with honors from Northern Arizona University.

Support the show

email us at- [email protected]

Send us Fan Mail

The Blue Grit team has on Austin City Councilwoman Mackenzie Kelly to discuss the consequences defunding the police has on the city of Austin, which occurred prior to her being elected. Kelly discusses how she is trying to RE-FUND the Austin Police Department, and the challenges she faces daily in dealing with a somewhat "anti-police" city government culture.   

Councilwoman Kelly's Bio-
District 6 is the largest district in Austin, about fifty square miles from the area around Steiner Ranch on the southwestern end, to southern Williamson County to the north, located in far northwest Austin. Councilmember Kelly hopes her varied experiences, deep community connections, and neighborly Texan tone will help her well represent this diverse and growing area.

Before being elected to City Council, Kelly served at the Round Rock Fire Department Training Division, Williamson County Emergency Management and with the City of Austin Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). In 2019, Kelly was elected president of the 100th class of Austin Police Department's Citizen Police Academy. Her close working relationship with APD gives her a rare perspective on local law enforcement and why it must be passionately supported and fully funded. Kelly volunteered with the Jollyville Fire Department from 2005-13, where she gained a profound respect for those who protect life and property in our capital city. While there, she completed a year-long fellowship through the Disaster Science Academy.

Serving Austin's elderly population is another passion of Kelly's, having worked in the home health care for several years, and has been an appointee by then-Governor Rick Perry to the Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities. Kelly is an advocate of good geographic representation, having run in the first city council election under the 10-1 plan in 2014.  

As for her greatest accomplishment, Kelly is mother of an inquisitive daughter, Rebekah, a student in the Round Rock ISD, and is happily married. She is a 2005 graduate of Westwood High School (Go Warriors!).

Support the show

email us at- [email protected]

Send us Fan Mail

It could have been a North Texas massacre with up to 150 victims, if not for a Garland Police officer who became the first lawman in the country to engage ISIS-inspired terrorists on Texas soil.

Greg Stevens, now 70, has lived for seven years on terrorist hit lists and shadowed by national intelligence. He joins the Blue Grit Podcast team to discuss the incident. 

Stevens has also received the nation's highest law enforcement honor and is revealing himself publicly for the first time.

"They kept me out of the media and kept my name and so on anonymous for a long, long time," said Stevens. 

Seven years ago, on May 3, 2015, he singlehandedly stopped an ISIS terrorist attack as a Garland Police officer.

Stevens was one of 40 officers assigned to a security detail at the Curtis Culwell Center that Sunday in Garland.

It's where a conservative group hosted a Muhammad cartoon contest that authorities knew would likely anger some Muslims.
"This had a lot of potential for bad things happening," said Stevens.

Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi drove from Arizona with guns on an ISIS inspired mission authorities say to kill the 150 people attending the event.

"This little black car came from my left as I'm facing out on the street," said Stevens.

Stevens believes the two attackers chose to pull up at the entrance monitored by him and an unarmed Garland ISD officer.

"They probably looked over there, look there are two guys, one of them is not even armed, and the other guy is 100 years old how hard can this be? The next thing I see is somebody dressed in all black stepping out of the car and the barrel of a rifle coming up in my direction."

Stevens fired 14 rounds from a handgun while the two men with rifles fired 35, one of them, striking unarmed security guard Bruce Joiner in the leg.

Within seconds, the veteran officer took down the gunmen from more than 30 feet away.
"This whole event probably didn't take no more than 10 and probably 15 seconds," said Stevens. "I'm a pretty good shooter. I'm not a great shooter. My training kicked in. I wasn't formulating a plan."

Support the show

email us at- [email protected]

Send us Fan Mail

The Blue Grit team meets with Tyler Police Detective/TMPA 2nd Vice President Ken Gardner who shares his story when he nearly lost his life in 2003. Ken discusses the entire incident and how his faith helped him through the event. 

Support the show

email us at- [email protected]

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Clint and Tyler sit down with Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar to discuss his history with TMPA, his job duties, and his continued support for law enforcement.

Glenn Hegar is Texas' chief financial officer — the state's treasurer, check writer, tax collector, procurement officer, and revenue estimator – a job that is particularly important as the state continues its strong recovery amidst ongoing global economic and geopolitical instability. His commitment to responsible fiscal management is highlighted recently in his efforts address the issues such as pension reform and managing federal relief dollars. He conducted a broadband development listening tour in the spring. And his Texas Broadband Plan released in June supports his efforts to bridge the digital divide in Texas and highlights his support for infrastructure investment. Along those lines he will soon embark on his latest Good for Texas Tour focused on ensuring we continue to address water management issues facing our growing state.

As the CFO of the world's 9th largest economy, Hegar is charged with maintaining the state's fiscal health. Having served in both the Texas House and Senate, Hegar has gained a reputation for customer service, transparency in government, and conservative fiscal management.

Hegar is a 1993 graduate of Texas A&M University and a graduate of St. Mary's University, where he earned a Master of Arts and his law degree. At the University of Arkansas, he earned his Masters of Law.
Hegar is a sixth-generation Texan who grew up farming land that has been in his family since the mid-1800s. When not in Austin or traveling the state, Glenn lives in Katy with his wife Dara and his now TEENAGE children Claire, Julia and Jonah (He asks for your prayers as his oldest is now driving).

Support the show

email us at- [email protected]

Send us Fan Mail

The Blue Grit team meets with FOP 1st Vice President Joe Gamaldi and TMPA Executive Director Kevin Lawrence. This episode explains the FOP and TMPA relationship and the continued struggles the law enforcement community face across the country!

Follow us on YouTube also- 
https://www.youtube.com/@TMPAsince1950?sub_confirmation=1

Support the show

email us at- [email protected]