It’s not exactly a secret that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has taken rather aggressive steps to address border crossings in the Lone Star State. But the Republican’s administration has not resorted to literal violence, and as The Texas Tribune reported, the governor has an explanation as to why not.

During a radio interview last week, Gov. Greg Abbott said that Texas has used every tool to control the border short of ordering officers to shoot migrants crossing over illegally, once again drawing concerns about the potential impact of his rhetoric around immigration.

In context, the governor fielded a question from radio host Dana Loesch, a former spokesperson for the National Rifle Association, who asked Abbott about boundaries and legal limits.......

But then the governor went a bit further, taking note of what officials in his state aren’t doing.

“[W]e are deploying every tool and strategy that we possibly can,” Abbott added. “The only thing that we’re not doing is we’re not shooting people who come across the border, because of course, the Biden administration would charge us with murder.”

Link to tweet

Oh. So in Texas, the GOP governor is refraining from opening fire against unarmed immigrants, not because such violence would be an abhorrent crime, but because he’s concerned the Democratic administration in Washington, D.C., might try to hold the governor of Texas and his administration accountable for such an abhorrent crime